Astra - Located in North Carolina - Mutt Female Dog For Adoption in Imlay City, Michigan, USA

Dog Breed: Belgian Shepherd Malinois.

Meet Astra, our approximately 1-year-old Belgian Malinois girl who has officially joined the MAD family. Astra's life changed pretty dramatically earlier this year. She was her owner's constant companion and lived inside with her family. When her owner was deported, his wife did the best she could to manage Astra while also raising three young children, but eventually it became more than she could handle. For the last several months, Astra has been living outside on a tether. And apparently several months is plenty of time to decide that houses are VERY suspicious places. Getting Astra started on her freedom ride took a little patience. She wasn't interested in food or toys, wasn't particularly interested in getting into the truck and was pretty overwhelmed by the whole situation. Her foster sat down with her for about 30 minutes, let her decompress and then tried again. Eventually Astra was loaded up and headed toward an entirely different life. She was stressed for the first part of the drive, but eventually settled down and fell asleep. Once they arrived, she happily explored the backyard for about an hour, wandered inside on her own...and then promptly reconsidered that decision. Outside? EXCELLENT. Inside? HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS. But here's where Astra gets interesting. This girl may know approximately one command — SIT — but she's already showing just how much potential is hiding underneath all that inexperience. After only about 20 minutes of leash work, she went on her first walk to the park and exceeded her foster's expectations. She lightly hit the end of the six-foot leash and came right back, stopped and sat when asked, gently greeted an elderly neighbor and listened beautifully despite all the new distractions around her. Her foster's assessment? “Her focus is great.” And just two days later, apparently the terrifying indoors have already been downgraded to maybe not so bad after all. She's found her bed, she's starting to settle, she's had two walks to the park, another car ride and even experienced that very important rescue-dog rite of passage... HER FIRST PUP CUP. But underneath all that inexperience, we're already seeing a bright, focused young Malinois who learns FAST. Two days ago, Astra had no idea what was happening or what was expected of her. Now she's walking beautifully to the park, greeting neighbors, listening through distractions, hanging out on her bed and has discovered the absolute wonder that is a pup cup. Not bad for two days, Astra. There is so much more to come for this girl, and we can't wait to watch it. Welcome to the good life, Astra. You are so deserving. *********************************************************************** All MAD dogs come with a Fi Collar and 6 month subscription. If you are interested in adopting this pet please complete an application at this link petstablished/adoption_form/24689/generic. *********************************************************************** MAD is an official 501c3 organization that does not have a physical location. While our mailing address is in Michigan, the majority of our dogs are located across the continental US in private foster homes. The physical location of each dog is posted alongside the name of the pet or in the title area. If you are within 4 hours of the pet, please be prepared to pick the pet up directly from the foster home. We do provide transport assistance, typically up to 350 miles. The applicant must drive the remainder of the distance of the transport. The basic information that we have available is in our posting, but sometimes fosters will post updates on the MAD Rescue Facebook page as well, .facebook/groups/malinoisanddutchshepherdrescueinc. If you would like to further inquire on this animal, please fill out this application. Applications that are completed in our process and being considered as a match will speak to the foster home to gain more information about our adoptable dog. If you have questions about this pet please contact us at infoMADrescueinc. You may also call our toll free number at 844-MAD-RESQ or 844-623-7377. Additional information about all of our dogs for adoption can be located at our website MAD Rescue Inc.