For the safety and well-being of our foster Shelties and volunteers, and to determine the best match between Sheltie and family, anyone interested in adopting a Sheltie must complete an adoption application. The process includes the application, references and a home visit. We appreciate your patience as we are an all-volunteer organization. Our Shelties are fostered in private homes. We do not operate a shelter.

We adopt locally to the Twin Cities metro area. Applicants should apply to Sheltie rescues closest to where they live when possible.

Most of the dogs in our care have significant medical needs or are very fearful, requiring extended time in foster care. We apologize that there may be a long wait for a match for you, and we may be able to connect you with a Sheltie in a shelter in the meantime. 

Adoption fees are set based on a dog's age:

Under 4 years: $450
4 to 8 years: $350
9 years & up: $250

The cost of veterinary care exceeds the adoption fee in most cases. Donations in addition to the adoption fee are always welcome and much appreciated.

We require that any dog adopted from us must be returned to us in the event the adopter is unable to care for the dog. Our foster dogs are spayed and neutered prior to placement. Many of the Shelties needing new homes may not be comfortable with, or have not lived with, young children. We rarely have Shelties available that may be a good match to families with children under 8-10 years old. If that is your case, you are welcome to submit an adoption application and we will keep it on file in the event that a compatible dog comes into our program.

We reserve the right to refuse any application as well as the right not to explain our reasons for doing so.

To apply to adopt a dog from Minnesota Sheltie Rescue, please complete the online form below in its entirety (omissions/skipped fields may result in delay and/or rejection of your application). *We occasionally have issues with applications not coming through. If you submit an application and don't hear from us after 5 days, please email adopt@mnsheltierescue.org. We may ask you to download and submit a printed application. We are working to correct this problem.*