FAQ'S

Got questions? Well feel free to contact us with your questions or check out some of our more commonly asked questions below.

Frequently asked questions

Where are you located?

We are a foster based rescue. Meaning we do not have a kennel facility to house our dogs. We have foster homes all over the Valley. After rescue some may have a short stay at a veterinarian or boarding facility then they are off to a foster home where they are made comfortable and can receive the best care possible until they find their forever homes. We hold adoptions at: PetSmart 857 N Val Vista Dr Suite 106 Gilbert, AZ 85234 Sat: 12pm - 4:30pm Healthy Paws Market 446 N. Higley Rd #102 Mesa AZ,85205 Open Tuesday-Saturday 11:00 - 4:00pm ​



How can I see your dogs?

If you are interested in a specific dog, you can contact us about arranging a meet and greet or scheduling a time when that dog will be available for viewing and up for adoption. We don't do many meet and greets prior to being ready for adoption but in some circumstances we will do them.



Where do your dogs come from?

We receive most of our dogs from owner surrenders, shelters in Arizona, MCACC West shelter and PCACC Shelter, also others who are needing placement because of unfortunate circumstances and strays.



How can I help?

We are always in need of assistance, and there are many ways you can help! ​ Donations: We are a non-profit organization and can always use monetary donations. Please email followyourheartfoundation@gmail.com or donate online here via paypal. You could also help by buying something off our our Amazon wishlist. We are always in need of supplies and material donations, please check out the "Donate" page for more information. Every bit helps!! ​ Fostering: We can only save lives if we have foster homes! Please consider opening your home and heart to a dog dying for a spot! FYH covers all costs, supplies, vetting, food. You just need to give them space, love and time. Volunteering: If you can’t foster but want to help we can certainly use your help!! Other ways to help: Dog walkers at our events Help with set up and tearing down at our events Fundraisers Adoption event helpers These helpful roles can be done when you have the time and you can commit to only those that fit your schedule, please consider taking some time out to help!



What is the adoption process?

1. Come to an event 2. Fill out an adoption application. 3. We will go over your application with you and discuss all information with you at the time of finalization. 4. A home visit may be done in order to match the right dog to the right home. 5. Sign adoption contract, if applicable a spay/neuter contract signed and adoption fee collected. 6. You will be able to take your new fur fam home with you same day on most occasions.



Are your dogs UTD with shots?

We vaccinate all our dogs however some may be adopted while still going through their vaccine series. If you adopt such a dog we will finish the series over the coming weeks. We administer the basic shots necessary for adoption, we alter and we microchip, which is good for life! Plus you will get up to 15% off for the life of that pet at our Follow Your Heart Animal Hospital.



Don't dogs that come from shelters have problems?

Very few dogs that come to us have issues. The volunteers and staff at the shelters we pull from take great effort to plea for the lives of those dogs that are easily acclimated into homes. Often times, they are family pets that were betrayed and abandoned at the shelter, vacant homes and road sides. Because FYH picks our dogs on personality over breed or looks. We get some of the sweetest souls. If a dog comes to us with issues we disclose what we observe and work with them to get them past those issues as if they were our own dogs. We find many would benefit from training and with a little time and patience, by the people willing to give them their second chance at life, these dogs can be great family members!



How does FYH set puppy adoption fees?

Adoption fees for puppies cover many costs including; Age appropriate vaccines, deworming, feeding, microchip, alters, and socialized in our dedicated foster homes care, etc...
Puppies are very sought after in the rescue world. Puppies draw interest to our rescue at events, web site and social media. However Puppies are not easy to save because it takes special handling and relationships with rural shelters that have few volunteers. Most shelters in populated areas don’t allow rescues to take their pups because they depend on adoption fees to support the shelter. So does FYH. We often are offered highly adoptable pups by grateful volunteers because we do take those older, ill, injured dogs no other rescue is willing to take in. It’s a balance. We would like to believe that pups come in healthy and their adoption fees can easily go toward the older, sick and injured dogs but in truth, it’s a gamble to take in pups. One of the great heartbreaks FYH takes on, which is unfortunately common in shelter puppies, is the parvo virus. Many shelters and rescues will not, or cannot, invest the funds to treat a serious contagious disease such as parvo, FYH will stand by our pups who end up with parvo. Parvo is very expensive to treat, around $1,000 a pup, and even though the best veterinarians and foster parents give them top notch care, they may still not make it. Example: If "Sally" has a parvo infected litter of 5 puppies, 4 may make it through and go on to live healthy happy lives, but one does not make it. FYH will invest thousands of dollars to try our hardest to save the entire family, including mom. Some rescues are known to take in puppies only and leave mom behind to die, or may take the whole family into their rescue but once the pups are weaned, take mom to a vet to be euthanized. FYH would never ever do this! We always take moms and even dads and older siblings if we can. If we help a family whose female has given birth. We pay for her to be vetted and sterilized so she will never add to the population.

We understand many adopters want to help out adult dogs that get less attention then pups, but for many reasons feel a puppy is a better fit for them. However, Don’t feel bad, because by adopting a pup from FYH your adoption fee may go to help their mom or other older dogs that we keep in our care much longer. Guilt free adoptions, puppies that don’t support Puppy mills or breeders making extra cash on the efforts of their own dog!



Why should I rescue a puppy and not buy a dog from a Pet store, neighborhood breeder?

Because pet stores sell pups that were bred for profit, puppy mills are where their parents are living a tortured life, and the early life of your pup was in horrible conditions. Neighborhood breeders or backyard breeders are people that mate dogs to get a little extra money or because they thought it would be cute and maybe wanted to keep a pup for themselves. This is also not helpful for our efforts to become a No Kill Nation. A rescue pup is mostly from unwanted litters from dogs with owners who have not done the responsible thing and sterilized their pet. Often times they give up their female dog with the litter. Our pups may not have had a great start but we make sure they have a wonderful forever. Note: no responsible, serious breeder would have their pups sold at stores. They carefully place their pups to others that will be responsible; often times sell their pups for over $1,000.



So, where does the money go that FYH collects from adoption fees?

FYH is a 100% volunteer run, donation based 501c3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to save dogs from high kill shelters including rescuing dogs from life threatening circumstances. Most dogs vetting and care cost considerably more then the adoption fee. When you adopt from FYH you can feel good that your adoption fee is a vote for no kill! Your new family member will come to you happy and as healthy as we can make them, with as much knowledge as we have about him. You will have FYH’s support for the life of your dog as well. The adoption fee for your new dog may cover some or all of his expenses during his time with his foster parent, or some of his adoption fee may be used to help a dog in FYH who is currently fighting for her life. His adoption fee may help cover the cost of a dog that was hit by a car and requires surgery. His fee may help a litter of puppies with parvo, or a blind senior requiring dental work. Either way, you can feel good knowing every penny of the adoption fee you pay for your new family member will go to helping fight pet over-population in our country!



What is a Pop Up Pup?

We often get asked if someone can adopt a dog they see on our website or FB page right away, and up until now we have said no. We developed this new program for a selection of dogs/pups to better accommodate those requests. However, in selecting this option, you will be paying more to secure the dog (The whole fee paid in full via PayPal) and still need to come in on the determined day to pick up your pup! The POP UP PUP program provides additional money to treat our medical dogs who would otherwise be euthanized at county shelters. All Pop Up Pups adoption fees include: ​​ All 5 rounds of puppy shots (or current shots for non pups) Rabies Vaccination (when of age) Spay/Neuter Microchip for life 14 day health guarantee 7 day money back return option (minus $50 paper/processing fee) One free grooming at the FANTASTIC and ever generous WAGGING TAILS PET RESORT! 15% off veterinary services for life at Follow Your Heart Animal Hospital for your adopted dog. 10% off all products for life at our Healthy Paws Market for your dog (excluding Hill's brand food)



How does the Pop Up Pups system work?

We select the Pop Up Pups each week and will announce which pups will be adoptable each Thursday on our FB Page and our website Pop Up Page. If you are still unsure of the pups that will be on Pop Up, just contact us and we will let you know. If you are wanting a Pop Up Pup, you'll need to be online just before 7pm and go to our Pop Up Pups page. You will want to refresh your browser often as they ‘go live’ one at time (at 7pm) and you may not see all that are there if you don’t refresh often. Once you see the pup you are interested in adopting, you click on their picture which takes you to their page. Then you click “pick this pup” and it goes to your cart. IT IS NOT OFFICIALLY YOURS OR SAFE FROM ANYONE ELSE FINALIZING BEFORE YOU, IF YOU DON’T COMPLETE THE PAYMENT PROCESS RIGHT AWAY. So please remember to complete the payment process. Once you have paid and receive confirmation, that Pup is yours! Pick up is the following Saturday at our PetSmart location (857 N. Val Vista Drive Ste 106 Gilbert, 85234 North/East corner of Guadalupe)