The home visit itself takes approximately one to two hours plus drive time, and then you spend approximately another hour entering your report online. You should plan to devote three to four hours per home visit.

You can volunteer to do as few or as many as you want or have time for. Some volunteers do a couple each week, and some do a couple each year. You choose how often and when you want to do home visits based on your schedule.

Most home visits require that a dog accompanies you. But occasionally a home visit is done by phone for applicants that live in rural areas where RAGOM doesn't have a volunteer to perform the home visit in person.

If you don't have a dog (or if your dog would not be comfortable doing a home visit), you can borrow a neighbor's, friend's, or another volunteer's dog. And no, it does not need to be a Golden Retriever.

Yes, you need to complete a home visit training session before you conduct a home visit.

At the training, you learn about RAGOM's policies, the questions to ask, the things to look for and watch out for during the home visit, as well as education you might need to provide to the applicant during the home visit. You also review all necessary forms, including the Home Visit Questionnaire.