Mastiffs to Mutts Rescue

Mastiffs To Mutts Rescue, Inc. concentrates rescue efforts on Mastiffs and other giant breed dogs and mixes. When we accept dogs into MTM, they are appropriately vetted and placed in the care of foster homes in and around the Mid-Atlantic region. We do not maintain a shelter.

  We are all volunteers who love dogs and have a strong desire and commitment to give a rescued dog a chance for a better life. Some of us transport dogs from shelters to rescue, take care of puppies, foster dogs while they are waiting for their forever home, process applications, and conduct home visits. Some of us provide veterinary services, dog/owner training services, website design, and fund-raising assistance. We are parents, grandparents, and/or singles; working at home or elsewhere; in school and/or retired. We need and welcome dedicated volunteers. If you would like to be an MTM volunteer, please complete an application  here .  

We will do our best to process your application in a timely manner. At times, we receive an unusually high interest in our dogs. This can result in your application taking longer than normal to process. Please also keep in mind situations such as the holiday seasons can also create a backlog.

Please know that if the dog you have selected has been adopted before your application has been processed and approved, an approval remains valid for at least a year. There will be more dogs hoping for a forever home. Please keep watching our Facebook page, and the list of adoptable dogs on our website. If you are Approved to adopt, as soon as you see a dog you would like to consider, just send us an email.

Homes with intact dogs will not be approved for adoption. The following circumstances are exceptions:1. The intact dog is a working member of a law enforcement, or search and rescue/recovery team.2. The intact dog is registered under the auspices of the American Kennel Club and is actively being shown.3. A veterinarian has determined the sterilization procedure would harm the intact dog. Proof of any of these reasons is required.

As a Rescue, part of our mission is to inform prospective adopters about the responsibilities and costs of bringing a giant breed dog into their homes, with the intent to provide the dogs with the best chance to live in a safe environment. We are, unfortunately, too aware of the risks of allowing your dog off leash in an unfenced yard. At the worst, the dog may be killed or severely injured by cars on nearby roads, or lost on undeveloped acres, if the dog chases a toy, a child, or perceived intruder or prey. At the least, the dog may wander unwelcomed onto neighboring properties. We must advise you to keep your dog(s) on leash with you, when you are in an unfenced area. Tie outs are not acceptable.

Our adoption policies are based on our knowledge, experience, and our ability to save rescued dogs. We reserve the right to approve or deny any adoption that occurs through this organization without disclosure. In most cases we adopt to approved families where the dog will live indoors in the following Mid-Atlantic states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and parts of North Carolina. We will not adopt giant breed dogs to renters. We will not adopt a giant breed dog to homes where the dog will have access to highly varnished hardwood steps inside the home. Any inside steps to which the dog(s) have access, must have carpeting, securely fixed stair treads, or a non-skid surface. We encourage you to remediate potential safety issues while your application is under review, prior to the home visit. Methods or devices using pain or force on the dog to control the dog, or to deter undesirable behavior is prohibited. Homes with children under 6 years of age will not be approved for adoption. Homes with children should have a fenced yard. To ensure proper housetraining and socialization, puppies will only be adopted to homes where an adult will not be away more than an hour per month of age of the puppy, up to 6 months. Our adoption committee carefully reviews every application. We reserve the right to make exceptions for special circumstances.

It is also the adopter's responsibility to travel to complete the meet and greet for any dog. This includes taking any current dogs with you to the meet and greet. We also require that you are able to keep the adopted dog along with your current dogs separate from each other in the vehicle for the trip home. This means either crating the new dog or driving two vehicles to the meet and greet.

An application to adopt is found

here

or following the prompts to FILL OUT AN ADOPTION APPLICATION on each dog's webpage.

A Note about Puppies and Children

Our goal is to place a puppy into a household where both the puppy and the children will flourish. To that end, we prefer to adopt young puppies into families with children seven and older. In homes with younger children, we would prefer to place an older puppy, or young dog. Homes with children under 6 years of age will not be approved for adoption. It is important for us to determine that the adoption of the puppy is understood to be a family commitment, and that the children in the potential adoptive family are "dog savvy”. It is necessary that the adoptive family understand the special circumstances surrounding the bringing of a puppy into a home. Puppies do mouthing and that is sometimes interpreted as biting. This is simply a stage in puppy development. Puppies jump and scratch, another return reason we often encounter. Untrained small children have been known to pull, hold, and drop puppies, severely hurting them. A toddler can fall on a puppy, hurting them unintentionally. Very young children have a tendency to not understand that the crate is the puppy’s home and that becomes a problem in that the dog never has a place of its own. Children often carry food, right near the puppy’s nose. Of course, a puppy will try for the food, and this can get interpreted as a bite. We will attempt to make the best possible placement, with the intent to avoid all such situations. The results we are seeking are a forever home for the puppy and satisfied adopters. For more information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.