German Shepherds are a unique breed.

Many people believe them to be among the best pets you can find, as well as some of the best working dogs out there.

Unfortunately, North Carolina has a high population of homeless dogs, including German Shepherds.

This could be a good thing for you, however, if you’re looking for a German Shepherd to adopt.

Here are some of the best places to adopt German Shepherds in North Carolina

1.) Southeast German Shepherd Rescue

Southeast German Shepherd Rescue exists to rescue German Shepherds, including dogs in high-kill shelters and dogs that are suffering from abuse and abandonment.

This rescue has been rescuing German Shepherds since 2010.

It operates in North Carolina and Virginia, but they may rescue dogs throughout the southeast.

The Southeast German Shepherd Rescue primary volunteers have a combined 30 years of shared experience in rescue.

They are highly dedicated to their volunteers and foster homes and strive to give them everything they need to rescue and rehabilitate German Shepherds.

If you are not sure whether you are ready to own a German Shepherd, check out the Southeast German Shepherd Rescue Foster Program.

This rescue is foster-based, which means that dogs live in a foster home after they are rescued until they are adopted.

Every new foster family means that another German Shepherd can be rescued.

Fostering is an amazing opportunity to get to know dogs, save a life, and become acquainted with German Shepherd ownership without the commitment of adoption and with all expenses paid by the rescue.

Each dog needs to be fostered for at least two weeks, but many dogs require months of rehabilitation before they can be adopted out.

If you would like to adopt from Southeast German Shepherd Rescue, prepare yourself for a fairly rigorous adoption process.

This rescue wants to make sure that if you adopt one of their dogs, you will be their forever home.

You will need to submit an adoption application and a $30 application fee.

Applications are not submitted for individual dogs, but rather are kept on file so that whatever a German Shepherd becomes available that meets your needs can be adopted once your application is approved.

It can take as long as six to eight weeks for the application process to be completed.

Southeast German Shepherd Rescue has a unique program, the Phoenix Dog Program.

This program exists to help dogs that have special needs, including birth defects, developmental problems, degenerative disorders, etc.

Southeast German Shepherd Rescue strives to find adoptive homes for these dogs, but may also keep them in foster homes indefinitely if necessary.

• View their available German Shepherds here.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: PO Box 208 Mooresville, NC 28115
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://southeastgermanshepherdrescue.com/
• Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

2.) Freedom German Shepherd Rescue

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue strives to treat their dogs, volunteers, other rescues, and the communities in which they work with integrity and operate with full transparency.

They take in German Shepherds from shelters and from the public.

All dogs are placed into a foster home, where they receive medical care and basic training before they are placed up for adoption.

While in foster homes, every aspect of their behavior and personality can be evaluated so that they can be carefully matched to the perfect adoptive home for them.

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue strives to educate the community about overpopulation, bad breeding, abandonment, and neglect as well as rescuing dogs.

If you are not sure whether you are ready to adopt a German Shepherd, fostering is a great idea.

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue relies on foster homes to house the dogs that they pull from shelters or accept from the public.

They do everything they can to support foster families.

While fostering, you will take your foster dog to veterinary appointments, training classes, and meet adopters or go to adoption events.

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue aims to match each dog with the perfect foster family for them so if you have certain restrictions regarding other pets in the household, children, etc, they will do their best to meet your needs.

Fosters can only be in North and South Carolina.

To adopt a dog from Freedom German Shepherd Rescue, you must be at least 18 years old.

All current animals in the household must be up-to-date on veterinary care and vaccines and must be spayed or neutered.

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue will contact your veterinarian to verify this information.

Once veterinary screening is passed, you will do a phone interview and then a home visit will be scheduled.

The application process is very thorough and may take as many as four weeks from start to finish.

The adoption fee is $300 for most German Shepherds at this rescue.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: PO Box 624 La Grange, NC 28551
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.freedomgermanshepherdrescue.org/
• Social Media: Instagram

3.) German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption

German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption is based in Raleigh North Carolina, but they support the Carolinas and Virginia.

They have been rescuing German Shepherds since 1992.

They mostly take purebred German Shepherds, although they occasionally take mixed breed shepherds and other breeds.

The vast majority of the dogs that they rescue come from local shelters, but they will also take owner surrenders on certain occasions.

Every dog that comes into the rescue gets a full veterinary visit, vaccinations, and heartworm tests.

All dogs are spayed or neutered before they are put up for adoption.

Dogs get whatever veterinary care they need, including heartworm treatment if necessary.

All dogs are also microchipped.

German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption typically have a very wide range of dogs available for adoption.

Dogs of all ages, including young puppies and seniors, are usually available.

However, puppies are adopted much more quickly.

The website has a very thorough list of available dogs including their status and information.

You can also sort dogs by age and gender to help you find exactly the right dog for your household.

If you would like to rehome a dog but you don’t necessarily need them out of your household at this time, consider listing your dog with their courtesy listings.

If you would like to adopt, you can also find many more dogs under the courtesy listings.

Courtesy listings are wonderful because dogs don’t have to go through the stress of moving through multiple homes.

Instead, dogs stay with their current families until an adopter is found.

However, you can’t be guaranteed of vetting or screening with courtesy listings as if you were adopting a dog with German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption.

If you would like to foster or adopt from German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption, you will need to fill out an application.

If you are adopting, you also need to pay an adoption application fee.

Adoption applications are kept on file until an appropriate dog can be matched to the application, they are not filled out for particular dogs.

Puppies are not adopted out to families with children under eight years of age.

There is a $300 adoption fee for all dogs from this rescue.

The vast majority of adoption fees go towards caring for the dogs’ veterinary needs.

Currently German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption only adopts out dogs to people in North and South Carolina as well as Virginia.

If you are not sure whether you are ready to adopt, becoming a foster home or volunteer is a great idea.

You will get the same screening as if you were going to adopt a dog from German Shepherd Rescue & Adoption, and you will have an opportunity to get to know a variety of dogs to help you decide whether adoption is right for you.

Usually, foster homes are required to keep a dog for a couple of weeks to several months, but there are also weekend fosters to help you decide whether you are ready to foster.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: 1821 Hillandale Road, Suite 1B #326 Durham, NC 27705
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.gsdrescue.org/
• Social Media: Facebook

4.) Saving Grace

Saving Grace rescues a variety of breeds, not just German Shepherds.

They typically rescue dogs from areas where euthanasia rates are high and because German Shepherds represent such a high percentage of dog surrendered to high kill shelters, they often end up with German Shepherds in their care.

They also take dogs from puppy mills and from cruelty cases, which also represent a fair number of German Shepherds.

Saving Grace was established in 2004.

They are unusual among animal rescues in that they have a physical location in which to operate.

They have a beautiful farm equipped to rehabilitate dogs that have the greatest needs.

Saving Grace often rescues dogs with significant medical needs.

If you are looking to adopt a dog but don’t want to deal with the typical rescue events or shelter environment, you will love the farm environment.

This allows you to interact with a wide variety of dogs and choose your new pet based on their temperament and how suitable they are for your family.

Foster homes are also an important part of Saving Grace, as dogs are kept in a safe foster home environment until they are ready to be adopted or prepared for the farm.

Fostering is a great way to help and also gives you the opportunity to get to know a variety of different dogs, including German Shepherds.

Saving Grace often has puppies that need care until they are adopted, including entire litters, which will give you a unique opportunity to choose the puppy you want to adopt after caring for the entire litter.

If you want to adopt from Saving Grace, you can schedule an appointment with the farm and go to meet the dogs.

You will be paired with an adoption counselor that will introduce you to dogs that meet your particular needs.

You can also look at the dogs on their website to help you decide which you may be interested in before you go to the farm.

You can also host a dog for a sleepover or outing to give a shelter dog a chance to get out of the shelter and learn more about them and get acquainted with fostering.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: 13400 Old Creedmoor Rd, Wake Forest, NC 27587
• Phone: (919) 518-1180
• Website: https://savinggracenc.org/
• Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

5.) Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption

Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption rescues a wide variety of breeds, not just German Shepherds, but they move a lot of dogs through their rescue.

You are likely to find a German Shepherd or mix available at their rescue at any given time.

They often have puppies as well, so you have a decent chance of finding a German Shepherd mix puppy available at this rescue.

Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption strives to educate the community about pet ownership as well as providing care.

This is a old organization that has been in existence since the early 1980s.

It was started by a veterinarian who had a heart for the abandoned animals he saw in his community.

The Holly Fund is a unique fund that exists to help animals with serious, but curable medical conditions.

Diseases like heartworm, limbs that need amputation, severe skin diseases, are treated using this fund.

It was named for a little dog named Holly who had severe medical issues that usually could have caused it to be euthanized.

Instead, the dog was saved. The fund is used to save dogs like Holly.

If you would like to adopt from Carolina Animal Rescue & Adoption, you can fill out an application online.

Adoption fees are reasonable, generally only $155 per dog.

Applications are typically processed within 48 hours.

Animals in your own home must be spayed or neutered and in some cases you will need to have special requirements met in order to adopt particular dogs.

If you would like to learn more about this organization and get to know the animals before you commit to adoption, you can volunteer at the shelter.

This is a great way to volunteer on your own time before you bring a dog home.

View their available dogs for adoption here.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: P.O. Box 2642 Sanford, NC 27331
• Phone: (919) 774-9433
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.cara-nc.org/
• Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

6.) Humane Society of Eastern Carolina

The Humane Society of Eastern Carolina rescues all kinds of dogs, but because so many German Shepherds are represented in the shelter system, they almost always have German Shepherds or German Shepherd mixes available.

The Humane Society of Eastern Carolina takes in dogs from the shelter system as well as owner surrenders under certain circumstances.

If you would like to adopt a dog the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina, download the adoption application found here.

Once it’s approved, you will have an appointment with an adoption counselor so that you can meet their available dogs.

You can also see available dogs on the website so you have an idea of which dog you would like to adopt.

If you are not ready to adopt, volunteering is a great option.

This is also a wonderful option for children 13 and up who want to get prepared for owning a German Shepherd but are not yet ready or able to adopt.

Volunteers learn the basics of animal behavior and handling skills.

You can interact with the dogs, train, and socialize them.

You can also foster for the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina.

Fostering is a wonderful way to get to know what owning a German Shepherd is like.

You can be matched to the type of foster dog you would like, which means that you can primarily foster German Shepherds and German Shepherd type dogs if you like.

Also, litters of puppies often come into the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina, so by fostering them you can have your pick of the litter when it’s time to adopt.

Rescue and Adoption Details

• Address: 3520 Tupper Drive, Greenville, NC 27834
• Phone: (252) 413-7247
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.hsecarolina.org/
• Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

What Your German Shepherd Rescue Needs From You

• Patience. German Shepherds are deeply sensitive and people-oriented dogs. Being abused, neglected, and/or abandoned can take a serious toll. You will need to have patience to rehabilitate your rescue German Shepherd into the loving pet they can be.
• Tolerance for shedding. German Shepherds have lush double coats that tend to shed a lot. Most dogs shed even more when they are stressed, so it’s very likely that you will have a lot of hair to deal with, especially when you first bring your German Shepherd rescue home.
• Understanding of prey drive. German Shepherds were bred to be herding dogs, which means that they tend to have a high level of prey drive. This can make them incompatible with livestock and other small pets.
• Willingness to train. German Shepherds are working dogs, which means they do best when they have a job to do. Whether you want to train your German Shepherd in obedience, agility, nose work, or something else, it’s a good idea to give them a job to do.

Adopt From A German Shepherd Rescue In North Carolina

North Carolina has a high population of homeless pets, including German Shepherds.

If you are looking for a German Shepherd to adopt, this is a very good place to look.

Whether you choose a breed specific rescue or find a German Shepherd at a more general rescue, you have a great chance of finding your ideal dog in North Carolina.