Available for Adoption

Our adoption process is very simple, first you will need to fill out our on-line adoption form (link is highlighted in blue above), then we will talk with you about the potential sled dog matches we have available. If the dog you choose looks like they will be a good compatible match for your lifestyle we will arrange a good day and time for you to visit the Sanctuary.

Keep in mind that is pretty common for our adopters to visit planning on looking at a particular dog and will end up falling in love with another. That is one of our benefits of having all our available dogs in one location, you are welcome to meet with them all and the let the dog choose you.

Once it is clear that the dog you choose is the right match for you, the adoption fee is paid and you can take him/her home that day as long as the dog does not have an appointment with our vet for a spay/neuter surgery. If so we will handle the logistics of their vet visit and you are welcome to pick up your companion directly at the vets office or schedule another time to visit and bring your dog home.

You are also welcome to schedule another visit if you need more time to talk over the big decision of adoption with your family. We are happy to hold a dog for you for a few days, or a week, if we believe the match is a good one. Our ultimate goal is to make sure the future of our sled dogs is the best it can be.

While it is true that once a sled dog enters the Sanctuary that they are safe in the hands of mushers who understand the sled dog breed, there are countless huskies who still need our help.

The Sled Dog Sanctuary is able to care for and feed up to 25 sled dogs. We will not take in more dogs than we can properly care for. This means that when we have 25 dogs living at the Sanctuary we cannot take any more dogs, no matter how much they need our help.

If you choose to adopt a dog from us it will immediately open up warm shelter and food for another husky in need.

At this time we do not offer fostering of our sled dogs for a few very important reasons. One reason is that we are not able to evaluate or monitor the dogs health, behavior and stability if they are not directly in our care.

All dogs of the Sanctuary are monitored and cared for by dog mushers with countless hours of dog behavior experience, who have worked with many kinds of working breeds and behaviors.

Another reason we do not offer fostering is because of the fact that it is very hard to find foster homes where our rescues can be properly contained to prevent escapes, complaints from neighbors (barking) or exposing the dogs to other risks to their safety.

If a sled dog has not experienced life outside of a dog yard setting we will not subject that animal to a higher level of stress forcing them to adapt to the foreign life of an indoor dog and adding stress into the life of their foster parent.

Many of our sled dog rescues can, and do, make wonderful inside companions but only after they have gone through a rehabilitation and review period to determine if they will adapt to a new kind of lifestyle.

If your dog does not work well with you for any reason we offer a 100%, no questions asked, take back policy. No matter what the problem is, no matter how old the dog or how long they have been in your care they will always have a home to come back to at the Sled Dog Sanctuary.

We also offer a full refund on your adoption fee for up to two weeks after the dog enters your home, just to make sure the match is working well for both adopter and sled dog.

Our records remain confidential because of the situations many of these dogs have come from.

In order to protect the identity of the owners and their situations we will not release personal records of where the dogs came from, or their names.

We are happy to share other general information with you such as their previous working history, if they have been a pet, if there was trauma in their past or other important information that will help you understand their previous life expereince.

When a husky comes into the Sanctuary there is a mandatory waiting period for each dog allowing time for them to to settle in, show us who they are as individuals and allow us to thoroughly evaluate each one as an individual.

In knowing their personality and behavior we are able to find the perfect home based on how they will adapt based on their personality and not just their looks. This greatly increases the chance of an adoption match becoming permanent and reduces the stress on the dog of being adopted more than once.

Many rescues who enter the Sanctuary need time to heal and recover from a neglectful or an abusive past, though some of our special needs cases are never able to recover. Whether it be a mental or physical condition, there are a few dogs who must be labeled 'unadoptable'. The reasons for this decision is as unique as the individual dogs themselves.

Our main criteria in deciding if a dog is unadoptable is if they are able to transition safely, easily and happily into a new home. If we suspect that the dog is too fearful, too sick or unwilling to transition outside of the Sanctuary setting (for dogs like Polar) we will integrate them permanently into our day to day kennel life.

This is the main reason why we exist as a Sanctuary. We are here not only for Alaskan sled dogs in need but also for those who have been hurt, broken and unable to recover enough to lead normal lives...

As part of our confidentiality procedure we change all names of the dogs who enter the Sanctuary to protect the records of the previous owner.

In some cases groups of rescues will come in without records or names at all.

While we would love to have all our adopters fall in love at first sight with many of our adoptable huskies, it is VERY important to us that the personality of the sled dog you are interested in matches your lifestyle.

It is also VERY important to us that the husky you are interested in likes you too!

We want the best future for every sled dog who enters the Sanctuary and we take great pleasure in knowing each sled dog as an individual so we can do our best to match their personality with your own.

Some sled dogs do not make good pets, and some are all too happy to find a couch to call their very own. We will not match you up with a high paced athlete if your goal is to have a cuddle pup on your couch. In the end it is all up to the dog themselves, and who they are as an individual, rather than what life they have lived in their past.

We have had many sprint and long distance athletes who came into the Sanctuary who have competed in fast paced races but were looking for a way to continue enjoying the trail at a slower pace. Many of these dogs do perfectly well matched in a home with an active runner, hiker or as a camping companion.

They may all be called sled dogs, but like people, each dog is different. You don't need to have the dream of being a dog musher in your future to enjoy these wonderful souls. Many of them crave the slower paced life and a human to call their very own.

Again, this depends on the individual.

Once a sled dogs reaches the age of 6-7 their energy level drops considerably from when they were 1-3 years of age.

When they reach 10-15 we can easily expect a dog to retire from running on the trail in a dog team, even at what we call our slow pace of 7-10mph. Though we have easily had dogs who were from 9-12 years old happily keep working along doing the job they love.

Most of the dogs we take in are grown adults. It is very rare we will receive a litter of puppies or a pregnant mother but we do occasionally receive them.

Many of the sled dogs we rescue are received through emergency situations and are taken in very quickly. Often times we don't know what we will be receiving, or what state the dogs will be in, until they are surrendered into our care.