We adopted a cat from City Dogs / City Kitties and it was a great experience. They were very open with us about the vet records, and even had a vet call us and walk us through her chart. I’d highly recommend them. https://www.citydogsrescuedc.org/adoptable-dogs.html

I’ve not adopted from these, but I give $ to both: TRU Rescue and BARCS.

Also, my son adopted from Small Miracles in Ellicott City and they had a terrific experience- and their dog is a sweetheart.

Howard county animal control is good. They don't always have a lot of dogs, but if you check their site regularly they do have various size dogs. Or follow in Facebook.

https://www.petfinder.com/search/pets-for-adoption/?shelter_id%5B0%5D=MD106&sort%5B0%5D=recently_added

I have friends who have adopted from Small Miracles. This group is often also looking for fosters.

Small Miracles is urgently looking for fosters right now for puppies. More info on their Facebook page if anyone is interested. OP, fostering a puppy would be a good way to find any present health issues.

Question about fostering. I follow them on Facebook and see their needs for fosters. I would like to help foster but since I work, do they let people foster if it means the puppy would be home for 8.5 hrs alone?

Great experience from Small Miracles!

Canine Humane Network is excellent. They put their dogs up on Pet Finder. They’re all rescues, and they don’t go on Pet Finder until they spend enough time in their foster home to rehabilitate and learn to be a dog again. They’re excellent people who do a lot for dogs.

I've adopted through BARCS and they were great to work with.

Our neighbors just adopted from Canine Humane Network in Highland and recommended it.

+1 for Small Miracles. Three dogs from there.

We have adopted several from PetConnect Rescue. They have a facility called Muddy Paws in Western Howard County and are based in Montgomery County and Northern Virginia. They go to high kill shelters in the south and bring back highly adoptable dogs that would otherwise be euthanized. The dogs are fostered and adopted locally. Great organization!

First and foremost. Please do not buy a dog.

I have gotten two dogs from Small Miracles on 40. Both have been wonderful pets (although one was miss identified with regards to breeding, thought it was a beagle turned out to be American Foxhound, easy mistake when a puppy).

We have also gotten a dog from Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland. Also a very positive experience.

Double dog dare! We have fostered 8 dogs from them and both our dogs are from them! (The last one was a foster fail)

They treat their dogs well and all their dogs are fostered - you can do a meet and greet at the fosters house (superrr nice people!) If you dont like the dog, no harm no foul! :)

Adopt dont shop!

Sorry, I don't know their specific requirements, but I don't think puppies are able to be alone 8.5 hours anyway. My understanding is their bladders demand they go out every couple hours.

Seconding this. They helped us find a dog not only great with our young kids, but also great with the rest of the family's pack. Reach out to them independent of Petfinder, we matched with ours before she went on the site (but after training and everything).

I really liked my experience with SPCA in Baltimore when I adopted my cat there. They seemed to have a rather large dog section too.

Have you tried local shelters? My dogs came from Baltimore County (German Shepherd Dog) and Anne Arundel county animal control (Jack Russel).

I have similar thoughts on rescues. I get why they are so particular, but… we never “qualify” for dogs. Right now, it’s because we don’t have a fenced yard. Before, because we had a semi-feral cat.

My mom and I both adopted our dogs from Last Chance Animal Rescue. Others weren’t even returning my emails or responding to my adoption application. They may not know as much about the dogs as you want though as they bring in a few hundred dogs a week from kill shelters.

https://www.lastchanceanimalrescue.org/adoptus-html/

We adopted our lovely corgi/shiba mix from Band For Animals Inc in Fairfax, Virginia. BFA is a non profit that only rescues dogs from South Korea. Highly recommend! I think their Facebook page is their only website

We adopted our dog through Key to Lion’s Heart rescue

We foster for them sometimes, and while I don't know Small Miracles official rules concerning this, you're correct it would be tough to have them alone that long. We have gotten someone to come in when we had to leave them alone longer than 4-5 hours. Puppies are going to have tons of accidents no matter what, so it's always a poop storm. :-)

I recommend Small Miracles (Route 40, Ellicott City). I got my dog from there and I couldn't be any happier

Yes I know it wouldn't be ideal, but a better option than being at some shelters in WV or other areas. 😥 I wasn't thinking they would not be able to relieve themselves, I was thinking puppy pads would be used.

I am thankful for what Small Miracles does for so many pets.