1. Complete and submit an online Adoption Application giving us as much information as possible.
2. Complete a telephone interview followed by a home visit or Skype call so we can see your home, your other animals, and get any questions cleared up. Sometimes we do this Skype call so you can see the dog you want to adopt in action and meet its rescuer. In many cases we can combine the interview, home visit/Skype call into one session.
3. Once approved, you will be asked to pay an adoption fee.
4. We arrange transport for your dog and you will pay that fee which is generally $300 USD for non-stop, direct flights on Alaska Air Cargo out of San Diego. Read more about your dog’s journey from La Paz to you and how that is done below under “How does my adopted dog get from La Paz, BCS, Mexico to me?”
5. You agree to the Adoption Agreement by signing it online and sending back to us.
6. You get your dog and begin a wonderful adventure together!
7. We hope you will send us photos and updates for our Happy Tails page!

Complete an adoption application and tell us as much as possible about yourself, your home, other pets in the home, your environment, how long will the dog be alone during the day, etc. and one of our adoption coordinators will help you ensure your new dog and you are a good match. You are not alone in this process and after you have received your dog, we will continue to support you as your dog settles in and becomes a part of your family.

Complete an adoption application with as much information about your particular criteria in a dog as possible. What kind of home will the dog live in, how long will it be alone during the day, are you looking for a calm, lap dog or one that is more active for jogging or hiking with you, one that gets along with cats, is great with small children? Our adoption coordinators will help you evaluate the dogs available and which one might be the right fit for you and your family.

Our dogs are primarily rescued from the streets or outlying area around La Paz. To learn as much as possible about their medical condition, they are given a physical exam including blood tests for diseases common to this area. Some are given other tests depending on their age, where they were found, and any symptoms they displayed. They are treated and this is documented in their veterinary record, along with all vaccines, deworming, and preventative care. This record is provided to adopters prior to the dog being transported. You can read more about our veterinary protocols in the adopters handbook here.

One of the most important things we recommend is professional dog training classes. These are as important for you as they are for the dog. Many trainers will tell you they are actually teaching the owners — not the dogs. And even if you have been to classes with other dogs – you will benefit from going with your new adopted dog because each dog is different and has a different personality and temperament. In addition, a professional trainer can look at your handling of your dog more objectively than you can.

Our adoption coordinators will help you understand how to prepare your home and how to help your dog adapt. We have a document called Pet’s first 30 days that you should read to help you understand how a dog transitions when being moved from one home or environment to another. In addition, we have an online community of adopters, volunteers, and fosters (including the person who fostered your adopted dog) that share information, updates, medical information, results of DNA tests, photos, etc. Adopters from the same area share trainers they found and like, great pet stores, vets, and even arrange play dates with other adopters of Baja Dogs. It is fun to see dogs that knew each other in La Paz have a chance to play together again. Our goal is to continue to support you and your adopted dog for the rest of the dog’s life.

Here are the three most common ways your adopted dog will travel to get from his or her foster home in La Paz to you:

1. In some cases a volunteer who is traveling to the same city or a nearby city will take your dog as their personal pet. You pick the dog up at the arriving airport.
2. We have adopters who vacation in Mexico and will travel to La Paz or Cabo San Lucas (about 2.5 hours away by car) and will fly their own rescued dog home.
3. The most common way is for your dog to be driven in our transport van from La Paz to San Diego. This is a 2.5 day journey up the Baja peninsula, over the border to the Alaska Airlines Air Cargo office located at the San Diego airport. Baja Dogs La Paz has an arrangement with Alaska Airlines to ship dogs to designated cities that have an Air Cargo office with hours of operation that coincide with the arrival time of the dog’s flight. We look for direct, nonstop flights to minimize the stress on the dog. The cost of this transport is $300 USD per dog.
4. In some cases, if there is a connecting flight through Seattle, we will work with an overnight boarding facility at the airport to ensure your dog is walked, watered, and fed and then returned to the Seattle Air Cargo office for the next leg of its flight. The cost of the overnight boarding is between $100 and $150 depending on the arrival and departure times of the dog’s flight. This is the method we use to get dogs to Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is the safest and most dependable. There is also a $55.00 return crate fee (this is the charge by Alaska to send the crate back to us after you pick up your dog).

Municipal shelters receive funding from the government, generally through your tax dollars. As a non-profit rescue organization, we do not receive this type of assistance. Our average cost per dog is $400 USD without including any transport fees. We make up for the shortfall between the adoption fees we collect and our actual cost with crowdfunding campaigns, fundraiser events, private donors, and sales from our store.

An advantage you have when you adopt from us is that we have a lot of information on each of our dogs because they are in foster homes. We can tell you which are fostered with cats, small children, other dogs, etc. Instead of being in a shelter, these dogs are well on their way to being good family pets prior to adoption.