I adopted a rescue from Dolores Doherty in late 2015. He was a 4 year-old Beagle named Butler from Kentucky, who had apparently been neglected/tied up outside most of his life. I enquired about him during a rescue event in Oakville and made sure I asked a multitude of questions. Ms. Doherty assured me Butler had no issues with being house-broken; told me there were no issues while he was fostered for 6+ weeks. (In my mind long enough that issue(s) would definitely become apparent). So, based on that and Butler's wonderful personality, I adopted him. Within a few months, Butler was peeing and pooing everywhere in my apartment. He destroyed numerous area rugs and several pieces of furniture. When I called Ms. Doherty and told her what was happening, she suggested I make Butler start wearing diapers (!!!!!). I said absolutely NOT, and I asked if she would take him back in order to find him a suitable home - preferably one where he would be in an actual house with 24/7/365 access to a backyard. The answer was no. After 10 years of dealing with the constant issues (there were more than just the indoor "accidents" all the time) and expenses like dog confinement gates for either end of my kitchen, Butler was recently euthanized. I did try to find a home for him on numerous occasions - with no takers. At least he had 10 good years with me and lived to be 14 with bad arthritis/deafness. I would NOT recommend dealing with this Rescue. read more

I met Doris at one if the adoption events outside of Guelph. I'd just lost my 10 year old beagle to congestive heart failure, took the day off work and drove over to check. Doris checked where I lived and saw the dog park right there. I ended up adopting a two year old from Kentucky named faith now known as Amber. Ot was pouring rain that day and she was the only one not crying. Doris you helped heal my heart and my cats hearts that day - we were all missing our old friend but we hd a new one. It's been 6 years and she's the best little thing ever thank you. I've never had any trouble with her ..except when she makes eye contact with strangers stopping them until she gets a hi. She might have lymphoma now but she's been the best buddy to my cats and I Thank you Doris. read more

A Dog's Dream Rescue - Resting with her toys - Animal Shelters Near Me

we have adopted 2 great dogs from Dogs dream. the first was a little Pugdale, a surrender, Mr Simpson. he adapted quickly to our condo living and becam a St John Ambulance pet therapy dog. He passed at 15 years . Our second was a purebred. rescue lemon beagle from Kentucky. He had been beaten and was bling in 1 eye, broken teeth and a scar across his face. it took him a few days to adapt to us, then a couple of months to adjust to city living, noises, meeting new people. He soon loved to be around people and was very popular in our apartment complex. He too, became a St John Ambulance Pet therapy dog visiting our local hospital, high schools and Sr homes. He loved his weekly hospital visits,rolling over in the hall to beg for belly rubs. He passed away at 12 years. read more

I dont believe they exist anymore and it's not a significant loss. I adopted my beloved Ashley from them and on her first physical my vet broke the news to me that she had a grade 4 heart murmur which eventually led to her death from CHF. The rescue's reaction was we didnt know. The poor girl was spayed and they should have picked up the heart murmur at the time. I see many rescues now providing the dog's health information in their postings whereas this one didnt. read more

We adopted a dog Copper from Dolores back in 2017. She was very kind. We do wish we got more information from the rescue about him prior to adopting. However we do realize she is limited to what she knows about the dogs past. The very first walk we took him on he tried to bite a crossing guard. We quickly learned he was afraid of hands. As we all learned and grew together, and we learned how to I introduce him to strangers he has been the most loving, loyal and fun dog to own. It's up to you, the adopters to get to know your dog, train them and give them a good life they deserve. He did bite 3 times. Thankfully the bites were NOT his fault. The friends were told do NOT pet him until he comes to you and is comfortable. They chose not to wait. That's human error. Listen to advise on someone else's dog read more

A Dog's Dream Rescue - Animal Shelters Near Me

Dolores brought me Mindy from Ohio, 5 yr old beagle girl, in 2012, my angel until 2020, then Dolores helped me again to adopt the senior foxhound girl Nala. A wonderful woman! I wonder if Dolores is still rehoming beagles read more

PLEASE READ! Save yourself the stress and heart ache, please do not apply to adopt a dog from this organization. While I want to believe Dolores has the dog's best interest at heart, all my interactions with her made me feel like she is just interested in the money. TLDR - The owner/operator, Dolores, is difficult to get a response from. Personal information of other applicants was accidently shared with me. Over the course of a week and a half I was called and texted multiple times about dogs I didn't apply for being before being approved for the dog I originally wanted. I was texted multiple times at inconsiderate hours of the night about when I'd be picking up the dog, only to be told days later by the dog's current owner that they didn't think my home would be a good fit. When I informed Dolores that I would not be proceeding with the adoption, and asked for my application and personal information to be removed from her files she was very rude talking about how I "begged her" to let me adopt this dog and called me "bitter," even though it was not my choice to not adopt this dog. Please do not waste your time with this organization. read more

It's been over a year since I posted my review. And it still stands. We have 3 different papers with 3 different ages of the dog on it all from your rescue and your vets. The trip the the vet we were told the dog was reverse sneezing which is perfectly normal. In our house we take our animals to the vet so baseline health can be established because they are rescues. There was no medication ever for the erliquia. We kept the dog because my daughter fell in love with the dog and after the bullying remarks made via email we did not feel the rescue actually cared about this dog. And it is a buyer beware society and I was just giving my opinion as apparently the rescue doesn't not have the ability to take any responsibility nor the common respect to say "I'm sorry we did not realize that but going forward we are going to pay more attention to our rescues." No they blame everyone else including the adopters. And your lies contradict yourself. In one breath you say I was explained everything and a few sentences later you say I wasn't there. Please make sure all the voices in your head are on the same page before trying to chastise someone for your faults Yeah that is why I went on yelp read more

If I could give 0 stars I would. I am currently fostering two cats for adoption from the Toronto Cat Rescue so I am familiar with the process, however I am totally unimpressed with the professionalism of this rescue organization. My parents dog had unfortunately passed away and they are currently looking for another dog. My wife and myself have been scouring the web and found a dog that would be a good fit for my parents. This dog was put on the website on a Sunday morning so I spoke to my parents and let them know of the dog available, but I had some questions. Since this dog was posted on a Sunday I assumed they were open, therefore I left a email and waiting a few hours, but did not get a response. I visited their Facebook site and it said they could be contacted by a phone number. I called the number provided at 5:35 PM so I could leave a message and it went straight to a busy signal. Assuming that they are still possibly working I called back shortly after (5 minutes) and introduced myself and asked about this dog. I was not greeted well. Her exact statement was "Are you kidding me? You're bothering me on a Sunday at 5:30 after a pet drive. I am exhausted this and call back tomorrow" and immediately hung up on me. So lets break down this conversation. First of al there is no times listed on the website or the Facebook page, but posting stuff on Sunday you would assume they would be open. For an animal rescue site you would think that they would be exited to see new potential adopters. Calling on a Sunday 5:30 PM is not out of the ordinary. If you like I can compile a list of ALL adoption sites that are either open or take messages on a Sunday. For example, that day I was contacted by our rescue center about one of our foster cats and gladly responded. I am not aware of your daily routines so if you are exhausted from a pet drive, this is not my fault. I do not appreciate being spoken too in this manner. It shows that you are unprofessional, rude and ignorant to your center and not the type of place that I want to ever deal with. If you are tired then maybe post some times on your page so that people are aware of the best time to call, or hire a PR staff or maybe some anger management counseling. I have read the other reviews and they are similar to my experience. I really hope that your attitude does not reflect the care and concerns you have with these dogs. I consider this to be a poor rescue organization which is not professional or courteous. My advice to you is either change your attitude or please give this rescue site to someone who is happy to help these loving dogs and a positive experience for the adopters. read more

I give this business two stars instead of one only because it is noble to want to rescue an animal and give it a better life, and I don't want to dissuade someone from finding a new companion through this adoption agency. That being said, anyone planning to adopt a dog through this business should know going in that the founder, Dolores Doherty (her full name is publicly available through her website), has some of the worst people skills that I've had to deal with. Her emails were unprofessional at best and rude as a standard. Like most adoption agencies, this one asks a lot of questions about your home and past pet history which is great, but once you have an open dialogue with Dolores it becomes more of a dictatorship than a discussion. She has very firm views on the specific brand of dog food, specific regime for care, and minimum walking time the dog requires daily, etc. and is very closed off to discussion about these things; despite there being many healthy and vet recommended types of food and toys, and personal preference in how you want to raise your dog, with no ill treatment towards the animal in any of these options. She has a big bark and a bit of a bite, which did her a great disservice in me wanting to suggest her business to others, very unfortunate as the animals themselves are sweet creatures who need a home. If anything, it'd be great if she could realize that her 'passion?' amounts to rudeness and pushiness in others eyes, and lowers the overall view people will have of her business, which hurts the cause she is championing. read more

A Dog's Dream Rescue - A Dog's Dream Rescue - Animal Shelters Near Me

Delores has saved hundreds of dogs. That is what she does. She takes every step possible to ensure these rescues go to good responsible homes. Period. As a fellow rescuer I understand how hard it is save and care for these animals. She has dedicated her life to them which makes her INCREDIBLE. keep it up Delores the dogs need a heart like yours. read more

Dolores was a dream to deal with during our adoption process. She brought both dogs we were interested in to our home, where we had a meet and greet one at a time with our first, established dog. We were able to take our time - and upon finding the perfect fit (they got on instantly and are, five years later, absolute best friends!) - we went through with the adoption process, since Dolores approved our home suitable. Derby (Then - Sheila ) is a key member to our family. I've run into others from Toronto as well as Burlington who have gained their family member through Dolores and they're absolutely in love with their hounds. I will certainly check through Dolores again if we ever are looking for a dog in the future, or when friends are looking to adopt. read more

I'm not going to go into my tale of woe, or give my opinion of the woman who runs this rescue, as the current reviews pretty much cover it, but I strongly advise anyone considering adopting from A Dog's Dream Rescue to read ALL of the reviews, including the "not recommended" ones, and if your gut tells you this may not be the organization you want to work with, listen to it. I ignored my gut feel and I am very sorry that I did. My experience with this rescue tells me that the bad reviews, most of which are recent, are truthful and should not be discounted. If you are considering adopting a rescue, please do your homework and make sure you are comfortable with the people you are dealing with. read more

These dogs really need homes and if you can get past the woman running the shelter and speak to the people that volunteer you will find out a lot about the dogs. The overnight care people know the most about the dogs as they tend to come back once or twice until they find the right home. The owner of rescue had good intentions but is not a people person and can be quite difficult to work with. read more

Okay, so we want to share this so others are aware and NEVER SPEAK TO THIS WOMAN EVER. We started off applying for a cute dog who needed rehoming "urgently" and got a message back right away saying Delores would review it in a day or two. Then we get a call the next night saying he needed to be picked up right away and said the owner would send us a message with the address. She proceeded to call 2 more times confirming that we would take the dog without giving us time to speak or even the name until the last call when she said the wrong name. We were both taken aback and said no we are applying for the other dog, and all she did was say a measly sorry (without explaining herself or giving us any information on the dog we ACTUALLY applied for) and hung up on us. Then once we stopped bawling over the realization that we weren't going to be picking up a dog she called us AGAIN. Yes, again about the same dog we did not apply for. She nearly gave us the address. When she called for the 4th time we knew she has the wrong number and just tried to even get a word in about the dog we actually wanted and she told us to "listen to her" and that she is "too busy to talk" when she literally called us, then said the dog we wanted was not in need of an urgent home regardless of what the title of his bio was. And yes we did look at the bio of the other dog but it would not have fit our home at all and the reason it needed a new home was because the dog barking and biting the females in the home and wanted to rehome it the next day. All she told us before hanging up on us was that she would review applications for the dog we wanted in the next day or two. Well what a lie, she took a week and responded with a text on a Saturday at 9:30 at night with no context just: "very creative and determined!" When I asked "is about the right dog?" she answered at 3:30 AM with another text with very little info and made no sense. We then had to send her videos and pictures of our apartment and she called and basically told us the dog was ours after stringing us along for so long. She then offered a golden retriever she had if she chose someone else for this dog and we said okay great. Well not only did she not answer, but when we called her to find out if we could just go pick up the damn dog she says "check your messages" and pauses before saying "I'm sorry you didn't get the dog, but you should apply for this one" Like after all of that we didn't; get the dog and she does not even have a golden retriever in her rescue so that is a nice lie on top of it too. After 2 weeks of tears, anger, and totally uncalled-for unprofessional frustration, I am done with a dog's "dream" rescue and will never talk to this evil woman again. P.S. she messaged us again after calling us "bitter loosers".... it was the largest and quickest response we got in this whole exchange. read more

I had emailed the owner of this rescue about one of their dogs who was described as being the type of dog that would fit in with our lifestyle. We were looking for a friendly dog who was ok with cats and other dogs and people who hadn't shown any signs if aggression or seperation anxiety. I received a call from the owner that week at 10:35 pm (this is important for later) about her bringing a dog by to meet us the following Friday. This dog's name was Jack. Thursday comes and she calls to say she's bringing Olivia over instead. When I ask about Jack she says that he is staying with his fosters for good. No problem, happy they love him. So she comes with Olivia, comes into my house (she was EXTREMELY RUDE - I rent and don't have a designated parking space. The landlords have the two driveway spots. When she called to tell me she was outside I told her to just walk up the side and she says "well there's no where to park there! I'd like to park on the driveway.. I can see her and she's already parked on the street. When I tell her that there are already two cars on the driveway ( as she can see because she is parked in front of the driveway!) she says well she'd like to be able to park there. I tell her she can't and she isn't happy but stays parked on the street anyways. She wanted all of the lights on which is fine and I understand being in a strangers house, but she was irritated that only one of the lights was on in the washroom instead of also having the shower light on... this isn't the point of this post though). Olivia was very very anxious and for the whole 20 minutes barked and howled at the door - the owner said it must be something outside because she isn't like this - I tell her I'm sure she's sweet but there is no way we can keep a dog like that while renting.. so she says to the dog "you COULD'VE had a home but you had to mess it up!"... This review is too long and is continued in photos. read more

Absolutely no response. Found a dog on Petfinder - they responded right away and sent my information off to the shelter. These animals need homes and yet.... no reponse from the rescue. Pathetic... read more

The woman in charge of a Dog's Dream Rescue is a people's nightmare!!! We left a voice mail and followed up with a quick email and the response was stunningly rude. We were berated and insulted for not filling out an application form, although her website mentions to either do that "or call ....for more information" and that an application is only "requested before meeting with a dog". If inquiries without prior application are absolutely not welcome, she should make that clear on the organization's website. Not only did she lash out immediately, she followed up with a barrage of increasingly aggressive emails. Amazing, since not filling out an application was apparently a waste of her time, yet she had the time to write a number of long tirades. Thankfully, all other rescues we contacted were absolutely wonderful in their replies. I see that Dolores just posted a message to Yelp as a review. I guess submitting her own reviews is the only way she will ever get more than one star. read more

Initially, I found Dolores of A Dogs Dream Rescue to be helpful. But when I decided that the dog I had on trial was not the one for me, things went downhill, and the dog went back to Dolores. According to the contract we both had signed, my deposit was refundable, minus $75 for processing. Fair enough. But Dolores has only refunded a part of what was owing to me, and has no intention of sending me the remaining $90. In addition to which, she sent me a blistering email, accusing me of all sorts of malfeasance. I cannot recommend dealing with her. Anne Wonham read more

I adopted my dog through A Dog's Dream Rescue a month ago. I was very satisfied with how quickly the adoption process proceeded. Although the correspondence via e-mail leaves something to be desired, during the home visit I found Dolores to be kind and thorough in her dealings with both myself and the dog. Overall I would recommend A Dog's Dream Rescue to anyone looking to adopt a dog. read more

If I could give no star I would. Owner held a 'Adoption Event' Saturday Aug 5. They were letting people leave that day with dogs. Without any background check at all. I adopted a beautiful little puppy (1yr old). We hadn't even gotten her home when we noticed the live tapeworms coming out of her anus. Between 3:00pm- 5:00pm the time it took to get home and realize the problem was fairly big I personally saw over 30 segments of living tapeworm. When I contacted The owner of Dogs a dream she said she would provide medication on Sunday, but we'd have to drive back to her. She's in Georgetown I'm a good 40 min drive. When I insisted she required immediate attention as the worms were literally crawling out of he backside she began to rudely accuse my wife and I of not knowing how to care for a dog. I've had 4 dogs in my life. Each living past 10 and none ever had worms. Let alone worms crawling out of their anus. We decided it was best for the dog to be treated that day and took her to a vet. The owner of a dogs dream never gave us papers yet so I simply asked her to speak with the vet for questions regarding the dog; she hung up. The fee for the dog was $370.00; the fees to get her treated was $130.00. So we felt it was fair to withhold $130 from the adoption fee. As we were to the understanding that we would receive a healthy dog who'd been recently vetted. For lack of a better analogy; if you buy a new car and on the way home it says you need an oil change, you shouldn't be stuck paying it. Later that night the owner began threatening my wife and harassing her via text, because of the missing $130.00. At no point did she ask or seem to care about the sick dogs well being. She threatened to have cops come take the dog. Finally we decided to send the money to her. She even said she wished she never adopted the dog to us because she could've gave it to someone else; horrible considering we helped the dog get rid of worms. This morning we made the decision to return the dog to the dogs dream. The entire experience was united by this woman and it was now causing stress on us. When we contacted her, and she said she didn't want it back to keep it. We insisted we'd be there for 3:00pm. When we arrived she wasn't at the farm. One of her dogs was in a krate so we left her a message spoke with the farm and left the dog in a krate; we were informed it was perfectly fine. She recently emailed us saying it was horrible to leave the dog in a 'dark and dirty barn'. Which confused me because she houses ALL her dogs in this barn. In my opinion this woman isn't in it for the right reasons. Her dogs are sick and should be rescued from her! The farm is great but the owner is horrible and doesn't actually care for the well being of the animals unless she's getting her money for it. she also said over phone call my wife was' stupid and childish'. NOT PROFESSIONAL. We've adopted dogs before and never had such a sloppy encounter. We returned the dog back to the rescue in better condition than we got it; as we made sure to give it medication for the tapeworms. The best thing for these dogs is if someone takes over caring for them. The owner blamed the farm employees saying they should've known about the worms. Yet she's the one who is supposed to be the caregiver. To say I don't care for dogs is outright lie. I paid money to help a dog someone else will have. The adoption fee hasn't been returned and if and when it is A Dogs dream keeps $75.00. I also ended covering her vet bills of $130.00 so she can get rid of the worms. Overall Rating - ZERO STARS read more

This rescue brings a high volume of dogs into Canada from the United States. They adopt out the dogs through mass adoption events. The turn over seems very quick - they had dogs who were newly into the country by a few days up for adoption. There is no way they did any kind of thorough behavior check. While they are very careful with who they adopt to, not so careful about the dogs they adopt out. I would suggest you ask about the rate of return of their adopted dogs. Do your homework on this organization. Well meaning but perhaps a bit blind to the consequences of their actions. read more

We adopted a dog that we were told was quiet, good with other dogs and kids. Could not have been more wrong. We did everything and spent a ton of money trying to help this dog to no avail. Training school, private training in the home, vets... etc. Conacted the rescue and were told that they were not animal trainers and could not help us. We needed to call a trainer. Now 2 years later, we have to get rid of her.. My son is heartbroken as am I. This woman does not care. Told me I turned a blind eye to the problem! That couldn't be further from the truth. They want to adopt out but dont' care what happens after. Will NOT help if you have issues. I'd suggest looking elsewhere. Wish I had :( read more

I found her to be very responsible in the adoption process. I completed an application, and she interviewed me prior to approving me for adoption to ensure that the dog would be a good match with my lifestyle. She was very candid about the dog I was interested in. She also gave me the contact information of the person fostering the dog so that I could ask more questions. She also has adoption events where you can drop by so that you can have an opportunity to meet with several dogs which I found helpful. read more

I hesitate to give this organization even one star. We were attempting to help a friend find a new pet. In corresponding with Dolores and Jim, we received a wrath of insulting, nasty and arrogant replies. It is a pity that they are in the business of placing dogs who need homes with owners who will provide them with good lives. Happily, other organizations with whom we have dealt have shown the humanity that both Dolores and Jim evidently lack. read more

Delores strung me along for 3 weeks! She made me jump through so may hoops ie pictures of my backyard and where the dog would sleep etc. Then 2 days before I was to pick up the dog she gave her away to someone else! read more

I have a dog that was rescued by this group. My dog had lost half of her body weight and was on her last forty eight hours of life. Dolores worked quickly to place her once she was in Canada, but it still involved checking out two of my references and my vet and a home visit. My pup has has some anxiety issues, understandably that we have worked with to help her , but there certainly are no behaviour issues or temperament issues beyond that. I really support a dog's dream rescue. read more

When trying to adopt a dog through this organization, you should be aware that if you do not fit Dolores' ideal description of what a dog owner should be, she will try to dissuade you from adopting. Our entire experience was terrible. She constantly forgot to call or email, was rude when she finally did call, but worst of all, was very condescending by implying that because my husband and I both work full time, we would be lousy pet owners. It is unfortunate because the dogs rescued by this organization deserve homes like every other rescued animal, however, having to deal with a woman like her is enough to drive a responsible, loving owner away! read more

At the time I adopted a dog from A Dog's Dream rescue, I had a pet rabbit so I needed a dog who would be good with the rabbit. The local humane society couldn't let me bring a dog home briefly to check the dog's behaviour with the rabbit so I ended up contacting A Dog's Dream rescue. Dolores was very accommodating - she brought me 4 or 5 hounds and I adopted the one that reacted least to the rabbit. He's been with me for a year and a half and he's completely delightful. I would gladly adopt another hound through A Dog's Dream Rescue. read more

I have to disagree with the post about Dolores. I dealt with her quite a few times last year and had no problems. She also seems to work extremely hard to find homes for these dogs. read more

I was interested in a dog they had listed so I sent an inquiry and got no response. I sent another inquiry a week later and still no response. I then contacted them through their Facebook page and was told I needed to fill out an application first, and then I could get information about a particular animal. By then I assumed the dog was no longer available (or else why wouldn't they be following up on any possible lead to find it a good home?!). Another dog came up that I was very interested in, and it sounded perfect for us. I filled out an application and awaited a response. Nothing. That was over a month ago. They seem to have so many dogs available, and yet they don't even bother to follow up with people who want to adopt. I've had dogs before, have cats and horses and experience working in the animal healthcare industry. If I'm not a qualified adopter I certainly don't know who is. It's a shame that they are passing up qualified homes for these dogs, and it makes me seriously question whether this is a legitimate organization. Very disappointing. read more