Our partner policy

We are a small team made up of a few passionate volunteers alongside our founder - Steve Allan. We want to support and help our partners as much as we can and see every relationship as an ongoing one so that we can continue to fight the good fight!

We follow the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and the minimum operating standards set out by the ADCH and ensure our partners that work with us adhere to these in line with our policies.

Together we are stronger.

1. How we work together

Before any partner is onboarded, the Hope For Podencos team will visit each partner and their premises in person to ensure all of our policies and standards can and are being met and to discuss and agree the following, once agreed both sides we will share our partner contract for signing:

What we need from our partners

It’s really very simple, above and beyond anything and everything, we need to know the podencos in our partners care, are safe and well looked after.

It is important that any pods can be quarantined on arrival to the rescue, with access to vet care for the duration of their stay.

It is necessary that full bloods & disease testing can be done - as well as: Passporting, microchipping, vaccinations, dental checks, nail clipping and flea/worming/parasite prevention.

If the Pods are the appropriate age and there is no medical reason against it, all dogs should be neutered.

Partners must have kennels/indoor space with beds so Podencos can be inside when hot or at night, when the sandflies are most active. kennels, indoor space and any outside runs must be cleaned daily to ensure a level of cleanliness and hygiene for the dogs.

We require 5ft+ fencing for any off lead areas they have to play and exercise in. If Podencos not in a secure space we would insist that the correct collars and harnesses are used.

Last but definitely not least! Open, honest and regular dialogue, therefore all communication will take place in a shared WhatsApp group with both the partners and our team members.

What our partners get from HFP

HFP are firm believers in an equal working relationship between us and our partners.

We cover every cost for the podenco from the minute we agree to take them under our rescue. This is why we insist they are exclusively ours to promote and adopt.

We need to agree the following costs with yourselves:

  • Adoption fee to be paid for the dog - some of our partners include the neutering, passport, vaccinations etc in this cost.

  • Full bloods to be paid for the dog - We know we ask a lot for the UK, so we expect to pay for that.

  • Kennel fee to be paid for the dog - some rescues include the food, water, flea/worming. Any ongoing monthly costs that need to be covered for any dog.

  • Additional vet costs for the dog - anything extra such as dental, nips, scrapes that require additional vet treatment for the individual dog.

The team will always want to visit a few times a year to stay in touch with our partners and meet the dogs!

All costs will be agreed up front before any dogs are onboarded by Hope For Podencos, and will be invoiced monthly for payment.

What we need to confirm the pods we can help

We must always know the health and behaviour of the podencos in our care so we can be honest and transparent about their health, wellbeing and needs.

All dogs must be assessed for behaviour and training needs to match them with potential adopters:

  • How they respond to other podencos and other dogs

  • How they respond to humans (male & female)

  • How they cope with being on a lead and harness outside of the rescue with stimuli such as traffic and strangers

  • How they behave inside the rescue having free run/playtime

  • How they cope being handled and groomed

  • What environment for a home is best suited to them e.g. rural, urban, city etc.

We require full blood analytics of every dog, in particular we request:

  • Hematologia, Bioquimica & Proteinograma

  • Anaplasma, Babeosis, Brucella, Erchiolosis, Filaria, Leish

  • Vet history on any previous treatment while in the care of the association

We also need to know of any previous vet treatment such as broken, limbs, other conditions they have been treated for.

We are currently unable to take dogs with Leishmania but are working in 2025 to change this.

How we promote the pods

Every dog will be added to our website with their own profile, they will also be promoted on social media.

Our main ciriteria we ask from you for this is:

  • Can they live with under 5 year old children?

  • Do they need another dog in the home?

  • Can they live in a city?

  • Do they need a garden?

  • Can they live with cats?

  • An assessment of their personality and any behavioural additional training notes required

We do also utilise our incredible Champion and his wider network - LifeLikeCharlie who does a weekly podenco post on our behalf!

Adopting/Fostering the pods

We pride ourselves on being incredibly fluid and adapting, developing and growing constantly to keep up with an ever changing environment and dogs that are all unique individuals.

Our process is as follows:

  • Adoption/foster form & email responses

  • Adoption/foster call discussing breed and individual dog

  • Commitment page

  • Home check

  • Full support for anything and everything in between!

All calls are done in pairs to share knowledge, guidance and our own experiences. Every adopter/foster has their own thread with the team to communicate in for the duration of the dogs life.

We take the time to really understand the adopters needs and their home and life to really ensure we have a match both sides.

Our hard stop rules - secure 5-6ft boundaries for outdoor space, no dogs to be left regularly for more than 3-4 hours a day and recall is unlikely with a pod!

We also insist on the correct sfatey equipment - martingale collar, 3 strap harness, tracker and no extendable leads…

Transporting the pods

We transport every month and can cover Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, UK and Netherlands. We follow all HMRC and DEFRA guidance for the UK as we import the dogs.

The vans are air conditioned in the Summer and heated in the winter, we trust and have met all of our transporters who are DEFRA approved.

We can do traces/IPAFFS for the UK and Europe and cover all costs for this.

We will ask for the following key information 2 weeks prior to transport:

  • Copies of all passport pages with entries

  • Neuter date (where relevant)

  • Any treatment notes (where relevant)

Every adopter/foster is added to a WhastApp transport group to communicate and prepare them in the lead up to adoption, on the day (all transports are tracked) and for as long as everyone wants to remain after.

A team member is present at the first drop for all UK transports to handover safety equipment and check the dogs are coping as well as can be expected.

Supporting the pods.

We want to make successful adoptions, and see pods thriving in their homes rather than just living new lives. We offer 24/7 support to all adopters and their dogs pre, during and post adoption. Each adopter has a Whatsapp group with us, can use the transport group for as long as they like, we have a private Facebook group called ‘Happy Days Ahead’, and we also have a trainer who works with us and is involved in the post adoption check in points as well as being on hand for any support anyone might need at any other time.

After the dogs arrive, we will make sure everyone has gotten settled in over the first few days and provide guidance during the decompression stage depending on how each dog is progressing. If any adopters need us, we are on hand via message or can call us for any urgent queries. We will then do a 7 day check in after transport to check if there is anything they want to discuss, or ask about. Following this, we complete a 30 day call to check in progress alongside our trainer and finally a 90 day check in.

We all work full time alongside volunteering for HFP however it is very important to us to make sure adopters/fosters know they are not alone in this journey and having done it many times ourselves, we know how much of a rollercoaster ride it is!

We offer full rescue back up for all dogs, for the lifetime of the dogs. Should an adopter/foster contact us asking us to rehome a dog for any reason at any point in it’s life, we will always do whatever is best for the dog whether this is a straight rehome or if we need to make use of emergency fosters in an urgent situation.