Liz Dorsett
You’ve Adopted a Dog: Preparing for Transportation

You’ve adopted a dog and are ready to meet your new friend! But, before that can happen, Faithful Companions Dog Rescue (FCDR) has to get them to you! Currently, we use Critter Getter Pet Transportation located in Alabama.
We get a lot of questions about transporting your dog, so we thought we would educate you a bit on this process.
Dogs are prepared for transportation
Before we put the dog on our website for adoption, the dog has been neutered/spayed (age appropriate) and starts the vaccination/health screening process. The following are included in the adoption fee):
DA2PP, or similar distemper/parvo vaccination
Rabies vaccine (age appropriate)
Interstate health certificate/pre-transport vet visit
Negative fecal
De-worming
Heartworm test (over 6 months)
Flea, tick, and heartworm preventative
All dogs are either heartworm negative or have been treated for heartworm under the care of a veterinarian
Temperament test

Once the dog has been approved for travel, FCDR contacts you to choose a pickup location. We will tell you where the transport is planning to stop and you pick a location. After the location has been chosen, there is yet more work to be done. It takes a village to get your dog to you!
FCDR tells the shelter what dogs have been adopted and the shelter prepares them for travel. The dogs are bathed and all paperwork finalized before they leave (envelopes prepared with the names of adopters and rescue).
FCDR provides the transport with a list of the adopted dogs coming north.
Keep in mind that it is very inconvenient for everyone involved in the adoption process if a location pickup is changed. Unless it is an emergency, most rescues and shelters won’t allow you to change the pickup location. They don’t have time to redo all the paperwork and contact the people involved.
Day of arrival
Finally, your new dog or pup arrives at the pickup location. We encourage you to bring water, food, and a bowl for your puppy. They don’t feed them a lot of food while on the transport to minimize sickness.
During this time of the coronavirus pandemic, we ask you to wear a mask and gloves before heading to the transport to get your dog and records. Now it is time to take your dog home!