Before adoption
Think through the decision to get a dog. Adopting a dog means great responsibility. You take responsibility for your dog’s health and quality of life for perhaps 15 years to come. Therefore, we want you to have thought through what your everyday life with a dog will look like. Do you have the time, finances and interest to adopt a dog and adapt life to it? Does everyone in the family agree?
A dog that comes from APAA-Nerja has mostly not lived indoors, if it has not lived in a foster home or family before. Don’t count on it being house-trained. It is usually quick to teach, even older dogs, to alert you to the need to go outside, but of course it takes different amount of time for every dog. Everything is new to the dog: telephone, television, washing machine, doorbell. New sounds that the dog must get time to get used to. You must be able to give the dog time to settle into its new life as well as be prepared to work with any problems that can occur.
Health and disease information
- The dogs are vaccinated against rabies and basic vaccinations, usually with the following vaccine: Eurican L R, and against distemper, usually with Eurican DAP.
- The dogs receive regular deworming, defleaing and deticking
- The dogs are blood tested for Anaplasma, Erlichiosis, Borrelia, Leishmania and heartworm. Puppies are not blood tested as it can give misleading results because they have not had time to get antibodies. Despite blood tests and the fact that we are doing everything we can to detect possible diseases, no guarantees can be given that the dog does not carry anything latent, will get sick in the future or that it has other hitherto unknown diseases.
- Our dogs are always sterilized if they have reached the right age, but if you adopt a puppy, we have a policy of sterilizing the dog in the future.
- The dog gets a simple veterinary inspection before departure, when the vet checks if the dog is fit to travel.
- A small number of our dogs have tested positive for Leishmaniasis. This is a parasite which is transmitted to dogs via sandfly. Some dogs have no symptoms for months or years after becoming infected. Symptoms can include skin lesions, depression, weight loss or drinking excessively. Some dogs develop kidney failure. Some dogs are asymptomatic and do not require treatment. However, if they do require treatment it is usually in the form of medication. This is given until the signs have resolved and the blood tests are negative. However, the dog is not cured and relapses can occur after stopping the medication. Your vet will advise you of the best course of action. The disease can be controlled and is not a death sentence. Most dogs with Leish live a happy and normal life.
The Process
- After the initial interest is expressed and information about the dog is passed on, an agreement is made.
- We will then conduct a home check where we ask questions to see how and where the dog will be living. We make sure the home has enough room for the dog and is safe with no chance of them getting out and putting themselves in danger. We try to match the dog with the owners lifestyle, activities etc. Our dogs will live as part of a family, never as guard dogs or the answer to an adoption will be a resounding NO!
- If everything is ok with the home check we do a standard contract between APAA and the adopter.
- Payment is made, usually made up of what has been spent on the dog for vets fees. This varies for different countries because some tests required are different.
- Delivery is either by flight buddy, if flying we look for someone to accompany the dog; or a pet transport company or a local pick up.
More information
For more details on the adoption process in your country, please send a message to Ester Pulido +34654537972 via Whatsapp