Surrendering your pet can be one of the most difficult decisions to make as a pet owner.

Please consider carefully why you need to surrender.

If you are having behavioral problems or trouble training your Shiba, there are many skilled training professionals and training centers in your area that should be able to help you.

Although it is important to catch problems early, the benefit of dogs is that they live in the "now", not the "yesterday", and you can retrain and rehabilitate a dog of any age.

It is best if you find a training center that is familiar working with primitive dog breeds and uses positive reinforcement training methods.  Methods such as alpha rolling (putting the dog on its side or back) or corrective collars such as choke, prong or shock collars may seem initially the "quick fix" to many problems but they can have long term negative effects on your dog's behavior.

Find an accredited trainer or certified behaviorist that does not use these adversive methods.  Besides, no one gets a dog because they are looking forward to punishing it. 

You may also contact us for training solutions as our founder Beki Myers is an Accredited Pet Training Instructor and may be able to help you keep your Shiba in your home.

Shibas also go through a behavioral growth spurt and social changes during the time of adolescence at 5 months to 2 years of age. These mood & behavioral changes can become compounded if you do not spay or neuter your pet. Regrettably, many a dog owner of any breed has thrown in the towel when their pet needed them the most during the maturing process.

In fact, of the millions of dogs surrendered to shelters every year

• 85% of dogs are surrendered for behavioral issues
• 75% of those dogs are between the ages of 6 months and 2 years
• and 96% of dogs that end up in shelters have NEVER had any type of professional obedience training!!!
  
  If your pet exhibits serious behavioral problems understand that you are at least partially to blame for not seeking guidance before issues became unmanageable.  Please see a qualified and accredited trainer or behaviorist first and try to resolve your problems with your pet before asking us to take your Shiba!

With all of this being said, if you must surrender your Shiba there are a few important things you should know. 

First, Shiba Scout will not turn down dogs due to age, or medical or behavioral conditions of any sort.  Also, we do not buy dogs.  

Second, although we do take in owner surrenders, Shibas that need to be transferred from shelters are our first priority as we are the last option for these dogs.  Please be aware that since we only take dogs into private foster homes, we are limited on the number of intakes we can do at any given time. It is not unusual to have a month or longer wait list for incoming Shibas.  Please contact usas early as possible about surrendering your Shiba.  You will need to fill out a surrender profile so we can best assess which foster home to place your dog into.  We may also ask that you continue to care for the dog temporarily as we wait for space to become available.

Third, Shiba Scout requires that you sign a Transfer of Ownership Contract when you surrender your dog and that the dog must be placed in our care in one of our foster homes.  We have been asked occassionally in the past to find a home for someone's Shiba, however they did not want to turn the dog over to our rescue.  Although we understand that you would like to be involved in the rehoming process, we need to be able to assess the dog's personaliy first hand in order to fit it with the best possible family.  Also, some dogs do show a personality change (most in a positive way, though some do digress briefly) when placed into a new home or environment and it is good to not only witness this transformation but to be able to inform new pet parents of how the dog will typically react in adjusting to its new forever home.  

If you do not wish to actually place your dog into rescue OR we are currently full and you need to re-home your Shiba sooner, you may have us post a description of your Shiba written word for word by you (please spell check and include as much detailed and honest information as possible, ex.  if the dog has nipped at small children, please include that).  We will ask also for a picture and permission to post your contact information so that anyone interested may contact you directly.  Shiba Scout Rescue discourages that you ask for a rehoming fee for your dog and will not be involved in the actual placement process of your dog (ie. no adoption application, no home visit, no adoption contract, no adoption fee, etc.).

Fourth, since Shiba Scout Rescue is a volunteer, non-profit organization, we ask that you help us in our mission. We appreciate donations of any of your dog's items: leashes, food bowls, collars, halters, food, toys, beds, crates. If your Shiba is not spayed/neutered and/or fully updated on vaccinations, we will have it done before placement and we would appreciate a donation to help us with these costs, although we do not require a surrender fee.  You can give us your donation and/or the items when we are able to take in your dog.

Finally, Shiba Scout Rescue is a no-kill organization which means we will not euthanize a dog due to age, space in the rescue, time the dog has been in rescue, or for treatable or manageable medical and/or behavioral issues.  However, if it is deemed that the dog is under constant severe pain or stress that cannot be treated or managed which would give them a bad quality of life, we will kindly put that dog out of its misery as we do not wish for any of our dogs to suffer. 

Our foster space is limited, so there is no guarantee that we will be able to take in your dog.  Once you surrender your dog to us, you will have no further knowledge or control of what happens to the dog.  But, you can rest assured that we will give him or her the best possible care and find the perfect new family to love your dog.

If you still feel you need to surrender your Shiba, please copy and fill out the following Surrender Profile and email it to us.

Also we do ask that you please include at least one picture of your Shiba

SHIBA SCOUT RESCUE DOG SURRENDER PROFILE

Dog’s name:                                                                                      

Breed:

Gender:   

Age:                                           

Spayed/Neutered:                                    

Dog’s History

How long has this dog lived with you?

Where did you obtain this dog?

Dog’s Health

Is your dog current on vaccinations?

Is your dog microchipped?     If so, what company?                                  

What is the name and phone number of your veterinarian?

Does your dog have any medical concerns or is your dog on any medication?

Housetraining and Yard Habits

Where does your dog spend the day?

For how many hours is your dog left at home alone?

Where does your dog spend the night?

What is your dog’s exercise routine?

Has your dog ever been introduced to a crate?

If yes, please describe their behavior in the crate:

Is your dog potty trained?

How does he/she let you know they need to go outside?

If your dog is not potty trained, under what circumstances might he/she have an accident?

Do you have a fenced in yard?

If so, type and height of fencing:

Has your dog ever escaped from the yard or house?

If yes, please explain:

Your Dog’s Favorite Things

What is your dog’s favorite game/activity?

What are your dog’s favorite toys?

Does your dog enjoy the dog park?

Does your dog know any special tricks?

Who is your dog’s favorite company?

How does your dog show affection?

Your Dog’s Social Skills

How does your dog greet strangers in the home?

How does your dog greet strangers outside of the home?

How does your dog react around other dogs outside of the home?

Has your dog lived with other dogs? cats?

If so was the situation successful?

If not, please explain why:

Has your dog ever fought with another dog?

If yes please describe the situation:

Were food, toys, bones or rawhides involved?

Has your dog ever injured another dog?

If so, where on the other dog’s body was the injury?

How severe was the injury?  Check all the apply

                Couldn’t find anything but saliva

                Bruise or scrape

                Single bite which broke or punctured the skin

                Multiple bites which broke or punctured the skin

                Severe multiple punctures and/or tearing of the skin

How does your dog behave at the veterinarian?

How does your dog behave for bathing?

How does your dog behave for nail trims?

Is your dog sensitive about being handled in any way?

If so, please explain their reaction:

Your Dog’s Training

Has your dog been through any professional obedience training?

If yes, please explain:

What commands does your dog know?

Has your dog had any experience with children?

If yes please describe the circumstance:

Does your dog display any destructive behaviors such as excessive chewing, barking, separation anxiety, digging, etc.?

If yes, please explain:

When does the dog exhibit these behaviors?

Where does the dog exhibit these behaviors?

Please explain frequency that your dog displays these behaviors:

Your Dog’s Fears

Does your dog have any fears, and if so what are they?

What does your dog do when they are frightened?

Aggression Tendencies

Has your dog ever bared its teeth at your or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Has your dog ever growled at you or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Has your dog ever lunged at you or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Has your dog ever snapped at you or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Has your dog ever shown any other form of aggression towards you or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Has your dog ever bitten and broken the skin on you or anyone else?

If yes, explain

Please use the space below for any additional information you would like to share with us about your dog.  Keep in mind that we will do our very best to place your dog into one of our foster homes but space is limited and you may be required to hold onto your dog until a suitable space becomes available.  In the mean time, feel free to contact us for any additional help with your dog while you are waiting.  Thank you, your time and consideration is greatly appreciated.

Beki Myers--Founder Shiba Scout Rescue

shibascout@yahoo.com

Julia White--Intake Coordinator

julia White <timberwhite@comcast.net>;

You may also mail your Surrender Profile and picture of your dog to

Beki Myers

3608 Catalpa Ct. Loveland, CO  80538