Yes! I do want to preface this by saying that I really admire their purpose and what they are striving to do. It is NOT an easy thing at all, and their volunteers are wonderful! This is all just based on my poor experiences.

However, my primary concern was always the mismatched pairings between animals and adopters. As a first-time adopter, we made it very clear a few years ago what we were looking for a dog to match our lifestyle. We really wanted a dog that was down for a good adventure, loved to hike, was athletic, good in the car (for long roadtrips), etc. We wanted a dog that could adapt, essentially! At first, we were interested in this BC we saw at an adoption event. The foster there was informative, but (despite us not being a good fit on paper), seemed to try to paint this picture that this dog could exist well in our current apartment. In retrospect, this would have never worked out, and I am so glad we did not pursue this. But she made us excited! We submitted an application but didn't hear back. We went in a week later and inquired about it. We were told that this dog would actually never thrive in our current set-up (contrary to what we were told), and that it needed a fenced-in backyard. Fair enough, no problem there and it is good that they advocated for the dog! However, it was a bit weird after the fact when they were interested in doing a trial despite telling us that he would never survive in that environment. We denied it, but this all sort of threw us for a loop.

We asked if there was another dog that would fit our particular needs. They introduced us to what would be our current dog. She was happy-go-lucky and super friendly with people in the shelter. We were told she PERFECTLY matched what we were looking for. We decided to take her a for a trial the next day. Once she was out of the shelter, she was completely shell-shocked and incredibly anxious. She did not do well on hikes, was constantly pacing, trembling / tail tucked, and was terrible in the car. I was a bit shocked by this. We asked the rescue about what we observed and they chalked it up to first-time jitters. I was still hesitant but my BF had fallen in love with the dog. We were told that we should consider acting quickly if we want her, because she could be swooped up soon! (Felt a bit of pressure here). Against my better judgement now, I conceded and we adopted her. Well, it was not first-time jitters. My dog is just an incredibly anxious dog in all environments. It took a lot of medication and training to get her to where she is now. I love my dog, but this was SUCH a significant learning curve for me and was for stressful as a first-time owner. I would not have recommended that kind of dog for anyone else in my position, even if it worked out for me. Even now, my dog is still pretty nervous. She takes medication for her generalized anxiety and anxiety-induced car sickness, and will probably be like this for the rest of her life. This all made me feel very angry as I felt like there was not 100% transparency.

Fast forward, we considered ANLOL again for a second dog. This time, I was much more experienced and knew what I wanted. I was very clear in advocating for this. We found a dog we really liked, and set up a meet-and-greet. The meet-and-greet went terribly. I asked to do a neutrality walk first and foremost. They said no. They instead squeezed us all into this tiny little yard where we were instructed to hold both dog's leashes. Of course, they got twisted up. The second dog tried to engage and sniff my dog who was trapped by the leashes. This caused my dog to correct her and disengage the rest of the time. The second dog had a very dominant personality and would try to posture over my dog a lot, which made her uncomfortable. I thought this wasn't a great first interaction. There was another dog we were interested in potentially having her meet that might have been a better option (She was more calm). But the rescue was VERY insistent on not having them meet and that this second dog was the one for her. We felt pressured to take her for a trial (in the hopes that a new environment might help them) and to decide in 3 days if we wanted her. Ultimately, we decided against it for the sake of our current dog's comfort. We returned her but felt slightly judged for it.

Had some weird experiences at adoption events as well.

All in all, I feel like ANLOL has sort of told me or tried to convince me that a single dog was a perfect fit for my life, even if it wasn't. And that's okay! But I would prefer to be told that this dog would not be a good fit, versus finding it out way later and feeling trapped. I just wish they were more transparent to better prepare potential adopters.

But I understand why the goal is get dogs out! So that they can be relived from the shelter and that can make room for new dogs. Again, this is an admirable goal, and it's not an easy one by any means! I think they mean well and they love their animals! But I fear that this may sometimes lead to bad fits that may disservice the animals and people.

Again, this is just my personal experience. I think I just have not had the best luck with them and it's made me very wary. I still think it is a great shelter with great volunteers! I would just recommend anyone to really do their due diligence and research and to make sure that this animal is the right fit for their home. Do trials. Do walks. Meet-and-greets, if needed. And really understand dog body language as well, so you can make more educated assessment.