Hil, I've read a few articles about how difficult rescues make it to adopt dogs.

Depends on the rescue. Honestly, having recently gone through ALL our questions when doing some app formatting, I can say that most of the questions that seem off-putting to a first-time dog owner are there to prevent mismatches between dog and owner that result in the dog coming back to the group.

No, we don't expect someone to be there 24/7. We do expect that the potential owner has a plan to deal with the dog's care and needs during their work hours. In our case, we had a walker come by to let Daisy out until we got a second dog. Now we are lazy, lazy dog parents and let the kids entertain themselves. As one does.

Home visit are educational, as well as a way for the agency to make sure that no one is, well, a dog hoarder or doing something unethical. Note: these are not outlandish things. We really do run into dog hoarders. In our case, our home visit person pointed out areas where we needed to strengthen our fence, and various things that could get a dog into trouble. It was all friendly and informational, and we had Daisy before the week was up.

There are few things more stressful for a rescue than returns. It's hard on the dog, it's hard on the volunteers, and it makes us wonder if we've done our job right.

It would be good, though, if we spelled out as rescues why we're asking certain questions.

I have opinions about the casinos in general. I have to talk about them a lot because unfortunately, that's all most people know about Native America.

Can I email you with some questions?

Pardon my bitching...

I have 9.96 in my only bank account, a check for 69.00 didn't clear and I won't get paid again until sometime next week. In between, I will need some groceries, gas and there may be some more bills I've forgotten about.

I've been getting by by supplementing my salary with advances on my credit cards but I've reached the place where I can barely cover the minimum payments on them now.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't borrow from my family. I did too much of that a couple of years ago, hence the using the credit cards lately.

I can't cover it. I'm flat broke. I have a temp job that barely covers the hole I've dug for myself. My car needs a muffler, my tooth needs repair...stuff I can't even plan for.

End of my bitching, please resume your normal bitching. And thanks for being the place I can say these things.

It would be good, though, if we spelled out as rescues why we're asking certain questions.

I just wish they'd make it clear what they're looking for. The fact that I have a job was OK, and then it wasn't OK, and I don't know why.

Feel free, Cass. Profile addy should be good.

That's a shame, quester. That's just hard.

Oh, quester. What a tough situation you are in.

Quester, I can afford to give you (not lend you) $50 so you at least can get some groceries. Do you have a Paypal? And no thanks necessary if you take me up on it--this is a pay it forward thing. I can afford to help you right now, and others helped me when I needed it.

It doesn't solve the bigger problem, of course. I'm sorry it's so stressful.

I'm almost too choked up to answer, Pix. Yes, I do have a PayPal account. What info do you need. I've never had anyone send me money that way before.

Oh, quester. My gut is knotted up on your behalf. BTDT and it's hell (and we're nowhere near out yet, but we have at least managed to level off instead of falling deeper).

quester, is your email address in your profile the one you use for PayPal?