Ruff Start Rescue Princeton, Minnesota

It has now been two years since we adopted (Canelo) now Solo Cup from Ruff Start. I would personally like to thank Beth Chase for allowing us to have this family dog. My wife had just lost her beloved pet and was in a bad place. We adopted Solo Cup once he got here from Texas, and he has turned out to be the best dam dog ever. Thanks Again Ruff Start and Beth. Gary and Kathy

I've gotten two dogs from Ruff Start Rescue, and both experiences were wonderful. The people who work and volunteer for this nonprofit truly love animals and are enthusiastic and kind. Ruff Start Rescue goes to areas of the country where stray dogs might be neglected and brings them all home for us to love! They care deeply for the welfare of any animals in their care and love updates on their success once adopted.

We had a very pleasant experience adopting through Ruff Start Rescue. They were very open and up front with everything throughout the adoption process. I would recommend adopting from this rescue agency or donating to them.

We lost our Dakota (Black Lab) at 5 years old to a rare liver disorder and it had been a year of mourning and trying to decide if another pet was in our future. My coworker found out I was considering a puppy and came to me with a picture of Monroe (a 2.5 year old chocolate lab) and honestly we fell in love with her from that moment. I filled out the application, was contacted by ruff start, an at home meeting was set up, and Monroe chose us to be here humans! We have only great things to say about Ruff Start rescue, from the staff to the volunteers who caretake for the rescues. Great experience from the beginning to Monroe living her best life. Attached is a picture of Monroe in her Barkalounger. Thank you Ruff Start.

Pringle is living a very happy life in MPLS with his mom Sarah. He loves to run, fetch, and snuggle. He’s very spoiled, in the best way. Thank you for rescuing him!

We got our little yorkiepoo Cici from them awesome!

We got Zoey last April and she has been wonderful. She was a rescue from a reservation. We love having her around, going for walks and to the local dog park. What a joy. Rough start was great and very professional during the adoption. I would not hesitate from adopting another pet from them in the future.

Hi, I have not had the greatest experience with this rescue. The foster parents lie about the video visits and tell false information that was never said. The team at ruff starts response time is nonexistent and no one has gotten back to me. I left 3 voicemails and multiple emails. I would have loved to gotten a pup through this rescue but the way they operate is not great at all.

Awesome share. Great selection of pandemic puppies they have cats and critters also if your not a dog person. I am certainly bias towards a dog myself . i never tried to train a hamster to track or point? A cat not really. But they have em all. I even saw some dogs I can afford as a starving student . no more than several hundred dollars. I went to K-9 veterans support and the number of vets from the list is mind boggling. Can't wait that long for a service dog / companion. These ruff start puppies are like us beat up discarded and need to be in a good place. Just do it.... Make a ruff.start a happy ending...

My boyfriend and I fostered and eventually adopted a dog from Ruff Start at the end of 2020. She’s a great dog and an absolute sweetheart and we love her very much, but she does have a bite history and we were not made aware of this until we were in the process of signing her adoption papers. At this point, we had already been fostering her for over a month and had bonded with her, so it felt really manipulative and dangerous as they allowed us to bring her into our home without making us aware of her bite history. I also believe we were lied to about the reason that she was given up by the guy who was supposed to adopt her before us. We were told it was because the guy said that she did not like to ride in the car. This was not the case as described in her files, and what actually happened was she apparently became aggressive and tried to bite him when he tried to get her to go in his car. We still love our dog and are happy that she is part of our lives, but I cannot support an organization that manipulates and bends the truth to get people to adopt potentially dangerous and aggressive dogs they might not be able to handle. Someone is going to get hurt badly or even killed if they continue to do business in this manner. I’m really disappointed in Ruff Start and I feel they should be handling things differently.

I am forever grateful for Ruff Start Rescue and the amazing woman who found Zeena helped her through her battle to recover and showed her unconditional love the 4 years that she remained with her. I had been looking at Zeena's profile for a couple of months. I just knew we needed each other. Zeena came to live with me right before the shelter in place. She is my best friend and i love her dearly. Thank you to Tamara and her daughters and Ruff Start Rescue. ❤

My fiancé and I recently adopted a puppy from Ruff Start Rescue and she is absolutely fantastic! Her foster home did a great job with her and giving me any information I needed and also helped me with suggestions. I really appreciate how the fosters do such an amazing job at placing their animals in forever homes. They are very dedicated to the work they do! Ruff Start Rescue is also very responsive. I got word back on my application, got in touch with a foster home, and came to meet our puppy all what seemed like a blink of an eye. Great job ❤️

Amazing dedicated VOLUNTEER and FOSTER based rescue. To have such a large number of individuals come together for good and all work collectively as a team on their free time and because they care is amazing. To say the least. As a foster myself, I can say personally it's been a very rewarding experience and I've learned a TON.

Truly great organization! They have so many animals available and have a great system for putting pets in foster homes. They supply everything you need solely based on donations. Please check them out next time you're looking to adopt or foster a pet!

I have adopted many animals through Ruff Start over the years. Their prices are the most reasonable compared to other rescues. Very professional and adoption process is always quick and seamless. Highly recommended.

My husband and I adopted a hound-mix from Ruff Start Rescue a year ago. After encountering many restrictions from other rescues, we finally found Ruff Start who made the process easy AND hassle free. They were very much aware of making sure Tucker got in the right home, and so were we. They were a joy to work with! They answered emails quickly and walked us through the process the whole way. I really have a lot of respect for all the foster pet parents in their program! When Tucker came to us, he knew "sit" and "wait" which are two commands I use ALL the time. Thank you Ruff Start Rescue!

I picked up a cat to foster and got to pet a small happy puppy. Can't really go wrong with that.

I have been searching to adopt a dog for about 5 months now. I receive notifications from RSR and as soon as I've received the notification (I mean minutes after receiving) I check the pets availability they've sent and the dog is "no longer available." What?!!?! I had interest in one particular dog. The foster mom called me and left a message saying the dog was right there in her lap, and when did I want to visit to see the dog. I returned the call the next day and left a message. The foster called me at 11:30 PM the following night.11:30? SERIOUSLY? I was up, but thought I'd let her leave a message because it was late to be receiving a phone call, but she didn't. She texted me instead saying there were 25 PEOPLE WHO PUT IN AN APPLICATION FOR THIS DOG and now the dog had found irs forever home. Wow, I was stunned. Why did they call me when there were *25* applications?!!?! What kind of chance do my husband and I have to adopt a dog with these kinds of odds? I mean its basically a gamble. Better odds at a casino. I cannot get my heart broken time and time again with the way they run their organization. I can't. In addition, to make things more impossible the Ruff Start Rescue website is very hard to navigate. I asked my husband, "Is it me?" He has IT and webmaster skills and said the site is not navigation friendly. I couldnt EVER get my application to go completely through, I kept getting an email telling me my application was not complete, that I could answer the questions separately and they would be entered separately. I did and it still didnt go through. SO FRUSTRATING! Every single page you must check "not a robot" and I'd say most times I had to complete a full captcha. THIS IS A SECURITY RISK if you are putting your personal information out there. NOT TO MENTION (speaking of a security risk (they want you to make an appointment so you can video conference your home to them. I get it they dont want their fosters going to a hoarders home, but this is a security risk when people can see your valuables. I'm pretty much done.with Ruff Start Rescue. I WOULD NOT DONATE TO THEM EITHER. I have no confidence what they are doing is on the up and up based on my experience. I wish I could delete my application.

They helped us find the perfect companion for our home!

Awesome people. Genuinely care about animals.

We adopted our pup from Ruff Start Rescue at the end of 2020 after a long and lengthy search for the right fit for our family. The minute we met Ruby with her foster, we were smitten! We had several meet-and-greet meetings with the foster who educated us, and gave us plenty of room to ask questions about her routine and the adoption process. In the end, we brought her home on Christmas morning and the rest is history! We had an incredible experience both with RSR and her foster family, we will definitely use RSR for future adoptions!!

Great place they love their animals!

We had a wonderful experience with Ruff Start rescue and adopting our new kitty, Kelso! He was being fostered through a foster family and then brought to The Cafe Meow in Minneapolis to be adopted. Ruff Start has been very kind and responsive both before and after our adoption was completed, which we appreciate so much! We were very impressed by how quick the adoption process was. Thank you Ruff Start rescue for helping us find our new best friend! :)

Wonderful staff who obviously love the animals. A+++

We adopted our puppy from Ruff Start about 3 months ago. We were very happy with the adoption process. Everyone we spoke to at Ruff Start was very helpful and answered any questions we had.

We are in the process of adopting a rescue from RUFF START. Great organization. So helpful!! We recommend RUFF START

I had always thought that I would rather find a dog on craigslist than go through the hassle of adoption through a rescue/organization. Ruff Start Rescue was a breeze! The only downside was having to wait the 24-48 hours to hear back but of course that's unavoidable. I got an email within that timeframe and hours after that I got a call from the foster! We setup a meet and greet and a week and a half later, she was home with me. The foster family was kind and helpful - I plan to stay in touch with them to give updates on my sweet Penny. She is a wonderful addition to our family and adjusted so quickly. Ruff Start gave us her medical info a couple days after I took her home and provided plenty of resources for me. I'm so grateful to have had a smooth process and wouldn't hesitate to use them again in the future. Thank you!!

I fostered a dog from Ruff start for a month. Rough start was aware of the dog's aggression towards other dogs but did not feel it was necessary to inform me about it. Their negligence put my resident dog and the foster dog at risk of getting hurt for an entire month.

We had a terrific experience working with Ruff Start Rescue. Start to finish, our puppy adoption took less than two weeks. Christine and Holly were flexible and professional throughout. Looking back at it, I can't think of how they'd make the process any easier. We're thrilled to have our new family member.

We started fostering with RSR in April 2020. They were very helpful with all our questions and getting us matched up with our fosters. Our last foster started out as a temp foster situation, but then we fell in love with him, and foster failed. He's been a great addition to our family! We would recommend RSR to anyone looking to adopt, or who's interested in getting into fostering themselves!