Starting the conversation - Adoption Matching for Home2Home

Adoption applications for your beloved pet arrive in your inbox, and you wonder, ‘How do I decide who’s best for my pet?’

Conversations to rehome your pet can be challenging and emotional. So, we’ve put together some tips to help you confidently navigate this. Don’t forget, your Adoption Support Representative is also here to support you through the matching process!

The goal

Forget everything you have heard about pet adoption applications. From the screening questions to reference checks to ‘suitability tests’. Research shows that no matter how much effort is put into screening out ‘bad adopters’, this approach is not consistently effective at preventing poor relationships between people and their pets.

The key is to match the adopter’s expectations with the reality of living with your pet. The closer you can match these, the more likely your pet will be loved for who they are. In turn, this results in a successful home for the foreseeable future.

Your goals when matching your pet to their new people are:

Have a conversation with the person interested in adopting your pet. Find out what they want and need from their future pet.
Assess if the life they describe sounds like an excellent match for your pet’s wants and needs.
Help them get to know your pet. Their perks and quirks, favourite things, food they don’t like even though it costs a fortune.
Set the stage for the beginning of a beautiful friendship at your meet and greet!

Remember, it’s all about the relationship!

The plan

The matching process through Home2Home is flexible. Everyone has their own way they prefer to communicate. It all starts with the potential adopter expressing interest in your pet via email. From there, it flows in whatever form works best for those involved.

Often, owners will give the potential adopters a call to get to know them. This helps the conversation flow and questions get answered quickly. Tell them all about your pet. Video calls can be both fun and useful for this!

Next you will all meet in person to see how your pet and their potential new family get along.

Below are some tips for each stage of the process.

The Call

Schedule a call when both parties have plenty of time to chat.
Ask open-ended questions to start the conversation. Give the adopter plenty of time to tell you about themselves, their homes, and what they are looking for in their pet. Some examples are;
- ‘Please tell me a bit about yourself and what you are looking for in a new dog/cat/bunny.’
- ‘Have you had pets before?’
- ‘What made you want to know more about Roger Rabbit?’
- ‘What does a normal day with your ideal dog look like?’
As the conversation develops, tell them what aspects sound like a fabulous fit for your pet and flag any areas where you see a bit of a mismatch with them. Then help them to troubleshoot any potential problems before they become a reality. Remember that you know your pet best, but they know their situation, so troubleshooting is a joint challenge!
If your pet doesn’t sound like an excellent match for the people, tell them upfront and explain why. Don’t forget to point them back to the PetRescue website to find other pets who are also looking for a wonderful family.
All is going well? Set up a time to meet in person!

The Meet and Greet

Organise the meeting for when everyone has plenty of time. You don’t want to cut it short because someone is in a rush to get to another event.
Don’t forget that the potential adopter is probably feeling a little nervous, too. Food and good conversation are often good ways to help people relax.
Meet where your pet is most comfortable and likely to enjoy interacting with new people. For some pets, this will be at their own home, while others might do best meeting out and about in public and showing off their fantastic social skills. For pets who find specific environments stressful, you might use the meet and greet to see how they go at their potential new home. There are no rules, just make sure everyone is safe, and your pet is comfortable.
Take your pet’s favourite treats and toys to help speed up relationship building between your pet and the potential adopter.
Remember that, hopefully, this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between your pet and their new people. If all is going well, allow them to spend some time together alone with you close by in case you are needed.
Some households will have existing pets. It’s great if all the animals involved are willing and able to come to the meet and greet. For pets who need a little extra time to get to know new family members, that’s ok too!
- For social dogs - meeting in a public park or other area that neither dog visits frequently for a low-key walk together is usually best.
- For dogs who are worried by new environments and people - doing introductions in an outdoor space that they are very comfortable with can be a good option.
- For any animals that need a bit of time to get to know each other over days or weeks - make a plan with the adopter for how this will happen and focus on the human-pet relationship during the initial greet.

The Handover

All has gone well! Your pet’s new family has completed the adoption paperwork, and the day has come for their new adventure. Mostly, how this looks is governed by what is practical for everyone involved.

Some tips to help:

Try to make the handover early in the day so that the pet has time to investigate their new house and settle into their space before bedtime. This should help with first-night jitters.
Send your pet with their essential items, especially those that have their scent on them. Items such as their bed, their favourite toy or your slipper that they stole as a puppy and sleep with every night.
Don’t forget that your pet will have a big first day in their new home, so they need to be mentally fresh. A morning walk for your dog is good, but an extended play at the dog park is not.
Try to make the handover as smooth and efficient as possible. Emotions will run high for everyone, so have a plan in your head and do your best to stick to it.
Remind your pet’s new people that you would love some updates and pictures and that you and the Home2Home team are there to support them.