The first step in the adoption process is the one you are taking right now: perusing the website and looking over the information we have laid out for you.  Talk it over with your family.  Make sure adopting a new puppy is the right thing for you.  We want our puppies to go to great homes, and we won’t send them off unless we are reasonably sure that they are going to one.

The next stop is to make an appointment to come out and meet the puppies.  When you set up an appointment for a “puppy showing,” we will try our best to schedule it so that you can take as much time as you need to choose the right puppy for you and your family.  With rare exceptions, all of the parents of the puppies we adopt out are our family’s pets - they live here on site.  You will be encouraged to get to know both the parents and the puppies as well as you can so you will be able to make a well-informed decision.  You are also welcome to bring any pets you currently have with you so that you can see how they are going to interact with one another.

We will not put pressure on anyone to adopt a puppy.  If the timing is right for you and you meet the puppy you want...great!  If you decide against adopting, that is perfectly fine as well.  We want our puppies to go to just the right homes, and we know those homes are out there somewhere. 

If you decide to adopt, the next step is a deposit.  We ask for 50% of the sale price.  That reserves your puppy for you.  At the point that you put down the deposit, the puppy is reserved for you alone. 

During the eight weeks that your puppy is in our home, we will schedule at least one “Puppy Day.”    On Puppy Days, we set aside our plans as a family and plan to be home.  It is sort of like a puppy open house.  You can drop by anytime within the pre-arranged time frame and spend time visiting and getting to know your new baby.  Because we want to be able to spend as much time taking questions and getting to know the new families as we can, this is a time for families who have already adopted a puppy.  We do not schedule puppy showings or meet the parents sessions during the same time that we are scheduled to have Puppy Day.

We do accept a certain number of advanced deposits per litter before the puppies are born.  The amount that we take varies from litter to litter.  We usually take two for each gender.  There are times that we will accept more, if a dam (a mother) has shown that she tends to have large, healthy litters.  The order in which puppies are chosen is determined by the advanced deposits.  The first people to put in their deposits have the pick of the litter.  After the advanced deposits are in, names are collected for us to contact when the puppies are born.  We like to set up appointments for people to come out and meet the puppies - and to choose their puppy - when the babies are about three weeks old.  By that time, we usually have a pretty good idea of which puppies will be the smaller pups in the litter, which will be the larger pups in the litter, who will be in between.  We know by that time that all the puppies are in good health.  We are also quite familiar with the personalities of the pups by that time.  Because of that, we can you to find just the right puppy for your family.  There are nearly always more puppies than there are advanced deposits taken.  The remaining puppies are adopted out on a first-come, first-served basis.

Between the time you adopt a puppy and the time you can actually take him or her home, you can often find updated pictures of your pup on our website.  In addition to that, we have added a new feature for our adoptive families.  Each family who adopts one of our puppies will receive a webpage of their own - attached to ours, of course.  A webpage will be set up for you and your family to view.  This page will be dedicated to your new puppy.  It will contain a picture of you with your puppy and all the photos that we take of your puppy during his or her stay with our family.  We take new pictures frequently so that you will be able to see how he or she is growing and changing.  Your puppy’s webpage will also have pictures of the parents - and sometimes even the grandparents.  We weigh the puppies at least once a week - much more often in the early weeks.  There will be a chart on your puppy’s webpage of the weights of all of the puppies in the litter.  That way, you can see how he or she is doing as compared to the other puppies in the litter.  We can also put announcements on your webpage.  For example, if you decide on a name for your new little guy or gal, we can put a banner at the top of the page announcing that.  We are working on setting up a blog so you will be able to read about what is going on here on a daily to semi daily basis.  Until then, we will continue to post periodic updates on the puppy pages that will talk about what has been going on here: what the puppies have been doing, what they are eating, how the different personalities of the individual puppies are changing, funny stories of things they have been doing (puppies do have a way of getting into very cute little scrapes!), etc.  We think the puppy webpages are a really cool thing you can share with your family and friends!  Children in particular will love this new feature of our services. 

When your puppy is about seven weeks old we will send out an email full of detailed information pertaining to puppy pick-up day.  You will be asked at that time to set up an appointment to pick up your new pup.  We are flexible as to the time and exact date you will be picking up your puppy - as long as he or she is at least eight weeks old at pick-up.  Without exception, we will not release a puppy who is less than eight weeks old.  Colorado law states that the puppies must remain with their mother for the first eight weeks.  We also believe these eight weeks are important for the puppy.  Just like human children, the longer they can nurse, the better.  While they are nursing, they receive valuable nutrition from their mother’s milk.  In the email we send out to you, we will also remind you of a few things you will want to bring along with you when you pick up your new family member.  We will also let you know at that time what they have been eating so you can have some on hand when you get home.

On your puppy’s adoption day, you will receive an extensive “puppy packet.”  It will contain information we think will be valuable to you as a new puppy owner - even if you have other pets already.  It will contain information from the American Kennel Club that we have found to be very informative.  It will also contain coupons and resources from Eukanuba.  This is the food we feed our dogs, and we highly recommend it to our families.  Your puppy packet will also contain health records we have compiled (weights, shot records, wormer records, vet’s notes, etc.) during the first eight weeks of your puppy’s life.  The dates your puppy will need shots in the future will be included - we don’t want you to forget!  We will also include a disc of all of your puppy’s pictures, his or her parent’s pictures, and your first family photo.  If your pup is a purebred, his or her family tree will be included as well.  The puppy packet will also contain copies of your receipt and health guarantee.  We are also more than happy to answer questions about what to expect for the first few days, how to care for your new puppy, and some suggestions about the training process.  Because we have so much valuable information to go over with you on pick-up day, please plan to spend some time - rather than rushing out the door with your new puppy.

Another service we offer as a convenience to our customers is that we do all of your paperwork for you.  We send in four AKC registration as well as your microchip registration.  This will be done for you, and the completed documents will arrive at your home in six to eight weeks.  It is a convenience to you, and it saves us the myriad of phone calls and emails full of questions about how to fill out the forms.  We charge a nominal fee for this convenience - which most customers are happy to pay in order to avoid the stress and questions that go along with doing the paperwork themselves.  The price for this paper processing fee - which is not optional - is $45 for a purebred and $25 for a mix.

Once you have taken your puppy home, we are still here to help you in any way we can.  You will be encouraged to call or email at any time.  We also love to get emails and photos of the puppies once they have left our home.  We are still in close communication with some of our earliest customers.  Many of our adoptive families have become our friends.  We have relationships with some of our adoptive families that have spanned the years.  It has been a pleasure for our family!

Please feel free to give us a call or send us an email when you are ready to proceed with the next step in the adoption process.  We can’t wait to get to know you - and to match you up with just the right puppy!

For further information, please contact rockymountainpuppies@me.com or inquire at 970-534-0783.