Please note: Adoptions from ACDRA foster families are restricted to the Mid-and North-Atlantic regions of the US, which includes the states between Maine and North Carolina.
If you would like to know more about the rescue dogs that we have listed on this page, please contact the foster home listed with each dog. Please fill out our website’s adoption questionnaire; this is the quickest way to start the adoption process.
Spike Peepers Kai Echo Kelly Sweet Pea Foxy Finnegan
Spike is an 8 or 9 month-old neutered Australian Cattle Dog who arrived at his foster home on 7/23. His previous owners left him tied to the gate of a shelter during the night. Despite the fact that he was abandoned, Spike has a wonderful attitude toward life and loves everyone he meets. He is an energetic young boy, but loves to snuggle and get belly rubs in his down time. He gets along with other dogs and is extremely playful. He tends to be slightly selfish with his toys, but is learning to share and not steal toys from his foster brother & sister. He is house trained, loves to go for car rides and is quickly learning basic commands and crate training. He is also good with cats.
Spike is extremely smart and very eager to please. He bonds very quickly and is looking for a person to call his own. He is being fostered in western PA and is up-to-date on vaccines. If you would like more information on Spike, please email spike@acdra.org or complete the on-line application to get the process started. (Updated 7/29/2010)
Peepers isn’t available for adoption just yet, but you could help her by donating toward her medical care as well as keep
up with her progress at her ChipIn page.
(Updated 7/25/2010)
Kai is approximately 7 months old and sweet and loving as can be. He landed in foster care during the first week of July and has a remarkable spirit given what happened to him in his young life, which was essentially a series of abandonments. He is now living with a foster mom and ACD pack (his FIFTH home!) where he is learning what it means to be loved and treated like a valued family member. Kai was poorly socialized and obviously subjected to harsh corrections at some point in his early life. Given all this, he has great resiliency and just wants to be loved and is super eager to be trained and given a job! In human terms, he is that super smart but bullied nerdy kid in high school who has a bit of insecurity, but with encouragement and attention, will surely blossom into an Einstein of dogdom! See him in training here.
Through positive training methods, Kai has learned basic commands like sit, come, drop it, down, and is even getting good at stay and whisper (which is really cute, and a good way to redirect his bark!). He can be a bit reactive towards new people and dogs, but it is only because he hasn’t quite learned how to control his emotions in new settings, and he is learning quickly. He is crate-trained, housebroken, rides great in the car, and loves being handled. He once showed some interest in herding small children so if wee ones live in a prospective home, the grown-ups must be fully prepared to work with him in a positive manner. He gets along with other dogs, and is starting to show an interest in cats when outside, but indoors he had been fine. He loves walking around with toys in his mouth, and he is quite agile and would be a great agility and/or frisbee dog. He can be anything you ask of him with proper attention to his training and development, and would profit from entering an obedience class as soon as possible to both reinforce what has begun and help build lasting bonds. We will be especially pleased to see him in a home with one well-trained dog to help him learn, or where he can be the sole canine compadre to his people.
When Kai got the medical attention he deserved, we learned he tested positive for Lyme Disease (which is really common in this area) but has never shown a symptom and is being treated with medication as a preventative. Kai is neutered, microchipped, and up-to-date on all vaccines and receives flea/tick and HW medication. He is being fostered in Portland, Maine. For more information about Echo please email kai@acdra.org or fill out an on-line application to get the process started. (Updated 7/15/2010)
Echo is a neutered male cattle dog, born in Jan 2010 (approximately.) He is very sweet and quite smart. He is also quite deaf, but deals with it beautifully. He is both treat and toy-motivated and has learned hand signals for sit, down, come, drop it, no, and he walks well on a leash. He is also learning recall using a vibrating collar. He is housebroken, crate-trained and travels very well in a car. He gets along well with the dogs he has meet so far, and has been going to a playgroup for socialization training to get him used to strange dogs. He is good around horses, and is used to parrots as well. I will test him with cats soon.
He will need to have a fenced-in yard due to his deafness. He also should only be with older children, as his herding instinct is too strong for young children. I’d rather he go to a home with either herding dog or deaf dog experience, both would be even better! Echo is currently in foster care in Halifax, MA. Check out his YouTube videos here and here. For more information about Echo please email echo@acdra.org or fill out an on-line application to get the process started. (Updated 7/15/2010)
This is my foster-dog Kelly. He was found in a backyard as a stray back in May. Since then I have been feeding and loving him up to the best of my abilities, and he has responded really well to the love. He’s still a puppy and he’s totally normal for his age. He loves belly-rubs, all forms of cuddling, ladies, pepperoni, and playing fetch. He walks on the leash like a gentleman, knows how to sit, lie down, and is completely housebroken. He’s been fully vetted and neutered and is in perfect health. Our vet has estimated his age as less than a year old based on his development. Kelly loves trips to the dog park and is very submissive to other dogs. Because of this we hope that he can be the only dog in the home, because in ours we feel his personality and development is a little hemmed-in by our bossy dominant female. If he’s allowed to grow up a little more on his own he’ll blossom into an amazing companion with a big personality. Kelly is being fostered in Parsippany, NJ. For more information about this handsome devil please email kelly@acdra.org or fill out an on-line application to get the process started. (Updated 7/6/2010)
*** ADOPTION PENDING ***
Sweet Pea is an adorable ACD with so much love to give. Sweet Pea was a stray so we do not know anything about her life before she came to us. We do know someone or something scared her. She can be a timid girl when faced with new situations or new people but after a little while she really warms up. Once she does, she will cuddle up to you putting her head on your neck and whimpering with joy.
Right from the moment she walked in the door of her foster home, Sweet Pea has been completely confident and comfortable around other dogs. She LOVES to play with the resident dogs by chasing and herding them. She especially adores another foster here — a 14 lb. mini Aussie who is Sweet Pea’s BFF! (Oh, if only I could find them a home together. I would be the happiest foster mom on the planet!)
We definitely want a home for Sweet Pea with at least one other playful dog. More than 1 dog? That’s even better! Sweet Pea is on the small side for an ACD, weighing just 30 lbs. Her coloring is light, making her a distinctively beautiful little girl. To see more photos and several videos, visit Sweet Pea’s Dogster page. Sweet Pea is being fostered in Langhorne, PA. For more information, please contact Sweet Pea’s foster family via email at sweetpea@acdra.org, or fill out an on-line application to get started. (Updated 7/12/2010)
Foxy Finnegan is a neutered male red heeler mix with a full tail. He is approximately 1.5 years old, weighs about 15 pounds, is crate-trained, up-to-date on vaccines, HW-negative, has been dewormed and is on HW preventative. Foxy came from a high-kill shelter in NC. When he was pulled, he had 45 minutes to spare before his time was up. After a couple of days in his temporary foster Mom’s home, he developed Parvo and nearly lost his life a second time. Thanks to some wonderful Vets and many generous donations from his fans around the country, Foxy has made a full recovery. Now this little guy is in need of a forever home.
Foxy is an energetic little cowdog. We suspect he has some Shiba Inu in there but his overall looks and personality are 100% cattle dog. He is super sweet, loves people and other dogs, is lightening fast, can glide up onto a doghouse three times his height and LOVES to play with his doggie friends! Due to his speed and athletic abilities, his foster Mom believes he’d be an awesome Agility candidate and would prefer that he go to a home where he would be able to build on his talents. This little red bundle of joy needs to be spoiled rotten and showered with love. He’s been through a lot in his short life and deserves the best! If you think that you might be the right home for Foxy, please contact foxy@acdra.org or fill out an on-line application. (Updated 5/5/2010)
