I purchased a home last year and told my husband that when we acquire a home, I want to get a dog. We already have 2 orange & white tabby rescue kitties and wanted to add to our family. I contacted Helping hounds dog rescue and filled out an application. Their process is rather simple- fill out the application, provide your veterinarian contact number, and have one reference who knows you call them. Once they approve you, you are free to go and visit all the dogs (protection of the animals i'm assuming and it's a great thing!). The whole process literally took a week. I was able to go to the rescue, tell them which dog(s) i was interested in and they let you walk them and hang out with them before you decide. They even let me "trial" a dog home because I have cats. I feel right in love with my dog who was "Cheers" at the shelter but we renamed her "Ginger". The fee paid (i believe i paid $600) covered all of her vaccinations, neuter, vet visits etc. All of these fees go back into the shelter. I had a phenomenal experience and was matched up perfectly with my dog. I love, love love her and i would highly recommend this rescue if you're looking to give a dog their forever home. The staff were incredibly friendly, kind , and reassuring. They take excellent care of both the dogs and the adopters wanting information. I would highly recommend Helping Hounds Dog rescue!! read more

Helping Hounds Dog Rescue - My Ginger 4 months later! - Pet Adoption Near Me - North Syracuse, New York

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Helping Hounds has been very helpful to me. I cannot complain about them in the least. They are caring, they listen, and they do everything they can to assist. They honestly love animals and are very good to people. I recommend them all the time and always will. Thank you, Helping hounds! read more

We've been to so many groomers but Kaylee is by far the best we've ever had. Thank you Kaylee for taking such care of our pup Finley and for doing a FANTASTIC Job. read more

Amazing shelter with such caring staff. When we adopted our second dog, we had concerns about making sure she and our first dog would get along and be happy living and playing together. The staff at helping hounds worked with us and our dog to find the perfect addition to our family! Our two dogs are best friends! read more

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So impressed with this facility! Staff was lovely, dogs were very well loved. Just adopted our new family member and was grateful for the help and guidance of the staff to match us. Facility was very clean, and nice, and a much more pleasant atmosphere then some other local shelters. I love that they dogs come "ready to go" and have as much possible detail about them. we even have our previous fosters contact info, which will be great to send an update! read more

if I could give them zero stars, I would. I adopts a dog from them. He could not do the stairs in my house. I have a raised ranch so it was a necessary ability. I kept im for a week and tried to help him. in the end it was too much for him. so I returned him. During the week that I had him he only at a quarter of a cup of food. I contacted his foster and got what he had been eating, but he still wouldn't eat. when I took him back I had explained the situation. they were less than sympathetic. I cried while filling out the return document. all they said was that my answers were very short. They assured me he would be evaluated, but his profile was back up the next day. I find this organization to be very unethical. Adopt at your own risk. read more

Let's get some things down, It is a great shelter that cares about dogs. Do not believe the 1, 2 and 3 star reviews they just are mad they did not get a dog or that it did not work out. My family got a dog from them and he is great he live's up to what they said about him and better.People there were very nice. GREAT place to get a dog. read more

Helping Hounds Dog Rescue - Teddy - Pet Adoption Near Me - North Syracuse, New York

I have not adapted from them yet, but have been working with them and a couple other places, buy far the best staffed, actually answer their phones, allow you to visit and help you find the right fit. I hope to adapt from them in the near future, but I am paticular because the dog has to be compatable with my small 11 year old, so still looking. But compared to the other rescue programs, this one in my humble opinion is the best read more

Some months ago I applied to adopt through this shelter and my application was approved within a couple of days. I was very excited, however, there was a change in plans and I had to move to a new apartment some months after the application (my apart. allows pets, has a dog park and is surrounded by parks). I was told I had to reapply. I did and was rejected (after 2 weeks waiting). I felt like a criminal and asked why they had changed their minds, since I was still the same person. I never got a reply. Are folks that don't live in fancy houses in the suburbs not allowed to have dogs? If that was the reason it was a classist decision. read more

I'm giving HHDR 2 stars. One for each of my dogs. Helping Hounds gets 0 stars. We adopted our first dog in 2012 from HH. It was a normal experience. Fill out an application, get approved and go in and get a dog. Now it takes over a week to get your application approved. Dogs are picked out online before you get there. (Our first dog picked us when we went there. ) The office manager told me which dog I could get or not. We went in to pick up our new dog and were re-evaluated like we weren't good enough for their dogs. We brought our previous helping hound dog in for a meet and greet and were made to sit in our car for over 30 minutes in 16 degree weather with her. I cannot believe how rude, condescending and unpleasant the people working there are. I will not recommend this place anymore. read more

Some of the rudest workers!! My dog has developed a skin issue which I soon learned I am allergic too. Trying to get the process going to sadly surrender him.. I didn't hear from them so I called. And they lied and said they couldn't contact me because my number was wrong and I lied about everything on my application which doesn't make sense because everything (which I kept in my records) was accurate. Being called a liar over the phone and disrespected. This is the LAST place I would want my pup going read more

I rescued a dog from this agency a couple of years back, but the review is no longer on their Facebook and I think this is important. We adopted a dog who ended up having a slew of medical issues. We spent over 1000 getting her healthy from an intestinal infection and upper respiratory infection. They say every dog has been held, seen by a vet, and evaluated for behavioral concerns and I don't think any of these things occurred for this poor pup that eventually suffered multiple placements. After 5 months she bit me. It was not a nip or an accidental bite - she had snapped at me before but never made contact and we tried to make it work. This time she caught me and I needed stitches. If my partner was not there to grab her so I could run upstairs I don't think she would have stopped. When we had to surrender her it was the saddest day. I couldn't be alone with her though, my partner works a lot, and she did not respond well to me. The workers were rude stating we were kids who bit off too much and were returning her for a nip. Either way, we surrendered her to the agency with her toys, special diet, bed, and all medical records we had - including a knee issue which we bought a brace for - it pops out of place. We find out a week later she's been adopted again by one of our acquaintances. She ended up snapping. At his girlfriend a few too many times and was again surrendered. She then was adopted by someone who intended to have her pull things and then he realized her knee popped out - which we let the agency know - and surrendered her again. Where this poor baby ended up is unclear to me, but my heart aches for her. I know they want animals in homes, but this isn't the right way. read more

This organization is not well funded but goes way above other organizations that are well funded. Such as the spca helping hounds make the spca look like someone should investigate the animal cruelty and the conditions the spca are keeping there animals in. it's sad that spca multi million dollar operation treats there animals so poorly. We have adopted a beautiful dog from helping hounds and we're still waiting for spca to contact us back guess the spca doesn't want to adopt out there animals there too busy collecting donations to pay there 6 figure salaries employees. And as far as the animal may have medical issues they are very clear that they may have issues they are rescued dogs not purebreds!! read more

We got this happy healthy dog from Helping Hounds. We were able to talk with her foster in Texas and they had a good amount of info on her in terms of her behaviors, training, and personality. The staff was kind and helpful through the whole process. We will likely get a second dog from there soon! read more

Helping Hounds Dog Rescue - Sage - Pet Adoption Near Me - North Syracuse, New York

We adopted Copper (Kie) about two years ago. He is the sweetest most loving, smart dog I have ever owned. He is Basenji and Shepherd so he talks rather than barking although he occasionally doesn't like something and gives off a huge shepherd bark. All those at Helping Hounds were wonderful and they do an amazing job with all of their animals! Thank you Mrs. Pulsifer read more

Helping Hounds Dog Rescue - Copper - Pet Adoption Near Me - North Syracuse, New York

I wanted to share a review based on the experience my daughters had at HHR center today. It upset me to hear how my daughters were treated knowing that they were very excited to adopt a dog from the rescue. My youngest daughter had been with a friend recently who had a successful adoption and was looking forward to offering a loving home to another dog from HHR. We currently (between my older daughter and myself) have 4 rescues - 3 dogs and one cat between two homes. We are a patient, loving, financially stable family and have raised over $1,000 for local rescues in the last year not to mention a current effort to raise money for Humane Society International (HSI). I cannot think of a more loving environment that could have housed one of these dogs. It saddens me that my daughters, with the best of intentions, were treated disrespectfully and insulted when trying to communicate to the HHR staff about their adoption plans. There are ways to say things nicely with respect if the staff does not feel that the situation would be optimal for one of their dogs. There is absolutely no need to be rude and insulting. I do hope that they do not make a practice of treating other potential adoptive parents in this manner as I anticipate that it would not bode well for their business or desire to place more dogs into homes, but based on reviews - it looks like they have. I hope that this communication will draw attention to the situation so that it will not happen again as there are so many dogs at rescues that are looking for their forever family. read more

I am so disappointed in my experience with Helping Hounds. A few people suggested that I adopt there while I was here visiting family for two weeks. The lack of communication has been such a disappointment. On the day after Christmas, I had filled out an application. I went in later that day to look at dogs and ask some questions. When I got there and told the women at the front desk that I was interested in adopting, they laughed at me. They acted like I had a lot of nerve to even be there the day after Christmas. One of these women asked my name and pulled up my application. At this time, she saw that I live out of state and asked me several questions about my application and my situation. They had someone show me around and let me take dogs out for walks. At this point, I'm pretty excited that I will be adopting in the next couple of days. Two days later, I get an email saying that they do not adopt out of state. That's it. It didn't say that anywhere on their website. And if it is their policy, fine. But why didn't the woman tell me that when she was looking at my application and asking me questions about it? I replied to the email asking for clarification. No response. I have left messages twice for the manager. No call back. At this point, I doubt I will ever get an answer or a response from anyone there. Not even a chance to talk to anyone about the situation and my living/out-of-state situation and why I wanted to adopt here. If that is a policy, that's fine, but it should be clearly stated on their website (like other shelters do) and I should have been told up front when they knew I live out of state. Very disappointing. That's one less good home for one of their dogs. read more

I have never had such a terrible experience as I did with every person I came in contact with at helping hounds. My fiance and I had been waiting to get a puppy until we got a house so the puppy could have a fenced in backyard and lots of room inside to play. Once we got a house we had an application submitted and approved to adopt a puppy. They "matched" us with a puppy (or pretended to at least) and we took the puppy home for two weeks. During those two weeks I was contacted and told the puppy may be sick, and they needed to bring him in for testing. For an entire week I was anxious that something could be wrong with our puppy that we had fallen in love with. After a week of waiting we were finally ready to bring the dog in for testing. However, it was nothing like that. I brought the dog in on a leash and was yelled at for not holding my dog when I walked in and then told to wait outside in my car in the middle of winter. After waiting for an hour the director came out and asked me to come in without my puppy. I figured it was just to fill out paperwork, but that was not the case. I was then interrogated about how I was unfit to take care of a puppy by the director, the programs manager and operations manager. I was not mentally prepared for what was about to happen. I was in tears as they told me that they were going to take my puppy away from me and eventually they came out to my car and took the puppy from me, never to be able to see him again. I was treated terribly and with no regards to my feelings. The employees are power hungry at helping hounds and do not care about where dogs go. I was told "one of our puppies will never be used as an emotional support animal". They take pride in being able to place dogs in "matched" homes, yet another dog in our litter was returned in one day because the puppy was "too much," while I was ready to love the dog for the rest of my life. I would NEVER recommend this rescue to anyone. I have had dogs my entire life from many other, more reputable shelters, and will never attempt to save a dog from there, even though all the dogs there need extra saving from the people that work there. read more

I would give this facility zero stars if possible. The staff at Helping Hounds (especially the head staff) were extremely rude on and off the phone when applying for adoption of a dog. The staff gives off power hungry, ageist, and unconcerned to the individuals looking to adopt an animal. I feel the staff are more likely to give an animal to an older individual who works all day rather than a younger individual who has remote work from home due to them being in their 20's. I hope the board is able to see this and can make changes in management. I would think people that are constantly surrounded by loving animals would be a little bit more happy and caring for people looking to give animals their forever homes but that is certainly not the case at this helping hounds. I will definitely look into other places to get a pet rather than this rude and terrible customer service from Helping Hounds. read more

My husband and I were very impressed with this whole process! This is the first time we ever adopted a dog from Helping Hounds. Everyone of the employees and volunteers that we had the pleasure to meet was fantastic. We promise to give Ryker (aka King) the best home ever! read more

Just rudely got hung up on by one of the male working when trying to inquire about one of the dogs. I guess what other people are saying now on these review makes perfect sense Yes I understand it is a stressful environment amongst barking dogs but Do Your Job. It's not hard to be nice to people , when they are the ones adopting these poor dogs. Never going there to adopt a dog it's a shame that people don't know how to behave .worst customer service I wish I can give zero stars. read more

Came here seeking advice in dealing with a family situation regarding the well being of a dog that was rescued here but owned by another relative I was living with who was doing the bare minimum to meet the needs of the dog. Two employees were very understanding and heard my story and I'm very appreciative of that however the woman in charge that day decided to take matters into her own hands without hearing anything I had to say. She told me she "wasn't going to get involved in a family matter" yet called said relative who owned the dog and stood in between my relative and I as we argued our differences about the situation (directly being involved) before having the relative take the dog away. There was some hope of that dog having a better life than what he was being given before that hypocritical lady decided to get involved however now that she did there is absolutely no hope and I had to remove myself out of my own living situation just to not create more problems for the dog who stays at the house I used to live in because said relative lives there and would rather keep him stuck in the basement than ever let me see him again. According to another relative at the house the dog now mopes around all day sitting in front of my old room and waiting at the door at the time I used to come home from work hoping some day I'll actually come home which is not a possibility. These dogs are worth more than just what's black and white on paper and they deserve better. I lost my best friend that day and several relationships in my family because of this situation thanks to that one lady who couldn't read in between the lines and I'll do everything I can to make sure no dog or person ever has to go through this pain again. read more

I'm just going to state the facts. The company is a non-profit, begs for volunteers, and claims that they are all about helping the community. As an employee in the area's local mental health program I have encouraged my students and their parents to have students apply to volunteer at local non-profit companies. Volunteering allows people who are not capable of holding a payed job spend their time giving back to the community and doing menial jobs that most volunteers would not want to do. I have heard back from dozens of parents who state that their children's volunteer application was denied due to "not being a good fit for the organization." So apparently these physically able bodied persons with a mental disability aren't good enough to GIVE their time to Helping Hounds even when each student is accompanied by a one on one job coach who is paid directly by the volunteer's family. In my and the opinions of the parents of the past volunteer candidates, these types of actions do not benefit our community in any fashion and support an old and ignorant belief that the mentally disabled can serve no positive purpose within society. read more

Awful. Will never go back again. The volunteers are wonderful, the paid staff.. Incompetent to put it generously.. Took 2 weeks to verify with property manager that we are allowed to have dogs. Property manager spoke to several different people, because nobody from Helping Hounds bothered to make a note of it... Then after Helping Hounds confirmed our meet and greet, the office supervisor Nathan called us and flat out accused us of lying on our application. Very upset, and dissappointed. Wish I didn't have to leave a star, they don't deserve one. read more

These folks bring a lot of love to a lot of people, and save so many dogs from being euthanized. We have had our dog for 8 years and was one of the early families to adopt. Thank you to all the volunteers that work so hard to bring so much love to area families. read more

The staff was incredibly rude. I was allowed to walk a dog, but for some reason they would not let my LGBT immigrant friend walk a dog. It seemed like they were discriminating against him. I had to fill out a form to walk the dog and my friend was not allowed to fill one out when we asked to fill one out for him. I questioned why my friend was not allowed to walk a dog and the man responded that we had come together so he wasn't allowed to walk a dog too. My friend and I came to look at two different dogs. There should be no reason why my friend was not allowed to inquire about a dog. The other staff ignored us when we asked more questions. My friend and I left. We will adopt dogs at another shelter with a more professional staff. read more

I'd give them NO STARS if I could. I recently retired and waited for this time in my life to get a dog so I'd be home most of the time. I own a home and 1.5 acres. I do not travel. A dog would not be a financial or physical burden. I live alone with no pets. I've had dogs when I was younger. I filled out an application to adopt. I also took HH's online quiz. A score of 8 is perfect. I scored 10. 32 is the worst score. I gave them a reference with my application as required. The reference called them as directed and answered all their questions. The reference told me she did not think there was any issues. A couple days later I get an email that says Helping Hounds wants another reference and that's it. Everyone that I know that's adopted a dog from them said one reference is all you need. I replied and asked why? What's the problem? What questions do they have and maybe I could answer them? No reply. Sent same email again a few days later. No reply again. I'm done with them. It's their loss! Some dog would have gotten a new forever home. I will find a dog at another shelter that is truly looking to place dogs. read more

Very disappointed in this organization. They judge you and your ability from a piece of paper of caring for an animal they are rude I have never went to a animal rescue and been treated so badly I have adopted two dogs from two different organizations and gave them a very good home so I hope people that get discouraged from this rescue does not judge the other rescues buy this one People do smile and talk to you and you can tell they care about their dogs read more

My husband and I adopted our dog from helping hounds. I found a picture of him on petfinder and filled out an online application for him that day. The next day we were told we were approved and picked him up the day after that. They did ask quite a few questions to make sure he would be a good fit for us but they do that so it will hopefully decrease the likely hood of a dog being returned. Obviously if they know a dog is high energy they won't adopt it to a couch potato or if a dog isn't good with kids they won't adopt it to a family who has kids. I think that is just common sense. We live in an apartment and they allowed us to adopt a high energy dog because they knew we would be taking him for runs every day. I really got the impression that they want what is best for their dogs. Our little guy is the best thing that ever happened to us and when we decide to add another dog to our family we will definitely be going back to helping hounds. read more

I went there several times. Once to volunteer (very disorganized) and another time to adopt. Neither time I was impressed. Recently I saw a volunteer walking a dog. I was interested and he told me I should go inside and fill out an application, and that he knew nothing about the dog. This dog was not neutered and had only been in the shelter a couple days. I inquired two days later and found that this dog had already been adopted. So HH grabbed this dog from a shelter, did not keep it long enough to evaluate his health or temperment, and did not neuter it as their policy clearly states, but collected a nice fee. This looks more like a dog flipping operation than a rescue. read more

This review is honest, but not very favorable for HH. My sister filed an application last week for a specific dog. She had to have a background review done, references, her vet called to verify that all shots and pertinent care was given to the two dogs she has at home. HH did a thorough job of checking on her, and then yesterday she received an email indicating her application was approved, and that arrangements had to be made for a meet and greet between her present dogs and the one she wanted to adopt. Now here is the best part, she and I went to HH with her pets for the meet and greet today 8/14/18, only to find out that the dog she applied for had been adopted out on Saturday 8/11/18. We left but I later called HH and spoke with the manager to question why when the application specifically asks for the name of dog wanted for adoption, would they send my sister an email on 8/13/18, and the manager indicated that the dogs are not held, and that my sister should have called to make sure the animal had not been adopted. I again explained that they should not have sent an email to her, when they knew the dog had been adopted, to which the manager replied that they could not possibly go through applications for each dog to find out who wanted to adopt. I find the whole process handled badly, the inside of the building is not in the best of conditions, the people who work the desk seem almost disinterested when you ask questions, and for all her trouble, she left heartbroken. The SPCA puts a hold on pets that are in the process of adoption, the Humane Association seems to bend over backwards to help place the right animal with the right person, but this HH, seems more interested in making money than doing things right. They have a 2 1/2 star rating which in my opinion does not seem favorable. read more

I completely agree with the other reviewer. Some of the people that work at this organization are very unprofessional. It was the weekend of 3/28/2015 my family and I had an application that was approved and we had looked at the dogs on their website. We had narrowed our choices to about 4 dogs. As we knew the drill with them that even if you wanted a particular dog they may not allow you to have it if they feel that the dog will not be a good fit for your family. One of the dogs that we were looking at I noticed had a recent surgery on his left side and I inquired what it was and I was asking one staff member about it and they supplied me with the report from the veterinarian. While I was reading the report one of the staff rudely asked me "are you a doctor?" Then any dog we said we were interested in they said that the dog might not be a good choice because we had small children. Finally we found a medium sized dog it was a beagle mix they allowed us to walk it in their parking lot and when we got back we were ready to adopt. Then the woman that had asked me earlier if I was a Doctor said that we could not have the dog because she felt we were not an active enough family for this type of dog. Of course my children were very disappointed. I would have to say this was a strange experience and had I known about the application process and all the other nonsense I would just have gone to a breeder in the first place. Can you imagine going to a place were they are telling you what kind of dog you are going to buy. It is just easier to go to a breeder pay a little extra than have to deal with this organization. Oh and by the way it can take as long as a week to have your application approved. read more