On this page, you will meet the dogs that are available for adoption in parts of New York who are currently staying with foster families.

If you do not live in this area, please look at the map on the right and click on your area. You will be directed to the appropriate page which will allow you to meet the dogs available for adoption in your area.

Read about the breed
If you haven't before experienced the pleasure—and the challenge—of living with a husky, we recommend you visit our breed information page.

Submit an application
If, after reading about these lively dogs and their antics, you feel you are up for the challenge and you live in our servicing area, fill out an adoption application. (If you are outside our servicing areas, check the national rescue site at www.siberianrescue.com for a rescue closer to you.)

The application process
After you submit your adoption application, a member of our application committee will email or call you to confirm we have received your application. If you are emailed, expect a call within the next couple days to discuss & review your application. The reviewer will be asking questions and taking notes based on your answers to get an idea on what type of dog will be a good fit for both your family and any other pets in your home. This process is important in determining suitability for the actual adoption day. Once we have confirmed your personal information, we will then confirm your vet references. This may take between one and six days depending on the availability of the references, as vet offices are often busy and often we must wait for a return call. After the vet check is complete, we contact your personal references. Once they have been contacted, the application process is complete. At this point the approved applications are forwarded to a TOTTSHR volunteer that is in charge of scheduling the appointment for your adoption and home check.

The adoption appointment
A TOTTSHR volunteer scheduler will then contact you to review the dogs currently available in your area. In reviewing these dogs with you they will also go over the specifics of what you are looking for in your new dog. This helps the scheduler to try and pin point which dogs might be the best candidates to bring to your home taking into account things such as: if you have kids, dogs, cats, the height of your fence if you have one, the energy level you are looking for and more. The scheduler will discuss with the foster parents/owner surrenders your situation and any positives or negatives of their particular dog being suitable. The scheduler will also ask them to confirm their availability over the next 2 or so weeks to set up transport of the dogs to your home. Because most volunteers have full-time jobs, the appointment will almost always be on a weekend. It’s natural for you to be anxious to welcome your new family member, and if it seems we are taking too long to get back to you to schedule the adoption day, its just because we are working hard to bring you the best available dogs for your home. We will try to make this process as speedy as possible, as these dogs deserve to start their new life with you as soon as possible.

The scheduler will then contact you to schedule an appointment for your adoption and home check. We will come to your home with two or three dogs that we feel, based on our discussions with you, would fit well in your family. If we all feel a particular dog is a good match, you can adopt the dog at that time, and the process is complete. We hope that your home is the very last stop on the dog's journey and we do all we can to help you and your dog make the transition easier, including providing you with an information packet loaded with tips and phone numbers. We also call you periodically to see how things are going and to help you work through any issues that may have arisen after the adoption.

• Spay/Neuter - While some veterinarians are spaying and neutering dogs at younger than 6 months, we feel that it is safer for the dog to wait until they have reached 6 months of age before having them undergo the surgery. For dogs that have not reached 6 months of age, we do require a $150 deposit that we return to you when you provide us with proof that the dog has been spayed or neutered.
• Complete Diagnostic Blood Panel - These tests that are not normally ordered by many shelters and rescue groups are run to ensure the proper functioning of internal organs and to detect possible infection. It also provides baseline values for the future care of the dog.
• Senior Wellness Profile w/ T4 - is done on all dogs 8 years and older (includes urinalysis and T4 Thyroid panel).
• Heartworm Test - If the heartworm test is negative, the dog is placed on regular heartworm preventative. If the heartworm test is positive, the dog is treated to eradicate the heartworms and then placed on regular heartworm preventative.
• Lyme Test (C4) - If the dog is positive the dog will be treated for Lyme and a follow up C6 Antigen Lyme test will be done.
• Rabies vaccination - done every 3 years, if no prior medical history is available the dog is given a 3-year Rabies vaccination.
• DHP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo) vaccination - done every 3 years, if no prior medical history is available the dog is given a 3-year vaccination.
• Bordatella (kennel cough) vaccination - yearly.
• Leptospirosis vaccination - done yearly ONLY after the dog is over the age of one.
• Flea and tick preventative - monthly.
• Broad Spectrum De-worming - done on all dogs within the first week of entering foster care.
• Puppy Vaccination Protocol - We follow the current core vaccination guidelines of the AAHA. Please visit our Pet Care resources page for links to the most recent guidelines available.
• Microchip - we make every effort to have each dog microchipped prior to placement.

• Puppies 6 months of age or younger require a donation of $325. In addition, for dogs less than 6 months old that are adopted before they are spayed or neutered, we require a $150 deposit (refunded when proof of spay/neuter is provided).
• Dogs over 6 months and under 8 years old require a donation of $275.
• Dogs 8 years and older require a donation of $150.

We realize that most people want cute, fuzzy puppies, but our senior dogs can provide the same love and adoration as a puppy, without all that messy teething, chewing and training. Think of them as puppies without training wheels. Make sure you check out The Joys of Owning a Mature Dog.