For owners surrendering their dogs

If you need to relinquish ownership of your dog to IDR, these are the steps you will need to follow:

1. Contact Us

Illinois Doberman Rescue makes it a point to try to keep our rescued Dobermans in foster homes versus a shelter or kennel situation to ease the trauma of losing their homes. However your dog most likely will go to our kennel facility first so do not expect to be dropping your dog off at someone’s home. Accordingly, we always have a limited amount of space available. If you need to relinquish ownership of your dog, please contact Pam Abare-Newton at orphandobe@ameritech.net or phone her at 847.277.1082. (Please note that you can expect a faster response via email.) As our Intake Coordinator, Pam will work with you to find space in our program for your Doberman. DO NOT EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO DROP YOUR DOBERMAN OFF THE SAME DAY. Please note that our highest priority is rescuing Dobermans from high kill shelters.

2. Owner Surrender Form

Illinois Doberman Rescue requires that you complete our “IDR Canine Intake Sheet” to help us learn as much as possible about your Doberman. Please be very detailed when completing this form since the information will help us find the right home for your dog in the future. That will need to be faxed or emailed back once completed. Please email it to orphandobe@ameritech.net or fax to 847.745.0471. You will also be requested to send a photo to that email.

3. Meet and Greet

Before accepting your Doberman into our program, a member of IDR’s Intake Committee might need to meet your dog to evaluate his/her temperament. If we do need to meet your doberman then you would be asked to drive your Doberman to the closest IDR representative for this meeting. If your dog displays any overt aggression, he/she may not be considered for our program. We do not always need to meet ahead of time, but it is possible this will be requested.

4. Medical Information

Since we are a not-for-profit group that operates mainly on donations, we would greatly appreciate any effort you could make to bring your dog’s medical records up to adoption standards. Ideally, we would appreciate if you update your dog’s vaccinations including rabies, perform a heartworm test, and spay or neuter the dog depending on its gender. We can always refer you to a low-cost clinic for these services. If you cannot afford to do all of these things, try to do what you can. Please provide IDR with a copy of these records. We prefer them to be faxed with the surrender form ahead of time. We will not turn down your dog if he is not current.

5. Returning A Doberman That You Adopted from IDR

If you need to return a Doberman that you adopted from our program, please remember that you are contractually required to contact us and discuss the return. We will usually accept the return of any IDR+ Doberman depending upon the reason. It is important, however, that you still provide us with notice so that we can find room for your dog. Also, please note that we will rely on you to provide transport of your Doberman back to us and don’t forget to bring along your original adoption contract (yellow copy) if you still have it.

6. Fee & Supplies

Rescuing dogs is very costly. We will have to feed, house, and provide medical services to your Doberman (and many other Dobermans from shelters) until we can re-home him. Please provide a monetary fee when dropping off your dog, at least $25 or more, CASH ONLY. Additionally, please bring along your dog’s supplies when you drop him off. Your Doberman could possibly be made to feel a little more comfortable through this very traumatic experience if he has some belongings from home such as his blanket, toys, food, crate, leash, collar, etc.