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Before You Adopt
I live out of town, does Saving Grace ship dogs?
Thank you for considering adoption through Saving Grace where we always have great dogs waiting for homes!
We are happy to help out-of-state adopters and want to provide appropriate expectations for long distance adoption. We do not ship or offer transport for adopted dogs. Each adopter must visit with an animal in person and commit to following through with adoption.
To give the most dogs an opportunity for a forever family, dogs are not placed on hold. This means a dog you are considering may be adopted before your visit. It is best to visit with an open mind and choose a dog in person that best fits what you are looking for rather than be set on adopting a specific dog on the website.
If a dog has not completed their veterinary care, an additional trip may be necessary at a later date to complete the adoption and pick up the dog. This process will vary with each animal and their medical needs.
It is best to check with your veterinarian in your state of residence regarding health certificates/licensing required when bringing a new animal into your state.
Does Saving Grace keep a wait list for specific types of animals?
Our Saving Grace team is a small group of volunteers dedicated to helping our current group of available animals find their forever homes. Our team does not have the manpower, beyond caring for this current group, to keep a running list of adopters’ specific requests. We do our best to keep our website as up to date as possible so interested adopters may view what types of dogs and other animals are currently available at any time. If you are looking for low shed or extremely popular mixes, please understand that there are many others searching for this as well, and our team does the best that we are able with high demand for these dogs and puppies. We recommend checking our website often if you’re looking for a specific type of dog.
Does Saving Grace offer Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) or Therapy Dogs?
While we appreciate your desire to adopt, Saving Grace is not able to provide this service and cannot guarantee that our dogs would be successful as emotional support animals.

Can I adopt a pet for someone else?
Is there a trial period to take the pet home and see if it ‘fits’ with the family?

Can I adopt more than one dog at my visit?
Adopters may adopt more than 1 dog at their visit, although in most cases it is not recommended. Saving Grace at times will have bonded animals that would be happiest to go to the same home. A heavy transition period is always to be expected when a dog enters their new home and environment. This will be a learning period between the new dog and their family as you get to know and understand one another. Every dog’s transition period is different, and it is for this reason Saving Grace recommends adopting one dog at a time to aid with this transition. You can ALWAYS come back for another once your newest friend is settled – they may even help you get that 2nd pet better settled too!
Saving Grace does not permit the adoption of siblings. Click here for more information on Littermate Syndrome

Beyond Heartworm Positive dogs – What other types of cases does Saving Grace help with?
The Saving Grace program strives to assist any animal with a wonderful temperament find a forever home despite possible medical barriers. Of course, we cannot help in every instance which is heartbreaking but if a dog can be saved, we work to find a way. We help to see dogs through specialized orthopedic surgeries and if repair is not possible – amputations, eye surgeries and if repair is not possible – enucleation (eye removal), mass removals, hernia repairs, and other specialized surgeries based on a dogs’ particular need or injury. We are thankful to our community of donors and fundraisers that make these surgeries and repairs possible so that deserving dogs receive the care needed to make adoption possible. You can help by making a donation!
Why are some dogs prepared for adoption more quickly than others?
Are you adding a dog to a home with existing pets?
Saving Grace also has a permanent resident cat that assists us in helping determine if a dog may be a potential match with an adopter’s current cat. This is a large indoor house cat that is very dog savvy, used to meeting a large number of dogs, and has learned to not run making itself a target of chase. This helps our team to rule out dogs with a high prey drive or those that are overly cat aggressive. We ask adopters to remain aware that every cat is different, a dog’s behavior and activity level can change when better established and comfortable, and that it is always ultimately an owners responsibility to monitor all interactions not only initially but throughout their animals coexistence.
SG does not guarantee compatibility with small animals of any kind or fowl as dogs have a natural and instinctual pretty drive. It is always important to keep dogs separate at all times if small animals or birds are present.

Why does my pet need to be spayed/neutered? Can I adopt an intact animal?
Spaying and neutering helps stem the tide of overpopulation. We spay and neuter all of our animals prior to adoption for a healthier animal and Saving Grace is committed to reducing the population of unwanted animals.
The shelters in North Carolina are overburdened with unwanted animals and many strays are the result of accidental breeding by free-roaming, unaltered pets. The more pets spayed or neutered, the fewer dogs and cats will end up in shelters.