Home At Last Dog Rescue — Attraction in Lansdale

READ BEFORE CONSIDERING TO ADOPT A PUPPY!

Home At Last Dog Rescue spayed my Heeler/Golden Retriever mix at just 10 weeks old—well before the age recommended for large breed dogs. I adopted her at 11 weeks and only learned she had already been sterilized when a volunteer casually said as I was leaving, “Keep an eye on her incision. She was spayed Thursday.” As a result, she now suffers from urinary incontinence, leaking urine while sleeping, requiring lifelong medication, repeat diagnostics, and possibly surgery. This is not an unpredictable outcome—it’s a well-documented risk of early spaying in large breeds.

Each puppy’s profile under one year old should clearly state that the dog will be spayed or neutered before adoption. That simple line might alert someone that the procedure is happening far too early—and give them pause to consider the lifelong hormonal complications they could be inheriting. If I’d seen that information, I may have realized what I was walking into.

Had I not spent time with the puppies on adoption day—snuggling with her and her siblings, watching them play, and identifying my lifelong best friend—I would never have adopted a puppy spayed this early. You shouldn’t either. The incontinence doesn’t become apparent until months later when you finally realize that this puppy is trying so hard to be housebroken but just can’t make it for the normal length of time between potty runs. Then Home At Last Dog Rescue uses the timing against helping you saying you brought this to our attention too late!

Buried on their website is this statement: “To help reduce the number of unwanted animals, our dogs are sterilized prior to adoption unless there is a medical reason that this surgery can’t be done at this time.” There is a medical reason—recognized by veterinary associations—not to spay large breed puppies at such an early age. The AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) recommends delaying spay/neuter for large-breed dogs until 12–18 months of age to reduce orthopedic risks and hormonal complications. My dog is a Heeler/Golden Retriever mix, and she now lives with the consequences of their “one size fits all” protocol. A puppy needs the hormones allowed by delayed spaying to support normal development of their bones, joints, and urinary system—removing them too early can disrupt these processes and lead to long-term complications.

Home At Last Dog Rescue claims to carefully vet their adopters. If they trust these individuals enough to adopt a dog, why not require a signed contract to ensure spay/neuter at the medically appropriate age? When I adopted my previous golden retriever at 7 weeks old, I gladly signed such a contract. It’s a responsible, balanced approach—and one this rescue refuses to consider.

In their response to me, the rescue stated: “We’ve adopted out nearly 25,000 dogs over 15 years—roughly half of them puppies—and have always followed pediatric spay/neuter protocols with the support of 19 veterinary offices, without similar reports or documented patterns of complications related to urinary incontinence or long-term hormonal issues.” I have her medical records and offered to submit them, but they never asked for them—so my dog becomes yet another ‘undocumented complication.’

Adopting from this group isn’t inexpensive. I paid $550, and they required another $200 donation as a “benefactor” for another dog’s medical care. Yet when my own dog’s complications became clear, there was no support, no refund, no shared concern—only a blanket policy stating they don’t assist adopters with medical care after the adoption.

While I don’t believe this rescue intentionally hands off dogs with medical issues, their protocol—despite being supported by some vets—carries known risks. My own vet, and many others, do not support pediatric sterilization in large breeds. This wasn’t disclosed, discussed, or even acknowledged as a possibility.

Think very carefully before supporting this group. Ask hard questions. You will find that once you sign the adoption papers, you—and the dog—are...

It is ashame how hard they make it for a dog to have a home. About 3 weeks ago me and my wife sent an email to this rescue and heard nothing back. 5 days later i then called the phone number listed on pet finder and did not get a response. 2 days after that i put in an application because they still had the puppy we were interested in and we still did not hear anything back. Despite all this we heard they were having an adoption event semi local to us and decided to go. We went and fell in love with one of two puppies left in a litter. My parents also went with us and fell in love with the other dog from the litter.We immediately filled out applications on the spot and talked with the foster parent stacy extensively. 9 hours later we both got emails stating the one was going to a new home tomorrow(this means she waisted out time because this dog had already had the adoption process in place from another family). The second dog she denied my parents for due to him being too energetic, she doesn’t know how they would handle him. My parents live on a 10 acres property with 7 of it having an electric fence. They have a long history of vet care for many previous dogs that she did not care to check into. They currently have a border collie that is very high energy and does great on the property. I can’t imagine a better home for an active dog. They wasted both our time. It is sad they lie and deny dogs of finding good homes, not even checking out the property to see if it be suitable. I do not recommend this...

I applied to the dog Marbles. I was really excited to see a dog like her she was so pretty and I knew by her mix that she was probably smart as a whip.

So I applied, and then get an email from them saying there is a meet and great at 10. I reply I will be there!

Then I get a text at 9 while I’m enroute to this meet and greet saying Marbles will not be there due to being quarantine as she is new to PA. Kind of odd thing to forget if you foster dogs?

Well then I respond “please let me know the next steps to meet her” I was really excited and I’m left on read.

I then get an email that she would be better around kids and another dog? No where in her profile did it say that. Hey maybe the foster parents , should actually do your job as a foster parent and actually giving everyone a rightful chance to meet her and meet the people who wanted to make her a forever home. I work from home and I’m an avid hiker and runner here I’d plan to take her daily. And if you have kids you know the dog gets placed on the back burner I’ve seen this so many times with families. So clearly it’s really odd how they pick and chose people here to meet the dogs let alone even adopt them. Go somewhere else where they will actually let you meet the pups. Plus there’s a lot of not so great reviews about...