We adopted a dog from them on 2/8 I believe, the foster mom was great, she didn't have her for long. We got her very skinny (again no fault of the foster she is awesome!). She was sent to us with some panacur which we gave her and then we have been feeding her as much as we could. She got bad diarrhea a couple weeks into us getting her which landed us at the vet. Now 5 vet visits later and we were given a VERY sick dog. Thank god she ended with us but it's truly ridiculous how little they vet these dogs. We are now $2600+ in the hole only having her for a month. We still don't know what's wrong as we are waiting on more tests. She won't gain ANY weight. Do not adopt from them. read more

The Grateful Dog - Cali - Animal Shelters Near Me

We were approved to adopt a dog, then waited several days to be contacted to meet him. We were then given three brief weeknight windows, none of which worked bc I have to work and can't just suddenly change my schedule. I let the foster know that we could come the following weekend, and her response was that we had better pounce on the dog bc lots of other folks were interested. We were not asking for the dog to be held for weeks, simply to coordinate schedules. Apparently this rescue approves a bunch of folks' applications, then adopts out the dog to whoever can get there first. We were not told this when we were approved Or before we spent an hour filling out the application. It feels like a really poor and reckless way to do animal adoptions, and we want nothing to do with it. read more

This is a total SCAM. I work full time from home so figured that is why I got approved so quickly. Applied 8/9/25 -(received emails from Kate aka Kaitlyn H.) reply on application 8/13/25 Thanks for your patience in waiting for my reply! Seb is still available. He is currently being fostered with my dad and has been a sweet little boy. He gets along great with his other dogs, and is great with his two cats as well. He is petite less than 10 pounds. He is getting his 3rd booster tomorrow and will be ready to go home after this. If you have any questions about him or are interested in scheduling a meet and greet, please let me know! Looking forward to hearing from you. Then I get an email: 8/15/25I just wanted to reach back out to ask a few questions. Seb is only about 3 months old. Your emails above sound like you work a full time job, which is fine, but is a pretty long time for a little pup to go throughout the work day, 5 days a week, in a time when training is going to be essential in his growth. I am unsure if a pup this young would be a great fit for your home, but a younger--closer to year old or over--would be more appropriate. I think you are going to run into Seb being too much energy being alone for 8 hours a day so I think it might be best to discuss other dogs that would be better fitting. We want everyone to be happy and think this might not be the best placement for Seb when he really is going to need the next few months to a year dedicated to training and growth. I replied I work from Home its on my application. Than I get an email later the same day 8/15/25: Thank you so much for your continued interest and for your understanding throughout this process. We truly appreciate the care and thoughtfulness you've shown regarding Seb's future. I'd like to clarify that our hesitance with moving forward is not so much with the 9-5 work schedule. It is Seb's very strong love and dependency for other dogs and the outlet he will lack without them. We feel that having canine companionship is very important for his social development and overall happiness. Seb is still young and requires ongoing socialization, training, and outlets for his energy. Without the presence of other dogs or consistent social interaction that he is used to, we're concerned that he might find it challenging to adjust and could develop behavioral issues down the line. We want to do everything possible to set him up for a smooth transition and long-term success, as well as an adopter to prevent any sort of disruption to their daily life and needs as much as possible. Please understand this decision wasn't made lightly and it is never our intention to upset an applicant. Our priority is to ensure Seb finds a home where his social needs are met, and while he is a VERY sweet boy, we want to avoid what we feel is a potential return down the road. That is not to any fault of your own, but after carefully discussing his needs further, which ultimately we do know best, we are confident at this point he needs to be placed in a home with other dogs. I have reported them to the authorities and reached out to the other local animal shelters near them in the Portland, ME area as they may be affiliated with them. Was also advised to reach out to Maine Animal Welfare/Humane Dept. and Maine Business Alliance. Maybe even my local state representative. read more

I adopted my dog Skylar last month and had a great experience before, during, and after adoption. Communication was great, Kate was thorough with answering questions about the dog and informal with important vetting information. The rescue checked in after i took Skylar home and was more than willing to provide advice or tips for her transition. Super impressed. read more

I have both fostered and adopted dogs through this organization and its be nothing but a great experience. Communication was great and any help I needed someone always was quick to reply. When I fostered they gave me food and a crate and even some toys for the dog which I thought was really cool. I love my grateful dog dogs and so happy I found them! read more

The Grateful Dog - Animal Shelters Near Me

See all

All I can start out saying is: "wow". I have never experienced such unprofessional, poorly run, rude, and disappointing organization that is supposedly geared to matching dogs and their new forever homes . My wife and I started working with Kate who told us that after our application, our checked references and a quick interview that we were excepted into the adoption and that when she returned from travel, we would be meeting our dog and were told to come with "leash and collar". Radio silence for a week, though that expectation was set as Kate said that she was out of town. Prior to leaving we did agree on a weekend time to meet and pick up our new pup. As I said, we heard nothing for a week and when we sent another email requesting a location, time, and other pertinent details we were told the following (condensed to bullets by me, no quotes): * there were someone else that jumped the line and is meeting our dog first, they now seem to have first choice as to whether to accept or decline the adoption to the animal we were promised. * We were told that we lacked breed experience, though it was never questioned in the application or any of our conversations, nor do we lack the experience with this specific breed. * Additionally we were told because we have another dog in the house. We are not suitable candidates. This was never mentioned, and in all of the documentation we were told that he is great with other dogs, just not cats. * Kate sends the dog to daycare everyday where he is left to someone else's oversight, while we both work from home and set as much. Additionally, two academic research papers say that, especially for rescue dogs, having another dog in the house is incredibly palliative. * Finally, Kate became unbelievably rude, condescending, and unprofessional. As you might imagine, not only were we shocked, we were surprised and upset. We sent emails qualifying our background, providing proof against these new criteria that have been allegedly part of the process since the beginning. Nothing. It clearly is an organization that does not deserve to exist. I have since reached out to and connected with the Maine Animal Welfare/Humane Department, as well as to the Maine Business Alliance to get a better understanding of how this organization conducts itself and if they truly are a registered nonprofit able to attain a license to provide adoption services for animals. Based on the previous two reviews, it seems like this is how this organization does business: picks and chooses their favorites based on...absolutely nothing whatsoever. Avoid like Route 95 south the day after Labor Day read more

I have three awesome puppers from the Grateful Dog! Here are two of my foster fails, Bugsy and Twinks. The nonstop work that this rescue does to save so many lives is amazing and the community of fosters and adopters is such a wonderful group to be a part of. read more

The Grateful Dog - Bugsy and Twinkie my grateful dogs - Animal Shelters Near Me

I fostered with them and I was sent home with a dog that was allegedly dog friendly. She was extremely aggressive towards my dog and had active kennel cough, something they conveniently left out until I looked at her vet records. I spoke to animal control and other people have had issues with them in the past. They told me based on the date of diagnosis she should've been in isolation. So now I have to worry about my dog being sick now. I would absolutely not recommend using this rescue. read more

I saw these reviews but decided to overlook them because they had a dog that sounded absolutely perfect for us. They were fast about the application process and I was feeling optimistic. After they approved us, Kaitlyn emailed us wondering when we were available for a meet and greet. I emailed them multiple times over the course of a week with availability and expressing how excited we were. They completely ghosted us with absolutely no explanation and broke our hearts. I am a professional positive dog trainer of 10yrs with an ideal home for any rescue dog and glowing references. It's beyond me why they would deny this dog the perfect home. They also recommend some pretty heinous "training" tactics with their rescue dogs such as jabbing them in the ribs if they express discomfort in the crate and general emotional neglect to "assert dominance". They recommend a highly abusive dog trainer in their welcome packet which was shocking to me. How a rescue can claim to be doing good for dogs and then promoting the neglect and abuse of said dogs is wild... Don't waste your time and definitely don't follow their training advice they give you. read more

Well, the family went to look at dogs and met "the" dog for us. However, being a pit bull, my wife had concerns. I alleviated 3 of her concerns but, the final concern, I needed some help. I reached out to Grateful Dog Rescue and requested some help to see if we could alleviate the final hurdle. Instead of assisting, I got a response saying they would not adopt a pitbull to us. I found this behavior to go against the spirit of finding their dog a forever home. I would have expected more from a shelter especially one that would have gone to a good home with the info assistance. Thank you Rebecca (spelling) for making me understand the organization. I feel bad the real victim here is Jersey Mike (doggo up for adoption). read more

please bear in mind that this rescue is under legal scrutiny for animal abuse and misconduct. as much as these animals need to be adopted out and properly cared for, beware of what she says about these animals and bear in mind it could be false. some were told a dog was friendly with cats and dogs when not the case. some were told "oh they're bonded". don't believe the lies read more

Grateful Dog claims they do not have a facility that houses their rescues. They lead you to believe that your pup is being fostered at a home anywhere in New England. This is absolutely not the case...not even close. It was my understanding that my newly adopted dog was in the care of someone with a kind heart who was watching over him until the day of our meet n' greet. My dog was brought to me in a rusted out vehicle by some dude who knew nothing about my dog. He told us that his role with this organization is to clean cages, do laundry and bring dogs to their new owners. If there is no facility, why was this guy referencing everything in plural. This alerted me to the possibility that there were multiple dogs in cages. To my horror, when the dude opened the hatch to reveal my precious puppy, he was lying in a tiny crate that was filled with vomit. Some of it was already dry which provoked the question, "How long has this puppy been in that crate in the back of this car?" Since he was 3 months old, I asked what his bathroom habits were...expecting to hear that he was, at least, partially house broken. Instead, "Oh, when they go to the bathroom it just goes on a pad." Again, the word "they" implies multiple dogs that are in crates or cages. We love our sweet boy, but the amount of money we had to pay and the rigorous vetting process does not make any sense. Just OUTRAGEOUS and we feel taken advantage of. If I could give them ZERO stars I would read more

Lack of communication and follow up: did not respond to multiple queries about dogs; had to apply to adopt a specific dog before getting any communication; when I had to cancel a meet and greet appointment due to a home repair emergency, my attempts to reschedule the appointment went unanswered. Note: GD does not have a facility; all dogs are in foster care, which can require a long drive to actually see a pet. read more