Rita Border Collie Mix Wheeling, IL

Rita is at our shelter. Please submit an application from our website or just come in to meet her during open hours!m

Scroll through her pictures to see her videos!

Rita has a sad past, but a bright future ahead. Things can only get better for Rita and her brother Reggie. Rita and Reggie and many, many more of their siblings and relatives, were found in a Chicago home after the owner passed. Over a dozen cattle dogs (we assume they are all related) were living in terrible conditions in a home that looked normal from the outside. Chicago Animal Care and Control was alerted to the situation, but the dogs were so under-socialized and afraid that to take them all to the city shelter would be not only an issue of space (our city shelter is constantly full and in the terrible position of euthanizing dogs for space) but given how shut down they all were, a loud and scary place like that would make them worse.

A local rescue, One Tail at a Time, was contacted in order to avoid these dogs going to CACC. They took all of the younger cattle dogs as some of the adults would not even allow them to approach. We were then contacted about taking two, and we stepped up-- how could we not once we saw their adorable faces?

Rita and Reggie arrived to us on 4/8 and they were so shut down at first. In the span of 24 hours they made incredible progress, and continue to do so, and we are not just saying that! All you have to do is watch their videos to see for yourself.

They do not solicit affection at first, unless they know you (they know staff and volunteers now so as you can see in the videos are super affectionate dogs!) but baby talk them a little and they come press into you and nudge for a little bit more pets. They may shy away at first as you reach for them, but they no longer flinch and dart away to huddle in a corner, shaking.

When they came to us, they had never been on a leash, and now they walk like pros! They had probably only socialized with the other dogs in their house, and the few people, and now they have a ton of dog and human friends.

We would love to get Rita into a home, so she can really blossom. Rita will need a patient adopter who has a home on the quieter side, without a lot of hustle and bustle. Rita is so sweet, you can see how affectionate she is in her videos. And if she has made these big huge strides in just the couple of weeks we have had her at the shelter, we know she has big things in store once she gets into a home! We love seeing her tail wag more and more every day.

If you would like to be a part of Rita's journey, please email dogs@heartlandanimalshelter.org about fostering or adopting this sweet girl, or come in to visit during open hours.


Rita's adoption fee is $250. This animal is spayed , up to date on core vaccines, and Heartworm negative.