The adoption process in summary:

• Adoptions on Saturdays at PETCO in Moorpark (noon to 3PM): Meet the dog or puppy at adoptions, fill out an adoption application, arrange for the home visit (can be done usually within 30 minutes) and if successful, sign the adoption contact, remit the adoption donation and we transfer over all necessary items (license, microchip, IDtag, etc.) within 24 hours.
• Other than Saturdays? Fill out the adoption application and fax it to us (805-578-2604), we will contact you to set up a combination 'meet & greet' and home visit.  If successful, sign the adoption contract, remit the adoption donation and we transfer over all necessary items (license, microchip, IDtag, etc.) within 24 hours.

1. Tax deductible: Your adoption donation is tax deductible - TLC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity registered with the IRS and the State of California - not all rescues are 501(c)3 nonprofits - do your research before adopting.
2. Life Saving: 100% of your adoption donation goes directly to saving other dogs from dying in our local shelters
3. Current on vaccinations: Your TLC dog or puppy will be up-to-date on their shots (including rabies if over 4 months old)
4. Licensing: Your TLC dog will be licensed for the County of Ventura
5. Microchipped: Your TLC dog will be microchipped AND the microchip will be activated in your name upon adoption (unless activated, the microchip really has little value despite being implanted).
6. IDTag: Your TLC dog will come with an ID tag and one-year paid subscription to IDTag.com in the event they go missing (after 1 year, it is renewable by the new owner)
7. Personal touch: TLC dogs and puppies live with our volunteers in their homes - their foster can give you valuable insight as to potential training issues, personal tidbits, likes & dislikes, etc.
8. Post-adoption support:  We are here after you have adopted for questions, thoughts, community support, etc. beyond our extensive 50+ page adoption packet
9. Weekly TLC newsletter filled with valuable news, information, recalls, etc.
10. We ARE small: We are a small dog breed ONLY rescue, specializing in dogs under 10 pounds.  We are a small group of volunteers and intentionally want to stay that way so neither the dogs nor the adopters get 'lost in the shuffle'.  Many of the dogs and puppies adopted were referred to us from someone who has already adopted a TLC dog and recommend us highly.

Not all rescues are alike... We pride ourselves on being just a bit different from most.  Do your research before you adopt and not afterwards (when problems arise).
 

  ADOPTION PROCESS AND APPLICATION IN DETAIL 

1. If you are interested in adopting one of our TLC dogs, we ask that you complete and return an adoption application. It is important to answer every question as completely as possible. A complete application helps us insure that the dog you are interested in will be a good match for you and your family. Since many of our dogs are in foster care, we have gotten to know their personalities and can be very helpful to you in selecting the right pet that will fit your lifestyle. Click here for Adoption Application that can be printed out and faxed to (805) 578-2604, or emailed to us at TinyLovingCanine@aol.com

2. Meeting the dog in person.  Once you have submitted your application, we will contact you to arrange an appointment for you to meet the dog you are interested in (if you have not already done so at adoptions on Saturdays at PETCO).  If you have an existing dog at home, please bring them with you so they can meet each other on neutral ground.  During this time we will inform you of any training the dog has received, behavioral or health issues we are aware of, specific likes and dislikes of the dog, etc.

3. Scheduling of a home visit.  The purpose of a home visit is to insure the physical and medical safety of the dog.  Our home visit is not intended to invade your privacy or be intrusive.  Because our dogs have spent their time with us in our own homes, we are aware of any possible issues that could arise if not placed in the right environment (fences the dog could wiggle through, jumpers that could get over a four foot fence, dogs that aren't familiar with pools, etc.).  We will discuss with you any issues we see to be a problem as well as our safety recommendations to insure a safe and happy transition for you and your new dog!  For more information, see What is a home check and why do we do it?

4. The adoption donation fee.  Please be aware that the donation associated with your adoption is not a 'purchase price' for the dog and is nonrefundable, but tax deductible. Your donation from this adoption will go to save, vaccinate, spay/neuter, and feed the next dog we pull from the shelter --- in other words, the dog you are adopting today has been paid for by someone who adopted another before you. Tiny Loving Canines is a non-profit organization and it is because of generous people like you that we can continue to save these precious souls. Please be advised that for your convenience, we do accept credit cards for the adoption donation.

5. The adoption contract. The final step of the adoption process is to sign our adoption agreement. This agreement states that you will be the new owner of the dog and will responsible for providing proper shelter, medical care, food, and water.  You will also be supplied with an extensive adoption packet that contains the dog's spay or neuter certificate, rabies certificate, listing of vaccines, microchip registration, copy of their licensing, etc. along with other important information.  At time of adoption, TLC transfers micro-chip registration over to the new owner (unlike many other rescues) because in some areas micro-chip registration is proof of ownership, not licensing.

6. Licensing your new dog. As part of our adoption procedure and as a supporter of the dog licensing program in the State of California (which drives the rabies inoculation programs), TLC will license our dogs for the County of Ventura and collection of the appropriate licensing fee will be required at time of adoption if you are a resident of this county (and will be transferred over to you at time of adoption as well).   For residents of Ventura County, the fee is $20 (license application).  For residents of Los Angeles the fee is $15/free for seniors 62 or older (license application), but Ventura County licenses are not transferable across county lines so we are unable to do that for you in advance and ask that you obtain whichever license is appropriate for your community.

7. IDTag.  Each TLC dog or puppy is supplied with an ID tag from IDTag.com and a one-year paid subscription to their service, courtesy of TLC.  During the adoption transition, opened doors are easy venues for a newly-adopted dog to seek out the foster home they have known since the shelter experience.  Your dog's photo, details and contact information are already pre-stored on the IDTag.com website and the service provides added peace of mind should they go missing.  Once an adoption goes through, this is transferred over to the new owner and while we are pleased to be listed as a secondary contact, information is given in the adoption packet for the new owner to update this service, listing them as the primary contact.

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OUR MISSION: To rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home abandoned
and neglected dogs, saving them from certain death in the local shelters.