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Rehoming a dog with behavioral concerns

“It feels so good to know that if our adopters who have adopted a fear-reactive dog will have support—for LIFE.”

One of the biggest challenges in dog rescue is rehoming fear-aggressive dogs that could hurt their owners and the public. We often get requests to take in dogs with a history of biting. This page is for dog owners with a reactive dog who needs help rehoming their dog because they can no longer handle their behavioral needs. The following information provides dog owners with detailed information on how our rescue cares for a reactive dog. Keep in mind that we are a small dog rescue, so the dogs we rescue are usually under 20 pounds. We currently do not have any available foster parents for new reactive dogs. Below, you will find tips for rehoming your fear-reactive dog.

Safe-Haven Sanctuary

The Safe-Haven Sanctuary was created to keep dogs who are harder to adopt safe. Many of the dogs in our sanctuary are older dogs with medical needs. We keep dogs with behavioral concerns in our rescue until a forever home is found. It often takes 6 months+ to adopt out a dog with behavioral concerns.

Is a Sanctuary the right place for your dog?

There are different types of dog rescues and dog sanctuaries. The biggest issue with rescues and sanctuaries is limited space for these types of dogs. You have to keep in mind that many people are fearful of dogs that can bite, so special care must be given to a dog with a history of bites. Brick-and-mortar sanctuary setups usually have to keep reactive dogs isolated in crates or outdoor pens, with only a limited group of volunteers allowed to interact with them for safety reasons. Home-based foster programs have limited volunteers willing to take on a dog with biting concerns. Keep in mind that you cannot continue to handle your dog's behavioral needs on your own, and that you love your dog. Giving your dog to a rescue representative who does not know your dog and its needs could place them in a dangerous situation. Because of this, we recommend contacting as many rescues and people as possible because most rescues cannot accommodate a dog with a history of biting. Also, animal rescues could lose their insurance policy if they knowingly accept aggressive animals into their rescue.

The following tips may help with your outreach attempts.

Contact your veterinarian. Let the office know you need to rehome your dog and ask for their help posting a flyer.
Create your own flyer. Bring copies to your groomer and to your vet’s office.
Post your dog on adoptapet.com. Hire a dog trainer to guide you through the process of getting your dog adopted.
Reach out to family and friends for help. Usually, close relationships are a better option for safely rehoming your pet.
Reach out to as many dog rescues as you can. Provide your dog’s picture and bio when reaching out to them, so they can see the full picture of your dog’s needs.
Contact a behavioral dog trainer to support you while you are searching for a new home for your dog. Understanding the level of danger your dog could pose to the public is very important. A trainer who specializes in behavior can help you determine if your dog can be safely rehomed.

How does our Sanctuary work?

We want to explain how our rescue works so you can understand what's involved in caring for a fear-reactive case. First, let’s discuss the different types of behavioral cases we see. We often receive dogs exhibiting signs of behavioral distress. It could be separation anxiety, resource guarding, general fear reactivity, or grooming aggression. With over 20 years of experience handling cases like this, we have to determine the appropriate steps to address each dog’s behavioral needs, and that takes time. Most of our rescue dogs stay with our rescue for several months to several years while we work on supporting their medical and behavioral needs. We post the dogs on petfinder.com and adoptapet.com while we are caring for them.

The following steps are taken when we receive a new rescue dog.

Medical Care:

The first step to caring for a dog is addressing their medical needs. This is because dogs cannot talk, and if they have underlying discomfort, it can affect their behavior and well-being. A majority of the dogs we take in will have a dental because toothaches are painful and can cause behavioral issues. Dogs over 8 years old will receive a senior chemistry panel and urinalysis. Additional diagnostics will be performed based on the vet's recommendations. Making sure the rescue dog is in tip-top shape is a top priority when starting a dog in our rescue.

Behavioral Support:

All of our fosters receive behavioral support from our trainer, Jeni Grant, of Train Your Best Friend LLC. Jeni provides multiple consultations to direct our fosters on the right path to training their foster dog. She provides step-by-step guidance for rehabilitating our rescue dogs with behavioral concerns. Many of the dogs we rescue benefit from pharmaceutical drugs to aid them in their behavioral rehabilitation and underlying stress. We also incorporate over-the-counter supplements to reduce stress. With a combination of medical support, behavioral support, correct management and love, we see improvements in the rescue dog's behavior over time.

Grooming Support:

Many of the dogs we rescue with behavioral concerns become reactive during grooming. We’ve seen even sweet dogs snap and bite when being groomed, even though they're easygoing and sweet when not being groomed. Dogs that are aggressive during grooming will receive a sedated groom. We also have an experienced dog groomer who specializes in grooming aggressive dogs.

How do aggressive dogs get adopted?

It may be hard to believe, but aggressive dogs can find new homes. Keep in mind that there are different bite levels and behavioral issues. Every dog is different, and so are their needs. It’s important for you to contact a trainer who specializes in behavioral cases to help you determine if your dog can be safely rehomed. While we do rehome dogs with bite histories, it can take us 6 months to years to rehome a behavioral case. A lot of care goes into the rehabilitation of a dog with a bite history, and even if we do see substantial improvement in behavior, we never see a serious behavioral case become 100% safe for adoption. For this reason, it can take a long time to find the right home. Another major factor we have to consider is the safety of our community. Adopting out an aggressive dog to an owner who will not seriously follow through with the correct management and behavioral training can cause a stranger to get injured by a bite. For this reason, it takes time to find the right match for dogs with a history of bites. Statistically, most applicants for aggressive dogs have a history of owning a dog that has bitten before.

What happens when a home is found?

When an applicant is found and meets the reactive rescue dog, we proceed with a trial foster stay. During that time, we are in frequent contact with the applicants. They receive behavioral support to keep them and others safe.

After the contract is signed, our part is not over. We offer continued support to our adoptive parents of aggressive dogs with the following support:

As part of the adoption process, we offer free behavioral support from our experienced foster parents and from a certified dog trainer who specializes in behavioral problems.
We offer an addendum to our adoption contract where our rescue supports the behavioral concerns of the rescue dog.
As mentioned above, many aggressive dogs cannot be groomed safely, so they require shaving under sedation. We introduce the adopters to our animal hospital, where they can continue scheduling the sedated grooming.
Boarding support is provided by our experienced fosters. Most boarding facilities will not board a reactive dog, so having this in place is very important for ensuring the public's safety and the rescue dog's comfort.

What happens to aggressive dogs who are adopted out?

We’re happy to say that, statistically, they live out their lives happy and well cared for. We’re not going to say that the new owners don’t face difficulties because they do. Managing a fear-reactive dog can be stressful for new owners at times, but as the years pass, things get easier. We are always in contact, one way or another, with the families because we continue to offer support to them with grooming or dog boarding. It takes a village to support a dog with behavioral issues, but they can live wonderful lives with ongoing behavior support and management.

We hope that this information helps you understand the process involved with caring for and adopting out a fear-reactive dog. To read more about one of our most recently adopted dogs, click here to hear their story.

Below are some more resources to help you on your journey caring for and rehoming your fear-reactive dog. We wish you the best in your journey and understand what you are going through. If you have any questions not answered here, please email us at caringheartsrescue@aol.com

Can you adopt out your reactive dog without the help of a rescue?

The answer is yes but a lot of attention must be given to finding the right match. It typically takes our rescue 6+ to find the right match. The new owner must understand the possibility of getting bitten and the importance of keeping the public safe. We know how overwhelming this process can be. To summarize, the following steps will help you start the process of rehoming your fear-reactive dog.

Make sure your pet is UTD on vaccines and is altered. To provide a clear roadmap on health, ask your vet if bloodwork could rule on an endocrine condition that could be causing the reactive behavior. Having bloodwork done could rule out any medical conditions causing your dog's reactive behavior. Have a dental procedure completed to rule out a sore tooth. 90% of the dogs we take in require a dental and lose teeth at their dental procedure. Remember, dog's cannot tell you if they have a toothache. If finances are a concern, consider using CARECREDIT or ask your vet if they would consider a payment plan. Also, google medical grants for dogs.
Hire a dog trainer to help you while a home is sought. Jeni Grant offers reasonable rates and has a strong background with behavioral problems. Having a professional dog trainer will help ease your stress because they will provide you with the necessary information to manage your dog's behavior and reduce aggressive behaviors.
Post your dog on adoptapet.com. For an example of a bio for one of our recently adopted reactive dogs, visit

If you decide to rehome your pet and you have additional questions, email us at caringheartsrescue.org.