RESOURCES: FAQ's, FORMS, AND IMPORTANT POSTS

Our training program is heavily focused around creating calmness and teaching your dog self control. Our clients seek to work with us because they want ultimate off-leash reliability, and safety when interracting with their dogs inside and out in the world.

We begin our training process with long line leash work, and specialize in remote collar training that is fair and positive for your dog. Some dogs do best on a combination of prong collar and remote collar, while other may graduate on a slip lid or halti and remote collar. 

Our process is systematic, steady, and respectful of your individual dog or puppy’s comfort and clarity level. Results vary in a three week to five week Board and Train stay, and long term outcomes are based on YOU and your dog. Your dog must experience your follow through and investment of time, not just your financial investment in the initial training program. 

Food rewards are often used to condition initial concepts or tools, but this is determined based on what is most helpful to each dog, as some dogs are overstimulated by food and this can become counterproductive when seeking to build more calmness, for example. 

Effective January 1, 2019 

All payments made to Hope2K9 Foundation and it’s affiliated trainers are non-refundable and non-transferrable.

Due to the extensive amount of time we have reserved for your dog’s Board and Train or Boarding stay, rescheduling is permitted with one week notice, but the full value of your program payment remainder must be used within 90 days of the originally schedueld date.

We begin our investment in YOU and your dog immediately via phone, email, and free in-person evaluations, as well as in the first program session’s commencement. You are responsible to follow through on your end of the homework given at all times, both in preparation for your dog’s success during Board and Train, as well as between private session appointments or following a Board and Train program.

Every dog is unique and follows it’s own process and path in relationship to age, genetics, environmental challenges, the human(s) in the environment, diet, health, and so much more. We cannot ethically claim a “guarantee” of behavior outcomes, but we can absolutely guarantee our work as fair, effective, ethical, and committed to you. 

Before engaging in a program or making any payment, you are respondible to ensure you feel informed of, and committed to the process. Your payment is a statement that you are confident in the desired direction we will go, you will partner with your trainer to serve your dog’s needs, you will comunicate reilably with your trainer and advocate for any questions or concerns you may have at any time, and you will allow Hope2K9 to support you with any complaint resolutions you may have. 

Once your payment has been received, you are stating to Hope2K9 that you are responsible for and committed to your own outcomes in training your dog. 

Sometimes! Most programs work better if you don’t visit your dog during their stay, but sometimes it’s helpful to book a training session or two along the way, or we may even want to send your dog home for a couple of days to see how they do midway. Generally it’s best to think of Board and Train as your dog being away at “school” to gain a consistent and intentionally immersive education, away from you/home where often bad habits were formed. If your dog is in need of training due to Separation Anxiety specifically, then visits with you during their program can be completely confusing to them before they’ve detoxed and build new skills of self soothing and independence. 

Missing you dog is normal, and you don’t need to feel bad about that. Your dog will be loved, fulfilled, and safe in a family home environment. We will regularly post updates and ensure you get to see how they’re doing, and what they’re learning. 

 Thank you for your interest in adopting from Hope2K9 Foundation, our trained adoptable dogs rock! In order to make the process smooth, and as fulfilling as possible for you, it is important that you will read the complete guidelines and procedures outlined for our adoption process below.

We are not a public shelter, so you can’t visit without an appointment. Our adoptable dogs are with the training team, or a foster family, in private homes throughout their stay. When we receive an application, we share a phone call with you first, then if we all feel the match is a good potential, we schedule you a meet and greet appointment. Be prepared to travel, the dog you’re interested in could be in Downtown San Diego, North County, or Lake Elsinore. 

We have invested weeks and sometimes months into these dogs, training them, socializing them, proofing them to ensure they have rockstar life skills that we know you will positively adore if one of them should join your home and family. In order to preserve our work, and set both the dogs and adopters up for success, we have a proven screening and matching process that will save everyone a lot of heartache and wasted hours on the phone if the dog you admire is not going to be successful in your home.

So lets get to it… here’s how it all goes down:

The first step in adopting a dog from Hope2K9 is to submit an application. The application can be found HERE.
If you have questions before submitting an application, please email cameron@hope2k9.com.

Once we receive your application, and a good potential match is determined, you will be invited to schedule a meet and greet with the adoptable dog you’re interested in. At your meet and greet, you will be advised if the placement of that dog in your home is something our team feels would be good, and whether or not you are free to decide on adopting the dog. Meet and greets should be something your entire family, and/or existing dogs attend, so we can be sure EVERYONE is on the same page.

Before the dogs in our program go “home,” you are required to participate in TWO one on one training sessions which take place on back to back days, showing you how to work the dog, the tools involved, their commands and specific personality traits, as well as any other trouble shooting for behavior which may present in your home. These two sessions are critical to everyone’s success, as your dog has been given a language with which to move through the world successfully, and you too need to learn this language in order to be your dog’s best advocate and ally. Go home sessions are super fun, as you discover the “new toy” your trained dog will become, locked and loaded with awesome skills to fully enjoy life by your side. Again, the entire family should attend these sessions, and we will advise whether or not your current dog(s) need to be there too.

In some cases we can and will schedule the meet and greet to INCLUDE the first go home training session, if we feel the likelihood of the match is going to go through and that we can save you some time and travel. This way we can also allow for the necessary time to move from getting to know you, to starting to train you, on the spot.

PLEASE NOTE: For our fully trained dogs, there are no exceptions to this process of booking TWO go home training sessions, unless you have been a previous client or adopter and have familiarity with the tools and systems we use. 

The Adoption Fee for fully trained and vetted dogs is $1500, our adoption fees may range from $400 for senior dogs, or dogs who are not requiring the complete board and train program. Your tax deductible adoption fee will be collected when you complete your adoption contract, and is used to cover the cost of the dog’s training tools, trainer time, dog food, medical care, and much more that we provide during each dog’s stay.

Your adoption also comes with lifetime support from our training team, as long as you own your Hope2K9 dog. We have an incredibly high success rate of great matches, happy families, and dogs not being returned thanks to the training investment we make beforehand. 

 Hope2K9 occasionally accepts owner-surrendered dogs. If you’re a dog owner, facing behavioral issues or life circumstances that threaten your ability to keep your dog, Hope2K9 exists first and foremost to provide support and training solutions to help your dog remain in your home. Even foster services may be provided at times when temporary housing is what you may need. We invite you to attend one of our FREE community classes, or reach out with a training services contact form and include notes about financial hardship if necessary, so that we can adequately counsel you regarding your options. We may have a limit on how soon we can take your dog if they do qualify for our program, and we may ask that you make a donation when surrendering as well. 

We do not accept dangerous dogs. If you are looking to surrender a dog because it is has a bite history with humans, we will not accept this type of behavior potential for dogs in our adoption program.

Dangerous dogs who pose a liability to YOU, pose the same liability to a future owner. In fact, it’s even more dangerous for a dog to be trained and appear safer than it is, since a new owner will not have the ability to respect your dog’s behavior potential as a continued risk in the future. Please be responsible, and do not pass off a dog who is dangerous to unsuspecting adopters via a shelter or rescue. 

 More information on fostering can be found in our foster manual and in the How Can I Help FAQ, but we welcome you to review our foster application (HERE) and get the ball rolling to determine is fostering for H2K9 is a good fit for all of us! We will connect with you by phone and share our manual over email, then you can let us know if/when you’re ready to move forward. 

Fostering with our organization is a bit different than with most rescues, as we do train you on our systems, tools, and basic ways to share good leadership with your foster dog to ensure their adoptive success. We provide everything you need, and you do not have to incur any expense when fostering. 

Our foster need is usually for one to two weeks, but occasionally we do have slightly longer term needs. You can dictate the size and type of dogs you’re comfortable fostering, and your availability, we truly want the experience to be a positive one for you, so we are super supportive and flexible. 

Our dogs are crate trained, have learned to not pull on leash or rush through doorways, to not jump on people, take food or other items without permission, and to remain calm on command – allowing them to go anywhere with you and enjoy simply being by your side no matter the environment or stimulus.

Our base commands empower you to share a common language with your new dog, to guide and direct them through adjusting to your home and routine, as well as to continue to develop them as they settle in and bond with you. The training in place is a powerful tool to developing a healthy and intentional relationship from the start of your journey together, rather than winging it and sending your new dog mixed messages.

Your dog will know to wait for permission before taking their food, to sit when you stop in heel on walks, and that “let’s go” means come along with me and keep track of me. They will also know the following most commonly used commands:

Place – for the dog this means “lay down and stay put with a calm mind until I tell you differently.” This is your dog’s off switch. Teaches calm on command, so you have a chill dog when you need it.
Come – come directly to you when called.
Heel – walks politely at your side without pulling/off leash (off leash reliability developed through our remote collar training program)
Out – our “leave it, drop it, give it up, never mind” command (addresses resource guarding as well).
Sit
Down
Off – get down off of furniture or other objects.

Yes, we do! We still require the above listed adoption procedures to be followed, including and especially the training sessions before your dog goes home – to properly pair you with your new dog and their training language on board. If you’re interested in a dog in our program and you are not local, we can discuss a custom solution to making this match happen if the fit is just too good to pass up

We aren’t here to pressure anyone into something they don’t want. If you want a fully trained dog from us and not follow through with the tools and systems, we may determine that’s not a good fit for some dogs who truly thrive with consistency, direction, and accountability. In some cases, we may see the long term fit regardless of your follow through, and any adoption allows for a new owner to decide what they’re willing to tolerate from their dog. 

Be honest about your concerns, so we can show you why we have the process we do, and just know that our ability to follow through on our end of the agreement will be hindered if you don’t fulfill yours. 

Training saves lives, and most of the dogs in our program arrived at homelessness because they weren’t given the tools and knowledge needed to be a successful member of society from the start. We hope you’ll trust us based on the numerous success stories, and be as excited as our prior adopters to receive a fully trained dog with such a turn key education.  

Our trained adoptable dogs, with a fee of $1500, have been through a $3300+ training program, received $200-$500+ in vet services (minimum), and come with lifetime support resources from our team. Each dog receives training collars and leashes, three hours of adoption transition sessions, digital preparation materials for adopters, transition food supply/supplements, and a “trainer on retainer” to ensure you can tackle any challenges you may encounter long term.

Our adoption fee covers a program that provides up front insight in to the right dog match for you/your family, empowering you to know your dog’s skills, language, personality and temperament, and that they have been living in a home environment for many weeks to learn to remain calm in a crate, walk well on a leash, ride well in the car, and how they socialize with people and pets.

Our adoption fee is now equivalent to three weeks of boarding a dog, only they come back with incredible life skills and known assessments and evaluations. Some adoption include a DNA test kit that’s already been completed to determine your dog’s dominant breed(s), and all of our adoption include spay/neuter, current on vaccines, and flea control. 

Each available dog should have a link out to their Petfinder listing, but here’s a link to our main shelter page. We also post a ton of daily content on Instagram, and if you look at the Highlight on our profile titled “Adoptable,” you’ll see our available dogs in action. 

Thank you for asking!

There are several specific ways you can help Hope2K9 Foundation meet our goals and give rescue dogs all that they need to flourish.

Direct Donations:

Needless to say, Hope2K9 Foundation relies on donations and fundraising to keep this mission moving forward in so many ways. Directly supporting the rescue with cash contributions allows us take on special needs cases that require more care (medication, nutrition, vetting, hospitalization, time, etc.), while restoring health and happiness to any friend that comes through our doors. We have dog expenses (training tools, food, trainer time, veterinary care, flea/tick prevention, bedding, toys, and more) as well as business expenses such as cleaning products, administrative materials, and utilities.

You can donate securely and conveniently through our Text to Give program; simply text “hope2k9” to 1-844-544-7171, or donate via Paypal here, and of course we can accept checks mailed to us directly.

Helping Us With Supplies and Necessities:

Another way you can directly help the Rescue is by helping fund items from our Amazon Wish List. These are the exact items we currently need, in order of importance, and you just can’t go wrong with any of these choices. This list will be maintained and kept current, so you always know exactly where your donation dollars are going. If you want to choose how you specifically impact the special dogs in our care, our Wish List is a great option for you.

Sponsor a Dog:

Another amazing impact you can have is through a complete corporate sponsorship, which is a gift of $1500. This is the average full cost required to help just ONE DOG through our training and rehabilitation program. By funding a sponsorship for a dog in need, you allow us to provide low or no cost training solutions that often mean a dog in trouble can STAY in his/her existing home. Behavior issues can threaten housing solutions, put children or other pets at risk, and any dog entering the shelter/rescue system is drastically increasing their risk of euthanasia. This is why we believe so strongly in providing education FIRST.

What’s in it for you:

Tax deductions!

Free promotion in our posts and videos on social media (We’ll use your # too)!

Feature your logo on our website as a sponsor!

Your (business) marketing materials (as provided by you) will be included in our Go Home Swag Bags, featured at our events, and included in website copy.

You can also help us a great deal by VOLUNTEERING or FOSTERING!

We often have needs for time spent walking, playing, or training the adoptable dogs in our care who are waiting for their forever homes. Please feel free to reach out to us about volunteering, we have an application process for volunteers and fosters, and you’ll be connected with our head trainer, Kerianne, to address which contribution is right for you.