Rural Dog Rescue

I am a volunteer at this organization, and I have adopted by dog from here. She is my very first dog. Every volunteer is committed and dedicated to helping rescued dogs find their forever families. Also, huge shoutout to the fosters who open up their homes to dogs while waiting for them to be adopted. Amazing organization!

Rural dog rescue is VERY thorough with the adoption process. I can understand why as there are many people who don’t treat dogs right.

HOWEVER, Rural Dogs Rescue DENIED my fiancé and I because we didn’t give our 6 month old puppy one dose of his heart worm medication at his 6 month mark.

They asked us for our contract agreement with our current dog, which we complied. They asked us for references, we gave them 3. They asked us for a HOME INTERVIEW, which we complied. They asked us for vet records on our current dog, which we complied. We passed everything with the exception of one month of medication for our dog, that our vet did not prescribe us.

Rural dog rescue is heavy on “aDoPt DoNt ShOp” and rescuing dogs from kill shelters, but denies good families because they’re too pretentious and not willing to understand certain circumstances. Very disappointed with this company but I hope all future dogs get a loving home!

We adopted our dog Luna from Rural Dog over 6 years ago. Our first two years were definitely difficult but eventually we became a trusted member of her pack. What I will say, is the behavioral assessment and paperwork we received from rural dog was spot on. 6 years later she’s still protective of her bed, extremely food motivated, “mouthy” with play, etc…the characteristics identified were extremely accurate and it’s been clear that they knew my dog.

So to that, I say thank you and well done! For those looking, trust what they say about your potential dog and understand what those characteristics truly mean!

I recently adopted a dog from RDR after choosing to foster with them first. The dog is a wonderful sweetheart. Thank you to all the folks who selflessly volunteer to save these lives and find these pups good homes. Everyone at RDR is very dedicated and caring. Highly recommend going to an adoption event to meet some of their dogs!

Oct 2021 adopted an awesome foxhound from RDR. She is such a great dog and RDR made the adoption process easy. They did a home visit and checked other things to make sure we were a good match. They are very thorough. What drew me to RDR was their website. They go to other local states to pull animals out of high kill shelters.
They're pretty darn awesome.
Very good experience and definitely recommend.

We got our dog from them 4 years ago. I should have written this review then, but was preoccupied with our new dog. When we got her she was morbidly obese, which wasn't their fault at all. I don't think they had her for long and she came to them like that. However, she had other issues that absolutely should have been caught and addressed before she was adopted. Her teeth were wrecked and she had to get 12 teeth pulled. She had yeast infections on her skin and in her ears. All of this was caught during our first vet visit so I'm not sure why they didn't catch it, unless she wasn't checked out before she was adopted.

We were also told she was spayed, but then found out that wasn't accurate. We were told the vet "assumed" she had been spayed due to her age, and yet Rural Dog Rescue told us, as if it were fact, that she was. Once it was discovered she wasn't (and I think they only looked into it because we had concerns she was pregnant), Rural Dog Rescue would only pay to have the surgery covered if we let them take our dog to their preferred vet, which was NOWHERE near our house. They offered to pick her up and take her there, which was nice, but still inconvenient.

When they picked her up, the woman actually lectured me about our dog's weight. We'd only had her for a short while and she'd already lost weight. This woman was acting like it was our fault our dog was chunky. Then when she brought our dog back, she lectured me again for not warning her that our dog wasn't cat friendly, even though THEY were the ones who told US she wasn't cat friendly. She'd never been around a cat with us before.

I'm hoping they've gotten better in the past 4 years, but I have to say, from my experience I'm not impressed. I LOVE our dog, but I have to wonder if other dogs they're adopting out aren't actually spayed or have health problems they haven't addressed.

I have volunteered here on and off for the past 8 months and am truly impressed with the organization. They help save many at risk dogs from high-kill shelters and provide them with safe caring foster homes until they are adopted. The adoption events are always well handled to ensure the safety of both dogs and volunteers. I am looking forward to volunteering here again after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the future if I am able to adopt this would be the first organization I would look at for a pet, and I would highly recommend them to any individuals in DC, MD, or VA looking to adopt!

I volunteer here on occasion and it's always a good experience. These people are passionate about saving dogs from high kill shelters and are great at what they do! I also recommend volunteering with them since it's pretty flexible and easy to sign up & get trained. They need dog handlers every Saturday during their 2 hour adoption events!