Thanks for the detailed suggestions. I looked at Irr.org and in fact they have a dog that I would be very interested in, however, I don't live in their service area; the only portion of NJ that they serve is within 30 miles of the PA border. I'm in Bergen County NJ, about 15 miles from NYC. When I was mentioning my difficulties with Petfinder, I wasn't suggesting that they aren't trying to do what's best for the dogs that they are attempting to place. Certainly all of the rescues are stretched from a personnel perspective...they are all volunteers doing the best that they can. I was just referring to the experiences that I have had recently, especially as compared to my last adoption experience.