Adopting a Rhodesian Ridgeback: The Process

Initially, you must complete the Potential Owners Form at the bottom of this page.

Having read your application, you will be placed on a waiting list. 

We will send regular newsletters to you, so please add [email protected] to your address book….and check your spam folder regularly.

It may take sometime for a suitable Ridgeback to become available and, if you have not heard from us within six months, we ask that you get in touch again just to let us know you are still interested.

Before completing a potential owners form …….

1). Think seriously about the time & commitment rehoming a dog will bring
2). Please ensure your home life is suitable for a dog to join your family
3). Ensure that you can look after a dog whilst going out to work 
4). Be able to collect the dog from it’s current location

If you feel you would like to consider the proposed Rhodesian Ridgeback, we will do a Home Check at a mutually convenient time. 

It is important that all members of the family want a Ridgeback and are present for the homecheck.

 An essential part of the home visit is an inspection of the garden, to make sure it is securely fenced. 

If you have a successful home check you will move onto the next stage.  If not, we will advise why.

Once a successful home check has been carried out, the adoption can proceed. 

You will be asked to complete an Adoption Form and to make a donation. We ask for a donation regardless of whether your potential Rhodesian Ridgeback is in our kennels, a foster home or still with their original owners as we incur costs for each rehoming. 

Without these funds, Ridgeback Rescue could not continue to care for the breed.

We will give you further details of where the dog is and you will be able to go and meet them. 

** We will supply as much information about the Rhodesian Ridgeback as possible, however we cannot guarantee their behaviour in every circumstance. 

If you feel they are the right dog for you, and everything is in place, you will be able to take them home. We will then arrange 5 weeks of free Insurance for your Rhodesian Ridgeback and transfer the Microchip Details into your name. 

If they are not the dog for you we will return your Adoption Donation.

Some things to keep in mind when you go to view your potential new companion: 

1. Sometimes the hound has not been given the necessary love and care and has developed some bad habits through lack of attention and training. 

2. Often the owner’s situation changes and the Rhodesian Ridgeback finds, through no fault of its own, that it can no longer live with them. Divorce, illness, a new baby and bereavement, can all be reasons why a Rhodesian Ridgeback needs a new home. 

3. Sometimes they have been found as a stray and we have no information about them.

A rescued Rhodesian Ridgeback will have been uprooted from the home it knows and may have spent some time in kennels, so it may take a while before it feels that your home is also its home. 

You must be prepared for some separation anxiety and you must not let your Rhodesian Ridgeback run free for several weeks. 

We advise that while you and your new companion are adjusting to each other, you set some basic rules and boundaries based on what sort of relationship you want with your dog in the future. 

Rhodesian Ridgebacks usually adapt to new circumstances quickly but you must have patience and understanding to help your new companion to adjust to a new life. 

Adopters must have realistic expectations with regard to the settling in period. Some Rhodesian Ridgebacks adapt very quickly to their new environment but others may have been through a great upheaval and take quite a long time to adjust.

We are always available with help and support for any Rhodesian Ridgeback adopted from us. 

We can ask Ridgeback Rescue Volunteers to visit if you feel that might be helpful or our Trustees are always at the end of the ‘phone. 

If you ever feel that you can no longer provide a home for your Rhodesian Ridgeback, you must let us know as we are here to offer help and support for our Rescue Ridgebacks for the entirety of their life and they must always come back to us.

Under NO circumstances must dogs or bitches be bred from. (Bitches must be spayed, and Dogs neutered at adoptees expense, if this has not already been done).

Should you, for any reason, find that you are unable to keep the dog, it MUST BE RETURNED TO US and no account passed into other hands.