Real Dog Rescue

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Real Dog Rescue because Every Dog Matters.

Real Dog Rescue was founded by a group of long-time friends and animal rescuers with a common vision to save dogs in need, regardless of their age, breed, medical condition or location . . .

Weekend Recap at Real Dog Rescue!What a busy and wonderful weekend for our team and our pups!On Saturday, we spent the d...
10/19/2026

Weekend Recap at Real Dog Rescue!

What a busy and wonderful weekend for our team and our pups!

On Saturday, we spent the day with our good friends at Liberty Subaru’s Annual Adoption Event in Emerson, and as always, it was such a special time! We loved seeing familiar faces, making new friends, and introducing our amazing dogs to so many wonderful people. Our pups did fantastic, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that some of the connections they made will turn into forever homes!💗

On Sunday, we brought some of our pups out to represent Real Dog Rescue at a charity walk supporting a cause that is very near and dear to our hearts. Our dogs had a great time being part of such a meaningful day, spreading love and supporting something truly special.💖

Weekends like this remind us just how important it is for our dogs to get out into the community, socialize, meet new people, and show everyone just how amazing they are. Every interaction is an opportunity to make a connection that could change a dog’s life forever.

Real Dog Rescue is proud to be part of such a strong, supportive community, and we wouldn’t have it any other way! Thank you to everyone who continues to show up for our rescue and our pups. We couldn’t do it without you!

And a HUGE shoutout to the volunteers who stood out in what seemed like freezing temperatures with us for the entire day!🙏🏼

🌟 ADOPTION EVENT🌟Come out and see us and some of our pups tomorrow October 17th from 10-2 at Liberty Subaru at their ann...
10/16/2026

🌟 ADOPTION EVENT🌟

Come out and see us and some of our pups tomorrow October 17th from 10-2 at Liberty Subaru at their annual adoption day. It is always a good time to reconnect with old friends, meet some new friends and see our dogs have a great time meeting people!

Please share this in case someone is looking to adopt their new best friend! There will be multiple rescue organizations there so even if it isn’t one of our pups, there are plenty more there!

Sweet Leni is ready for her happily ever after💗A couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to Leni after spotting her in on...
10/16/2026

Sweet Leni is ready for her happily ever after💗

A couple of weeks ago, we introduced you to Leni after spotting her in one of our local shelters. We knew we just had to get her out of there and give her the chance she deserved.

Thanks to an amazing family who stepped up to foster her, Leni has been able to settle into a home and show us who she really is. And oh, what a sweetheart she is!

Leni is the kind of girl who doesn’t ask for much. Just a few scratches on her head, a nice yummy meal, a warm, cozy bed, and someone to love. She’s happy, content, and wonderfully chill. The kind of companion who makes life feel a little softer just by being in it.

A few things we’ve learned about Leni:

Middle-aged German Shepherd mix with the sweetest soul💖
Housebroken and an easy companion
The perfect medium size at just under 50 pounds.
Calm, affectionate, and grateful for the simple things.
Still has plenty of s***k and personality left in her!

Leni was found as a stray, so we don’t know much about her past. But we do know that she deserves a future filled with love, comfort, and the security of a family of her very own.

There’s something so special about a dog who seems to appreciate every little kindness. Leni is settling into the good life, and we would love nothing more than to see her find a forever home where she can keep enjoying all the things she loves most.

Please share her story to help this sweet girl find the loving family she deserves. She’s ready to leave her shelter days behind and start her next chapter!

🥒 THE LAST OF THE PICKLE LITTER… GHERKIN IS STILL WAITING! 💚All of Gherkin’s littermates have found their people, and no...
10/11/2026

🥒 THE LAST OF THE PICKLE LITTER… GHERKIN IS STILL WAITING! 💚

All of Gherkin’s littermates have found their people, and now this sweet boy is the last pickle waiting for his forever family to come along. Could that family be YOU?

Meet Gherkin, a 2-year-old Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix weighing about 15 pounds, with a whole lot of love to give and a little more confidence to build.

Gherkin is super sweet, does great with other dogs, and attaches himself to his people pretty quickly. Once he starts to feel safe with you, he wants to be close!

But Gherkin’s previous life left him with some fears he’s still learning to work through. He can be especially fearful of men and needs patience, time, and understanding to learn that he’s safe and can trust the people around him.

The good news? This little guy is making AMAZING progress! His incredible foster family has been helping him learn to walk on a leash, navigate the world around him, and simply enjoy being a dog. They’re even working on training, including learning to patiently wait for his food, as you can see in the video!

Gherkin is doing so wonderfully in so many areas. He just needs someone willing to continue building his confidence, provide gentle guidance and consistent leadership, and show him that the world isn’t such a scary place after all.

His ideal home? A patient, loving family with another friendly, social dog who can help show him the ropes! Having a confident canine companion to follow could make a world of difference for this little guy.

Gherkin doesn’t need someone to fix him. He needs someone to believe in him, give him the time he deserves, and celebrate all the little victories along the way. 💚

He’s come so far in foster care, and we know he has so much potential to keep blossoming in the right home. Now we just need someone to give the LAST PICKLE his chance!

Please share Gherkin’s post! His forever family is out there, and your share could be the one that helps them find each other.

UPDATE- Adopted!!Meet Pickle! 💖Pickle is ready for her fresh start with a loving family and a confident, social canine c...
10/08/2026

UPDATE- Adopted!!

Meet Pickle! 💖

Pickle is ready for her fresh start with a loving family and a confident, social canine companion (or a few) by her side!

Pickle came to us with her siblings, undersocialized, unfamiliar with walking on a leash, and unsure of what it meant to be part of a family. In just a couple of weeks, she has made incredible progress! She loves attention from those that have gained her trust, going for walks, playing fetch, running around, and being wherever her people are.

The thing about Pickle is that it’s not that she doesn’t want to meet new people or explore new places; she simply hasn’t had the opportunity to learn how. She takes time to build trust with new people and needs patience as she gains confidence in unfamiliar environments. Having another social dog to follow and learn from makes all the difference!

Pickle is looking for a family that understands confidence takes time and is committed to helping her continue to grow through love, patience, and training.

Pickle is ready to dance her little way right into your heart, just give her a minute and we promise you will not regret it.

10/06/2026

An update on our sweet senior girl, Demi.

When we pulled Demi from a local shelter, we knew she was in rough shape. The shelter was desperate to get her out before she potentially became sick, especially as a senior in an already overcrowded shelter.

We knew she needed us, so we said yes.

And when Demi finally got to her foster home, she seemed so happy and content to be out of that shelter. She could finally relax, be loved, and just be a little dog again.

But very quickly, we knew something wasn’t right. Demi stopped eating and went two full days without food. After lots of diagnostics, we discovered that this sweet little senior has pancreatitis.

So instead of getting to simply enjoy her new foster home, Demi is spending the next few days at our wonderful animal hospital receiving IV fluids and medications while they work to get her feeling better.

And we know she’s in the very best hands. ❤️

She may have come to us in rough shape, but she is already so incredibly loved. She is the cutest, sweetest, chunkiest little girl, and everyone at the hospital has completely fallen for her.

This is why we rescue. Because sometimes the dogs who need us most are the ones who have already been through so much. They deserve the chance to feel safe, to be cared for, and to finally know what it feels like to be someone’s priority.

Demi is getting that chance now. ❤️

We’ll keep fighting for this little girl and keep you updated as she gets stronger.

Bergen County Veterinary Center

Tonight, we welcomed a little senior named Demi into our rescue, and we are so incredibly grateful that we did. ❤️We hea...
10/04/2026

Tonight, we welcomed a little senior named Demi into our rescue, and we are so incredibly grateful that we did. ❤️

We heard about Demi at a local shelter, where they were desperately hoping to get her out because they were concerned about her health and didn’t want her to become sick while there. As a senior, she was already vulnerable, and when we heard her story, we knew we had to help.

Demi is in rough shape. She is significantly overweight, her fur is filthy, heavily matted and tangled, her nails are painfully overgrown, and she has infected ears. She clearly has not been receiving the care she so desperately needs. She has a road ahead of her, and she is going to need lots of TLC, patience, medical care, grooming, and love.

But tonight, she is safe. And from here on out, things are going to be different for her.

Despite everything she has been through, Demi has been nothing but sweet and incredibly tolerant. she could have some degree of visual impairment, but she is already finding her way around just fine and taking everything in stride.

We estimate that Demi is around 10 years old, but we will know much more once she sees our veterinarian and gets a thorough exam.

For tonight, we just want her to rest and know that she is loved. She doesn’t have to worry about where she will sleep or whether someone will care for.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about this sweet senior girl. Please keep Demi in your thoughts as she begins her journey toward feeling better and finally getting the life she deserves.

Meet Leni. 💕Sometimes, a face just stays with you.We first saw this sweet middle-aged shepherd mix behind the bars of a ...
10/01/2026

Meet Leni. 💕

Sometimes, a face just stays with you.

We first saw this sweet middle-aged shepherd mix behind the bars of a cage at a local shelter. Her gentle face immediately stole our hearts, but that day, we had to walk away. We didn’t have a foster family secured for her, and without a safe place to go, we couldn’t pull her.

But we couldn’t stop thinking about her.

That sweet face stayed in our minds until, finally, an amazing foster family stepped up for Leni. And the moment we had a safe place for her, we went back and got her out.

Leni was found as a stray and was never claimed, so we don’t know much about her past. We believe she’s around seven or eight years old, but she certainly still has plenty of s***k! Just look at that happy dance and the joy on her face as she runs around with her new friend now that she’s out of the shelter. 🥰

And that’s the thing about shelter dogs…

You simply cannot always see who they truly are while they’re living behind the bars of a concrete kennel. The shelter environment can be incredibly stressful and overwhelming. Once they’re given space, comfort, love, and the chance to decompress, they can blossom right before your eyes.

Despite everything we don’t know about her past, she is sweet, loving, trusting, and affectionate. We don’t believe she was treated badly. She simply needed someone to give her a chance.

Last night was her first night with her wonderful foster family, and they told us she did wonderfully.

We hope Leni’s story inspires even ONE person to open their home and foster a shelter dog in need. We promise—you won’t regret it. There is something incredibly special about watching a scared or overlooked shelter dog discover what it feels like to be safe, loved, and free.

Now it’s Leni’s turn to find her forever family.

To all of our adopters — do you know about our alumni page, Life With My Real Dog Rescue?We want to make sure all of our...
09/30/2026

To all of our adopters — do you know about our alumni page, Life With My Real Dog Rescue?

We want to make sure all of our adopters know about this page because it is such an amazing way to reconnect with all of the people who had a part in your dog’s rescue journey from start to finish.

You may connect with the shelter workers who cared for your dog before they came into our rescue, the rescue team who helped save them, or the veterinarians and veterinary technicians who helped care for them along the way.

And most importantly, you may reconnect with the foster family who dedicated so much love, care and time to your dog while they waited for you to find them.🩷

And an added bonus? You may even connect with your dog’s littermates!

We love seeing our adopters stay connected and share updates, photos and stories long after adoption. Your dog’s rescue journey brought so many people together — and this page is a wonderful way to keep those connections going.

If you’ve adopted from us, please join Life With My Real Dog Rescue on Facebook. We’d love to have you there!

Pictured below, four former Real Dog Rescues living their best lives with the most incredible family💕

A Pickle Litter update! 💚When we first shared the plea for help from the shelter, we were so thankful that amazing foste...
09/27/2026

A Pickle Litter update! 💚

When we first shared the plea for help from the shelter, we were so thankful that amazing foster families stepped up. Because of them, we were able to pull four of these sweet little Pomeranian/Chihuahua mixes to safety.

After just over a week in loving foster homes, we’re learning more and more about them. These babies came from a backyard breeder situation with very little socialization. Their severe matting and urine staining tell a heartbreaking story, and they’re still learning that the outside world—and even walking on a leash—can be safe.

We originally thought they would need to be placed with another dog to help show them the ropes. But they’re already surprising us with their progress, and some may not necessarily need a canine companion after all. We’re still getting to know each of their unique personalities.

One thing we do know? They are some of the sweetest, most loving little dogs we’ve ever met. They are absolutely desperate to be loved—and they have plenty of adorable puppy energy to go along with it!

If you’re interested in giving one of these deserving babies a forever home, please submit an application as soon as possible. Their last post went viral, and we’ve received a tremendous number of inquiries.

They’ve waited long enough for love. Now they’re ready to find their forever families. We just need families who can be patient and help teach them about how to just be a dog.💖

Address

818 Wyckoff Avenue
Mahwah, NJ
07430

Telephone

(201) 632-3644

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