Golden Retrievers in New England are very fortunate because so many people are looking out for their welfare. Many of you take the time to scan newspaper classified ads for "Free to Good Home" ads or the municipal pound listings required by law. Others of you go out of your way to personally visit shelters to see if Goldens are among the residents or peruse the bulletin boards at veterinary offices. Still others watch internet postings. Your dedication to this breed is amazing and heartwarming.

In many ways, you are truly the guardians of the Goldens and we, and they, really appreciate your vigilance. We have paid professional staff members who are responsible for making sure that Goldens in need receive YGRR services. In order to quickly and efficiently admit and place appropriate Rescue Goldens and make the best use of our staff's time, we would like to review for you the steps to take to refer a Golden to YGRR. Remember, we can only accept Goldens from the six New England states, but we can refer Goldens in other areas to appropriate rescues. (Please consult the All Breed section of this website for more information on rescues outside New England.)

PLEASE DO NOT COMMIT TO ANY GOLDEN ON BEHALF OF YGRR OR TAKE POSSESSION OF ANY GOLDEN INTENDING TO GIVE IT TO YGRR.

All Goldens must be admitted by qualified YGRR staff members or co-directors who know what questions to ask in order to evaluate the dog. These individuals have specialized skills which help them obtain background information which the dog's owner might not consider to be important or relevant. Furthermore, when our staff does a thorough intake interview, it enables us to to successfully place that dog because the more knowledge we have about the dog, the better able we will be to identify the best possible home for him or her.

Another reason that dogs may only be admitted by staff members or co-directors is because our staff needs to schedule the arrival of dogs at our collaborating veterinarians. Each of our veterinarians can only board a certain number of dogs at one time and we carefully orchestrate the arrival and departure of dogs in order to avoid overcrowding. Each hospital will always make room for emergencies but only the staff can decide what constitutes an emergency.

YGRR cannot accept any Golden that has bitten because we cannot legally place such a dog. This rule is non-negotiable because of the legal ramifications of putting a dog with a confirmed bite history into the general human population where it might severely injure someone -- possibly a small child. If we are contacted by the owner of a Golden that has bitten, we counsel the owner about the legal ramifications attached to placing an aggressive dog. We also suggest that the dog be seen by its veterinarian (to rule out a medical cause for the behavior) and an animal behaviorist to see if the behavior can be corrected. Background on our aggressive dog policy is available here.

Here's the way we would like you to proceed if you know of a Golden in need of our services:

If you see a Golden in a municipal pound, private shelter or internet list

Absolutely, positively we want you to make sure we know about the dog by calling the YGRR hotline (978) 568-9700 and leaving the details on Line 3. (We do not conduct rescue business via email.) We prefer that you do not call the pound or shelter -- please, leave that to us. Many times we will receive multiple calls about the same dog (as will the shelter or pound). Rather than having several calls to the extremely busy animal control officer (ACO) or shelter, it is more efficient to centralize all the reports with our staff and allow them to contact the facility to offer our services. However, please do not ever assume that someone else has called us. Every time we remove a Golden from a pound or shelter, we free up a space for another dog that may not have a rescue working for its benefit -- we buy that dog some more time.

Bear in mind that animal control officers and shelters are not required to give any Golden they have to YGRR. Many ACOs and shelters like to place Goldens themselves because they are usually easy dogs to place and a successful adoption is a morale booster. Some shelters do not surrender dogs to rescues because they believe it is their legal obligation to the dog's surrendering owner to place the dog themselves, rather than hand it over to us. This is an area that YGRR is working on with some major shelters.

You can help dogs avoid the intermediate step of a pound or shelter by continuing to spread the word about our organization to any Golden owners, veterinarians, ACOs or shelter staff you meet. The more people who know about our program, the more likely it is that if a Golden requires rehoming, it will come directly to YGRR rather than to a shelter and then to YGRR.

If you see a "Free to Good Home" ad

We prefer that you call the YGRR hotline (978) 568-9700 and leave a message on Line 3. Our staff can educate the dog's owner about the risks of these ads, and if the owner is committed to placing the dog him or herself, our staff can provide some helpful advice on how to safely place the dog. When you call the hotline, please make sure that you leave complete information including the date of the ad, the telephone number (including area code) and any other information included in the ad.

If you want to call the owner yourself, please do the following: Ask the dog's owner if he/she is still looking for a home for the Golden. If the answer is yes, ask the dog's owner whether he/she is aware of YGRR. Explain to the owner that YGRR specializes in placing Golden Retrievers and that we know the characteristics and needs of the breed. Tell the owner that YGRR has been doing this exclusively for 15 years and has placed thousands of Goldens. Explain that our professional adoption coordinators place each Golden very carefully, taking into consideration each individual dog's personality, after the adopters have been thoroughly interviewed by a volunteer. Then tell the owner that if he/she would like to contact YGRR for more information, the telephone number is: (978) 568-9700.

If the dog has been placed, ask the owner if he/she would take our hotline number and refer any callers to our Line 2 for adoption information. We may obtain some adopters that way!

If you know someone who wants to surrender a Golden

Please instruct the person to call the YGRR hotline (978) 568-9700 and leave a message on Line 3. Our staff will return their call promptly.


Please be assured that all calls about Goldens in need -- particularly those in pounds and shelters -- are a top priority. We will follow up. Our hotline is covered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is checked several times a day for emergencies.

If you call to report a dog who may need our services, you may also leave your name and number but we cannot promise that our staff will be able to report back to you. We apologize, but time constraints may prevent them from letting you know the outcome. But, we and the dogs really appreciate your taking the trouble on their behalf!

Thanks for your help!


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