Surrender A dog

Every Dog Deserves A Golden Life

Easing a Difficult Decision

We understand that giving up your Golden Retriever is a very difficult decision. Dogs are relinquished to RAGOM for many reasons, including medical or behavioral issues. Some dogs are strays or transferred from animal shelters.

Regardless of how a dog comes into RAGOM, we are committed to finding a loving family and home where the dog can spend the rest of its life. With our rigorous adoption process, dogs in our program are placed with carefully screened applicants that match the dog’s personality and needs.

All RAGOM dogs are cared for by loving foster homes, where they are treated as one of the family.

Contact Us

Call the Surrender Hotline at (612) 208-3776 , or email our team at hotline@ragom.org.

Our Intake Criteria

Breed

RAGOM will consider dogs that are:

Purebred Golden Retrievers
Dogs that are known to have one Golden Retriever parent
Dogs with physical characteristics and personality similar to a Golden Retriever

Medical

RAGOM will accept dogs with most medical issues. Dogs with certain severe and permanent functional or physical impairments are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Behavioral

Due to insurance and liability requirements, RAGOM must evaluate dogs that have bitten to determine if we can bring them into our program. Our Intake Team will work with Surrendering Owners to gather details regarding the circumstances and severity of the bite before making a determination.

Breed

RAGOM will consider dogs that are:

Purebred Golden Retrievers
Dogs that are known to have one Golden Retriever parent
Dogs with physical characteristics and personality similar to a Golden Retriever

Medical

RAGOM will accept dogs with most medical issues. However, due to lack of fosters, poor adoptability and potential for low quality-of-life, RAGOM cannot accept dogs with certain severe and permanent functional or physical impairments including:

Mobility issues requiring physical or mechanical assistance to walk
Neurological issues that will require lifelong care
Medical conditions that cause aggressive behavior
Significant and consistent bowel or bladder incontinence

Behavioral

Due to insurance and liability concerns RAGOM cannot accept a dog that has:

Bitten a human sufficient to cause open wounds without severe provocation (a dog defending its own life or a dog defending its owner’s life or property)
Killed or caused the death of another dog without severe provocation
Bitten another dog without provocation (the victim dog encroached on space or resources of the offending dog or the victim dog threatened the offending dog)
Severe separation anxiety that has resulted in property destruction (going through windows, tearing down wallboard, or ripping off doors)

Our Intake Process

A RAGOM volunteer will ask a series of questions about your dog’s health and temperament and gather information on your dog’s daily routine. The volunteer will also explain our surrender process.

Once we have found a foster home for your dog, a volunteer will contact you to coordinate a time for surrender. At the surrender, you will be asked to:

Sign a document giving sole ownership of the dog to Retrieve a Golden of the Midwest
Sign a Veterinary Records Release Form

It is also helpful to provide RAGOM with your dog’s current veterinary records, prescription drugs, and anything else that is special to him or her to ease the transition from your home to the RAGOM foster home.