Puppies
Sweet dogs from Portugal are waiting for a chance to start a new life in the Netherlands. As a foster family, you offer them a safe place to settle down, learn what a real home is like, and prepare for adoption. You will always receive support from our experienced team, and sometimes you can even decide to adopt the dog yourself. Together, we ensure the perfect match and a better life for these dogs.
The adoption procedure
If you are looking for a puppy, please contact us. Our partners in Portugal usually have nice puppies for adoption. If someone in the Netherlands is interested in a puppy, we request photos of the puppies that are available at that time.
A puppy generally does not first come to a Dutch host family, but goes directly to the adopter. This means that you cannot meet the puppy first to feel whether there is a connection. A puppy is best socialized directly in the environment in which it will eventually live.
Moreover, a puppy is still very much in development and there is little to say about what it will be like as an adult dog. Meeting in advance therefore has little added value.
Foto van Christel Wellens
Puppies
Adopting a puppy is very intensive. They haven't learned anything yet, aren't toilet trained, may not be able to sleep through the night yet and don't know the difference between toys or your expensive headphones.
You can count on sleeping a little less in the first few weeks. Even if you plan to work from home during this initial period, you may want to adjust your workload a bit. Adopting a puppy is certainly no easier than adopting an adult dog. You can teach them a lot, but talent also plays an important role. Little is often known about this predisposition, because it is usually not known who the parent animals are.
You can only get a puppy from abroad when they are four months old at the earliest. This is due to the additional vaccinations that must all be up to date before they are allowed to cross the border.
A puppy of this age is in a different phase than a puppy of one or two months old. They are less flexible and more sensitive to stimuli than those very young puppies. This means that you have to take it all very easy for the first few weeks. No visitors for a while, not to all the different walking places, not too much crowds.
An overstimulated, stressed dog is unable to learn. That is why it is better to only go a step further when you see that your dog is ready for it. We will of course assist you in this process.
Castrations
The huge surplus of unwanted puppies in Portugal cannot be solved by adoptions alone. That's why our on-site volunteers are working hard to provide education to prevent unwanted litters.
Our veterinarian MARKvet and his team spend a week every year selflessly castrating dogs and cats. We have agreed with the shelters that the puppies that come to the Netherlands will all be neutered as soon as they are old enough for this. You therefore undertake this obligation as an adopter. We are doing everything we can to combat the enormous surplus of dogs and are working on a solution in several areas.
