Adopting a Westie from WWR! Thank you for your interest in adopting a Westie through Wisconsin Westie Rescue. We provide this service to people living in Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and Eastern Minnesota. At any time you can download the adoption application here: WWR Adoption Application. Please note there is a $20 application fee (see more information below) required before we process your adoption application. Most dogs do not get listed on our web site or on Petfinder but are placed directly from our waiting list of families with applications filed with the adoption coordinator Lynn Sawyer. Until Jan 15, 2009, please direct any emails about adopting a Westie through WWR to WWR Web Masters. You can contact Lynn by email after Jan 15, 2009 for answers to your questions about Westies or Westie mixes currently available for adoption. Please put 'Westie adoption' in the subject line for any emails sent to Lynn so your question is identified quickly. The Westies and Westie mixes available through WWR come from a wide-range of backgrounds. Some dogs come to us owner surrenders due to life-changing events such as death, divorce or serious illness. Some dogs come to WWR as surrenders from puppy mills either as having been used as former breeding stock or as puppies the mill could not sell and therefore cast off. Some other common ways dogs come to WWR are as surrenders from animal shelters or control facilities, humane associations, or from other dog rescue groups. Most dogs surrendered to WWR are adults, although we do see every age from puppies to geriatric senior dogs. Males tend to outnumber females surrendered to WWR although last year (2007), not by a large margin. Being open to either gender as well as to an older dog will shorten the time an applicant waits to be matched to a dog. Many Westie mixes or 'designer dogs' are showing up in our ranks as well so please consider a Westie mix for your new family member. WWR also places dogs with special needs including health issues (White Shakers Syndrome, diabetic conditions, allergies, etc) senior dogs, and dogs who have emotional baggage from having spent their life living in a puppy mill. We do NOT place dogs with a prior history of biting humans. Please consider a special needs dog if your family situation allows for one. Special needs dogs do forge special bonds with their forever family, and the love you invest in the dog is returned back to you many times over! Please note that we do not adopt to families with small children in the home (under the age of 8 years) without prior approval of WWR president Laura Stafford. For more inforamtion on why Westies and small children are not always a good match, please read the following article by Deb Duncan on Westies and Children. To adopt a Westie through WWR you will first need to fill out an adoption application and return it to Lynn along with the $20 application fee. We will check your vet, groomer and personal references you provide to us in the application and then you will be placed on our waiting list to be contacted when a Westie comes in that matches what you are looking for. At that time we will schedule a home visit with you where one of our volunteers will come to your home and answer any questions you have prior to meeting the dog. Once this is completed, you will need to travel to meet the dog at the foster home. At the time of adoption you will sign a placement contract and pay the adoption fee. The average adoption fee is $200 and the $20 application fee is applied toward the placement (adoption) fee. If you wish to file an adoption application, please access the form WWR Adoption Application and send it to the address provided on the form along with the $20 application fee.