Every day we’re asked why we can’t take all the street dogs and get them adopted. While we’d absolutely love to get them all loving homes, it’s not the core focus in our mission (which is to sterilize as many dogs as possible and lower the global street dog population). 

Why isn’t it a key focus? Because rehoming a dog takes months. It’s a long drawn out process that takes up space at our sanctuary needed for dogs who are really sick. If the street dogs are happy and healthy, we can actually help more dogs by leaving them where they are.

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So how do we choose who gets adopted?

We continually have dogs coming in and out of our sanctuary. Some are sick, some injured, some overweight, some underweight. While we’d love to rehome them all, that’s not always possible. We generally use the following criteria to determine if a dog should be rehomed, either locally or abroad:

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The dog has been targeted

Street dogs tend to migrate back to the same territory they’ve always lived in. So even if we put them back on the streets elsewhere, they’ll find their way back to the same spot. If they’ve been targeted in the past, either by humans or other dogs, that can be dangerous. As they can’t stay on the land forever, they’re prime candidates for finding a home.

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They have ongoing health considerations

While we never rehome a sick dog, some do need a little extra care. That might be medication or weight control – whatever it is, they need a human to help them stay healthy. 

We do give out medications to the dogs who need it, when they need it, but living on the streets means it’s not possible to do this with the regularity needed.

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They can't live in a pack

Some dogs just aren’t accepted into a pack. Even if they get on well with other dogs, they live by themselves and have a lonely life. Other dogs are regularly picked on and end up with injuries and feeling miserable. 

As they’ll always go back to the same spot, it’s not safe for them out there. 

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They will adapt to being in a home

Many of the dogs we help have lived on the streets for years. They’re independent and they like their freedom. Some might not like human contact or feeling cooped up. These dogs aren't suitable for rehoming.

However, there are many who will make good pets. They love humans, they enjoy a comfortable life, and they're not too bothered about running free. These dogs are prime candidates for adoption.

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Our five step street dog adoption process

From start to finish, our adoption process has five steps and takes 4-6 months until we consider a dog to be completely adopted. Below, we’ll cover what to expect in every step.

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Rehabilitation and behavioral assessment

If a dog comes to Happy Doggo Land, the chances are that they’re sick. On top of their obvious injuries or illnesses, they’ll often have tick fever, parasitic diseases, or heartworm. 

We never send a sick dog to a new home – and they’re not allowed to fly ill – so we get them up to full fitness before we send them on their way. Some might be overweight or underweight so we get them to a good place with the best of foods and appropriate exercise, all supervised by local vets. We'll also assess them at this point to see if they are behaviorally suitable for travel and adoption.

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Applications and interviews

Our main aim for the dogs we rehome is to find them the perfect place where they’ll be happy. That also includes getting the right dog for the people applying. After all, a super active dog isn’t going to be ideal for a sedentary family, and vice versa. A nervous dog wouldn’t be great for people with small, loud kids, and a dog who requires a lot of attention won’t work for people who are out all day. 

We try to match the right dogs with the right people through a thorough application form and a minimum of two in-depth interviews. Applicants are asked about the people they live with, other pets, their daily routine and told as much about the dog as possible. 

While we give them as much information as we can, we can’t replicate a home and family situation at the land so we make sure all applicants are really committed to the reality of owning a street dog and know the potential challenges. 

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Medical preparation

Often, it can be months between us picking a home for each pup and them actually travelling. This is because the dogs are effectively “quarantined” at the land while we complete the required tests for them to meet the import requirements of their new home country. This usually takes between 2-3 months and during this time we organize their flights and a flight volunteer who will accompany them to their forever home.

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Travel and logistics

Flying can be a pretty big ordeal for dogs. Most have never left their little patch of territory and the land so it’s a huge overload of smells, sights and sounds for them to travel through an airport. 

Before they fly, we try our best to get them used to their crates. Street dogs are used to being free and can often feel scared of being put in a crate. We’ll feed them their dinners in the crates and encourage them to see them as a nice place to be. We’ll also get them used to drinking water from the bottles in the crate so they don’t know many hours without any hydration. 

Then we get them to Bangkok airport via pet taxi where they usually meet up with their flight volunteer, who makes sure the dogs are safely on the plane and picks them up at the other side.

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Settling into their new home

When dogs arrive at their new home, some will be happy and excited. However, it’s usually been a big journey for them and they can be really overwhelmed. Rather than plan a big welcome party, we recommend new owners use the first few hours and days to let their new family member decompress and get used to their surroundings. Not all dogs conform to this exactly, but we always recommend that new owners follow the 3/3/3 rule when bringing home a new dog.

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After three months have passed and everything has gone well, we consider an adoption to be complete! While there will almost certainly still be work ahead, at this point your dog will truly be a part of your home.

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Are you interested in adopting a street dog? Check out our Adoptable Dogs.