Welcome to Furever Home Animal Rescue, an organization that assists in helping dogs find and thrive in permanent "forever homes" through training, socialization opportunities, fostering, and providing resources and connections to other support groups and professionals.
FHAR assists shelters and rescue organizations to help save the lives of dogs who might not otherwise survive or find homes through marketing and assistance with adoption, training, fostering, fundraising, and more.
FHAR also helps new foster parents during the months and years AFTER "gotcha day" by providing free hands-on training, workshops, socialization opportunities, support groups, and connections to important resources and professionals.
FHAR focuses on dogs who have more difficulty being adopted due to looks, color, breed stereotyping, or behavior issues that can be addressed through training socialization. Veterinary behaviorists are consulted when necessary to assist with the diagnosis and treatment of extreme behavior issues.
Through FHAR's programs and work with shelters, foster families, and adopted dogs, the often overlooked, broken, abused, neglected, submissive, stoic, disillusioned, needy, demanding, dominant, temperamental, spoiled, recovering, happy, and completely lovable dogs have a better chance of being adopted and thriving in their permanent forever homes. FHAR is in the process of becoming a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is always in need of foster homes, volunteers, and funds for resources and professional veterinary behaviorists, so please contact us if you know of someone who would be interested in supporting our cause financially, fostering, assist with behavior modification rehabilitation, volunteer to teach classes, assist new pet owners with questions, or present workshops.
FHAR assists shelters and rescue organizations to help save the lives of dogs who might not otherwise survive or find homes through marketing and assistance with adoption, training, fostering, fundraising, and more.
FHAR also helps new foster parents during the months and years AFTER "gotcha day" by providing free hands-on training, workshops, socialization opportunities, support groups, and connections to important resources and professionals.
FHAR focuses on dogs who have more difficulty being adopted due to looks, color, breed stereotyping, or behavior issues that can be addressed through training socialization. Veterinary behaviorists are consulted when necessary to assist with the diagnosis and treatment of extreme behavior issues.
Through FHAR's programs and work with shelters, foster families, and adopted dogs, the often overlooked, broken, abused, neglected, submissive, stoic, disillusioned, needy, demanding, dominant, temperamental, spoiled, recovering, happy, and completely lovable dogs have a better chance of being adopted and thriving in their permanent forever homes. FHAR is in the process of becoming a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and is always in need of foster homes, volunteers, and funds for resources and professional veterinary behaviorists, so please contact us if you know of someone who would be interested in supporting our cause financially, fostering, assist with behavior modification rehabilitation, volunteer to teach classes, assist new pet owners with questions, or present workshops.
WHO WE ARE
Welcome to Furever Home Animal Rescue, an organization that assists in helping animals find and thrive in permanent "forever homes". FHAR is in the process of becoming a non-profit 501(c)3 organization and assists those who rescue and foster animals by providing volunteers, foster homes, resources for training, supplies, information, and connections to other support groups and professionals. FHAR is always in need of foster homes, volunteers, and resources so please contact us if you or someone you know is interested supporting our cause or volunteering. |
WHAT WE DO
At FHAR we focus on helping dogs who have more difficulty being adopted due to looks, breed stereotyping, or basic behavior issues which can be addressed through training and socialization. We rescue, we foster, we train, we educate, we support area shelters, we connect foster families with resources and supplies and professional assistance. Black dogs are euthanized at a higher rate than other animals, so we focus on black dogs and especially difficult to adopt breeds. |
OUR MISSION
AmericanFHAR helps dogs find and thrive in their forever homes with training, and socialization. FHAR helps wonderful dogs be noticed with creative showcasing, photographs, training, photographs, and up-beat positive descriptions and names. FHAR helps dog owners through education, listings of professional resources and guidance. We are members of the Birmingham Obedience Training Club, the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, Pet Sitters International, Pug Dog Club of America, Greater Atlanta Pug Club, and other organizations. |
At FHAR we focus on helping dogs who have more difficulty being adopted due to looks, breed stereotyping, or behavior issues which can be addressed through training and socialization and helps these dogs thrive in their new "forever home."
For example, did you know that black dogs, especially big black dogs such as Labs and Lab mixes, Rottweilers, Chows, or Newfoundlands, are usually the last ones to be adopted from shelters or rescue groups? Black dogs, and cats too, are euthanized at a higher rate than other animals.
There are several theories to this phenomenon which is called the "big black dog syndrome". First, black dogs do not show up well in a kennel behind the bars of wires of a cage. People walk right by them and do not even notice they are there. It is also more difficult to distinguish their features plus, if they have any gray or white hairs on their face, they appear older than they actually are. White teeth may appear brighter and more menacing on black dogs. Black dogs aren't photogenic and it is difficult to take successful photographs for adoption sites.
Of course, thanks to superstitions and writings of authors like Sir Walter Scott and Arthur Conan Doyle, black dogs and cats have bad reputations. (Excerpt from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, page 71: " In that gloomy tunnel it must indeed have been a dreadful sight to see that huge black creature, with its flaming jaws and blazing eyes, bounding after its victim.") Like the symbolism of Scar vs. Mufasa in The Lion King, these stories may affect people's subconscious believes suggesting that "black is evil".
There is an overabundance of black or black and tan dogs so people don’t pay attention to them. Black dogs aren’t photogenic. This makes a difference for shelters that put pictures of animals awaiting adoption in the newspaper. Black dogs may have expressive eyes, but they don’t show up in pictures.
Most cases aren't this extreme of course. Black dogs needing adoption are typically wonderfully balanced dogs who might need some minimal training and socialization. But, perhaps their names are not creative enough to get noticed. For example, Margie Seyfer, an animal shelter volunteer, started naming black cats Jellybean. People began noticing the cats with that name and adopting them. “Jellybean allowed some humans to see beyond a dark, midnight coat into the rainbow of riches in a cat’s heart,” she says. Placement in shelters of black dogs is important, too, so that they are mingled with dogs of other colors, and placed in better lighted areas. |
Typically, when a shelter has a golden retriever mix and a flat-coated retriever mix, basically the same dogs, the light-colored dog will usually be adopted before the dark one. People may not admit that they are afraid of black dogs but their body language often suggests otherwise --- in public, people shy away from black dogs. They may stiffen up, lean back a little, grab their children, even when it is a very sweet dog. Perhaps it's not just the superstitions but the fact that it's more difficult to read a black dog's facial expressions. Dogs sense this fear, too, and a vicious cycle can develop without proper training, education, and socialization.
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Training dogs needing forever homes simple tricks, or even basic polite manners of sit, shake, down, also helps with adoption. At FHAR, in addition to training and socialization of rescue dogs, we also help shelters by composing up-beat, positive descriptions of the dogs, and creative photographs with colorful beds, toys, bandanas, costumes etc., so they will be noticed and "ready for the close-up!"
Throughout the years, many amazing dogs have come into our lives seeking out help. It is our mission to help these animals and future animals find happiness and a loving forever home. With your help, we will make it happen.
