01 — Start here
Where the dog came from
If you adopted from a rescue or bought from a breeder, read your contract. Most responsible ones require you to return the dog to them, and want you to. They already know the dog.
Guide
If you can no longer keep your dog.
It happens to good owners. A move to a rental that will not take dogs, a new baby and a nervous dog, an illness, a job that changed everything. Nobody who reads this far is taking it lightly.
This is the honest version: the options in the order worth trying them, and how to make each one go well for the dog.
First
Is there a way to keep the dog?
Worth a moment before anything else, because some problems that feel final are not. A behavior problem may be a medical one your vet can treat. A trainer can fix more than most owners expect in a few sessions. A landlord will sometimes accept a dog with a pet deposit and a reference. Ask before you decide.
If not
Four options, in this order.
02 — Often best
Rehome it yourself
A friend, relative or neighbor who already knows the dog is the smoothest move it can make. If you advertise, ask for a small fee, meet in person, and hand over the vet records.
03 — If there is room
A rescue with a foster free
Rescues like ours take owner-surrendered dogs when a foster home is free. We will tell you honestly if one is not, and how long it might be. Email us with the details below.
Email us04 — The safety net
Saratoga County Animal Shelter
The county shelter at 6010 County Farm Road, Ballston Spa takes surrenders and runs adoptions. Call (518) 885-4113 to ask how its surrender process works before you go.
Before you call anyone
What to have ready.
The more a rescue or a new owner knows, the better the next home will be. Write it down while you still have the dog in front of you.
Have ready
- Age, breed or best guess, weight, and whether spayed or neutered
- Vet records, including the rabies certificate
- How it is with children, other dogs, cats, strangers
- Any bite, however minor, and what led up to it
- A few good photos and a short video
- What it eats, how it sleeps, what frightens it
Please don’t
- Leave a dog at a rescue volunteer’s house or tied up anywhere
- Give a dog away “free to a good home” online to strangers
- Leave out a bite history — it follows the dog, and it keeps the next family safe
Be honest about behavior. New York requires rescues to disclose what they know about a dog’s behavior and any bite history to its adopter in writing. What you tell us is what we can pass on — and a dog placed with the full story is far more likely to stay placed.
Saratoga County Animal Shelter contact details as published by the shelter. Rescue disclosure requirement per NY Agriculture and Markets Law, Article 26-C — our summary.
Every dog we save is paid for by donations and cared for by volunteers. ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — gifts are tax-deductible.