Northwest Alabama Herding Dog Rescue
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Thank you for searching our web page for the best herding dogs in Alabama. These little and sometimes larger Shelties, plus mixes, and other herding breeds will make your life a lot sweeter and happier......
Jessie is a sweet 2 year old, Catahoula/Border Collie mix. She really wants a wonderful home with a fenced in yard and lots of attention. She loves people and loves to sit next to you all day and night. Won't you please consider adopting sweet Jessie
Many people in search of a family pet have no thought other than to go to a local shelter and pick out a dog or cat, with the aim of giving him a better life. It is an admirable thing to do. Unfortunately, it is a gesture that goes wrong far too often. A pet chosen without research, forethought, careful assessment of their needs and realistic goals, often ends up returned. The failure of adoption is something that shelter workers face daily. There are concrete reasons why adoptions fail, but I believe the most important one is that our society has forgotten the meaning of compassion and lacks the ability to forgive. Our desire for instant success has made us intolerant of anything less than what we want for ourselves at the time we decide we want it. Adoption can make us better people – and not just because we are saving a life; rather, it gives us a unique opportunity for personal growth. I feel that many adoptions fail because people miss out on this aspect of the process. Compassion and forgiveness are emotional “muscles.” If we don’t use them, they don’t grow very strong. It is often very hard to call up compassion – and even harder to forgive and forget. One way you can build these muscles is working with a dog from an animal shelter. It is tempting to rail against thoughtless people who may have yelled at or hit him, but that is not compassion. Compassion is accepting that some people don’t know anything other than to yell at and hit a dog that misbehaves. Feeling anger over this doesn’t solve the problem, but working with the dog using positive techniques and showing him how to behave does. “Emotional baggage” is a familiar term in our culture and can be a pitfall in human relationships - and not surprisingly, with pets too. Memories can get in the way of our success and sabotage our attempts to form an emotional bond. If we are to succeed, I feel we must do a few things. We must not worry about an animal’s past. Our job is to forgive his past and move on to our future together. We must also forget about our past – not hold him up to the standards of a dog or cat we had before. He is his own self. I think this is the most important lesson adoption teaches us. In our own lives, many of us hold on to our demons and can’t them go – but if we can let them go with our new companion, then we are a step closer to doing it in other aspects of our lives. Building a relationship with an adopted pet is not very different than building a good human relationship. Love is not instant. We will make mistakes. We will feel exasperation at times. We’re going to have to rethink our strategies along the way. If we can do this – accepting both our own and his mistakes, then we’ve practiced the art of forgiveness. If we’ve learned how to adjust our expectations in relation to his abilities, then we have mastered the art of compromise. If we can accept that he can’t master housetraining until we figure out whether he’s eating the wrong food, our schedule is wrong or he just hasn’t put two and two together – and we’re not mad about the stain or smell – then we’ve practiced compassion, forgiveness and tolerance. There are those who feel animals are inferior and we can’t learn from them. They are missing out on a lot. Giving an animal a second chance might be the best way to learn about ourselves – and in this endeavor, the ordinary dog or cat can indeed give us a better life Should you have any behavior or obedience questions please go to this video:
News
NWAL is not accepting Shelties for the rest of the year. We are full and overbriming and unfortunately donations, except for small grants have been slow due to the economy. Each of our dogs health care costs at least $165-175 for spaying/neutering, shots, heartworm tests and heartworm prevention, not including long term care and food. Won't you please consider adopting a wonderful Sheltie or one of our Sheltie mixes or one of our other mix breed dogs. And if you can't adopt, please consider giving us a donation for the care and comfort that you bring to each one of these animals at our shelter. We have many wonderful animals for adoption. We want wonderful forever homes who will give them the life they deserve. Please SPAY/NEUTER your pet to reduce the pet population in our communities.Who We Are
NWAL Herding Dog Rescue, Inc. is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to finding new homes for stray,abandoned and owner-relinquished Shelties, Collies, other herding breeds and mixes. We promote responsible pet ownership, bi-monthly grooming, a proper diet and spay/neuter. Since we are a non-profit we gladly take donations, which are tax-deductible, to help the costs of food, supplies, healthcare, and fostering of the animals. Without donations from the community we will not be able to take in any of these wonderful dogs, so please remember to donate to a worthy cause.Adopting a friend
All dogs adopted from us are groomed, bathed, given current vaccinations, spayed/neutered and fed a proper diet for puppies and adult dogs. Prospective owners must be responsible, consider basic obedience classes, have a fenced in yard or kennel in back yard with ability to walk dog on leash at all times. Families with children under 5 will be considered according to their circumstances and the dogs applied for. Dogs must be fed nutritious food, given good water at all times, sheltered in hot and cold weather, bathed, brushed, played with, loved and wanted. If any of these conditions are not met, please bring the dog back to Northwest Alabama Herding Rescue. Donation fees for Sheltie, Collie, or other mixes is $165.00. For purebred rescues over 1 year, $225.00. Under 1 year, $275.00 to cover the vet costs and help other herding dogs.Come Visit Us!
We are located in Colbert County in Tuscumbia, Alabama. We also have foster homes in: Hoover, Alabama (near Birmingham), Tuscumbia, Alabama, and Florence, AL. Please call for an appointment and directions as we are a foster home shelter network and ,fortunately, work during the day and sometimes evening hours to the benefit of all the doggies.Northwest Alabama Herding Dog Rescue, Inc. Tuscumbia, AL 35674 (call for address) Phone: 256-389-3824-foster home 256-767-4201 Ext 1, work 256-263-7604 cell Email: nwalherd@gmail.com
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Northwest Alabama Herding Dog Rescue partners with Pet Doors and their SPADE, Shelter Program for Adoption, Donation and Education program. With it, we can promote responsible pet door use and provide our supporters with access to the best engineered pet door on the market by Patio Pacific and generating funds for our ongoing efforts. Simply enter 530716 as the coupon code when placing an order to designate a generous donation for Northwest Alabama Herding Dog Rescue
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