Rainbow Bridge - NJ Sheltie Rescue

Home / Rainbow Bridge

Whitney is together again with Blaze and Merrill over the Rainbow Bridge!

We lost a sweet soul today, Good Friday, 2025, shortly after 3pm. Fly free my sweet Whitney. Don’t let Grayson pick on you over Rainbow Bridge.

RIP my sweet Whitney. My heart is broken. There are no words

Frankie has gained his Rainbow Bridge wings!

We are devastated. Frankie crossed Rainbow Bridge and has been reunited with Gracie, Luke and Grandpa Spanky: The Four From The Shore.
Frankie was very recently diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer. He was so brave and stoic and showed no signs of illness until the cancer had spread throughout his body.
These poor dogs came from a really bad neglect situation. They were all really sweet, special dogs and Frankie was our poster boy.

Rest in peace, dear Frankie. The best dogs leave us far too soon.

Merrill has gained his Rainbow Bridge wings!

We have said goodbye to our Merrill. He came into Sheltie rescue when he was already almost 13. He was overweight and had some health issues, so the rescue decided to keep him as a Forever Foster not knowing exactly how much time he had left. He was 16 years and almost 5 months when he went to the Rainbow Bridge, surpassing everyone’s expectations.

Merrill was gentle and sweet. He loved to cuddle. But he was also strong, proving us wrong time and time again when we thought he might be coming to the end of his road.

We will miss his little bark and especially his happy dance for food. We hope he knows how truly loved he was. Fly free sweet Merrill.

Angel has gained her Rainbow Bridge wings!

ANGEL was a sweet little 15 year old girl who was dropped off at a high kill shelter. Unfortunately she was neglected and by the time she came into rescue her little body just couldn’t go on any longer. Angel is now happily running around over the Rainbow Bridge and getting to know our other sweet rescues who have gone on over the Bridge. They are there to greet her.

Leo has gained his Rainbow Bridge wings!

Our sweet Leo has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He is happy and playing with Kayla, Bentley, Indy, Blaze, Shelly and Keisha.

We love you Leo and miss you so much. You were our very special boy.

Molly has gained her Rainbow Bridge wings!

Our sweet Molly Colly left this world on November 6, 2023. We miss her terribly.
She became a part of our family on December 4, 2009 when she was 11 months old, and she was a core part of our life for the next 13 years. From single life to marriage, birth of two kids, then moving to a single family home with a big back yard, Molly was by our side every step of the way for these milestones.
She would have been 15 on January 18. Molly, we hope we gave you a good life.
You were crazy and energetic and barked at EVERYTHING – including the moon. You loved going up to Pop Pop’s and run in the wild flower meadow and chase rabbits with Max. You loved cuddling with with us – from putting a paw on our leg to remind us you were there or put your head on our lap. You absolutely loved the snow and would burrow in it. You loved going to doggy daycare (where your nickname Molly Colly came from) and would do loops in the back seat of the car with excitement as we drove down the driveway. You were so good when the kids came, and you were so gentle with and protective of them. Thank you for that.
Thank you for your companionship over these years. It was hard to see you slow up and stop being able to take our daily walks, but we enjoyed hanging out with you at your pace in our backyard. We love you and miss you so much. Until we meet again at the rainbow bridge. Run free with Max and your other neighborhood buddies, dear friend. Our lives won’t be the same without you.

Mikey Mike is running free over the Rainbow Bridge.

My sweet old Mikey Mike has let me know that he is very tired. He has battled a lot of health issues over the years (heartworm and the damage they caused, lymes, serious arthritis…) but about 6 months ago his kidneys were starting to go. He quit eating so we know it’s time.

Mike was my first foster dog. He came to me heartworm positive and lymes positive and was found as a stray dumped at a state park with another dog 9 years ago. Took a while to catch the 2 of them. He was someone’s pet who got dumped but he wasn’t housebroken. It took him a year to get healthy enough to be nuetered and by that time I decided he may as well stay. The vets estimated him to be 10 years old, 9 years ago. He is not 19 but is certainly a Very Old Dog.

Mikey I will miss you more than you know.

Our little Penny joins all her friends over the Rainbow Bridge.

Penny, you were loved and learned to be a dog and to love her humans and her foster brothers and sister.

Penny, you will be missed. Fly free sweet Penny.

Heaven gained another Sheltie Angel, Rudy.

We will miss you sweet Rudy. You were much loved and had found your forever home to enjoy, even if it was for a short time with us. Fly free over the Bridge, sweet Rudy.

RIP Luke. We are all heartbroken.

We were hoping you would have a better life after your medical issues, but, it was not to be.

Heaven gained a other Sheltie Angel yesterday and we are all so heartbroken.

LUKE came to rescue in deplorable condition last summer. He was one of the 4 From The Shore. He needed surgery to fix an irritating inwardly turned eyelid, he lost 13 teeth and then another 7 recently. His teeth were very bad and he had not 1 but 2 fistulas under those rotten teeth.

We were so thrilled that we found such a wonderful adoptive home for our sweet Luke. He had been through so much and deserved no less than that. He was loved so much.

He had been doing well up until the last few days when he was not feeling great. Not much interested in eating, sleeping a lot. His adoptive mom took him to the vet and he was admitted to the hospital due to severe anemia. Turns out he had a large inoperable mass on his liver and a large amount of blood in his abdominal cavity. The only thing that could be done was to free him from his failing body.

Please say a prayer for Luke’s wonderful adoptive mom. She misses him so much.

RIP Shelly. You are beloved. May we meet again over the ‘Bridge.

Heaven gained another angel, Shelly.

Shelly is flying free over the Rainbow Bridge. You were held in my arms as you took flight peacefully. Go with love, Shelly. You were a delight and very loving dog. You radiated your love to all who met you. You were silly and loved to chase squirrels, acting like a much younger dog even though you were 14 years old. You ignored Leo with his antics and loved to get snacks and bark at football and sports on TV. You fit right into your home as if you lived there all your life. You were raised with love by your previous owner and it showed in your sweet personality.

Shelly was one of our forever fosters due to her age and medical needs. She had arthritis and had been diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease, both of were treated with medication and testing. Shelly did respond to her treatments while in her forever foster home where she was loved and cared for.

RIP Keira. You have gotten your wings to fly over the Rainbow Bridge.

Heaven gained another angel, Keira.

Forever Foster Keira had been having difficulties these past 6 months and yesterday she let her foster mom know she was tired and it was time. She gained her wings with her head in her foster mom’s lap knowing she was loved and cherished.

Keira came to rescue at the age of 3 from an Amish puppy mill, along with her litter of puppies. All the puppies had a heart murmur and so were worthless and could not be sold to the pet trade. A volunteer was able to convince the Amish farmer to not only give up the puppies (instead of ‘disposing’ of them), but to give up Keira as well since she was ‘worthless’ and produced defective puppies. The family came to rescue, ‘Mommy’ as she was called got her spay surgery and vetting, and all were adopted to loving families.

Mommy was adopted by an older gentleman who was lonely and needed a companion. He loved her so much, and she adored him. He would send photos and cards to rescue letting everyone know how thankful he was for her, and he came to a lot of the rescue events with her. Keira, as he named her, was lucky enough to have this home for 7 or 8 years. But then things changed. He started to have some significant health issues, and then ended up needing hospice care. It worked for a while, but Keira started to get protective of her owner. Keira ‘protected’ her owner when she thought the hospice worker was hurting her dad, and bit. The police were called, then animal control. Keira was not current on her vaccines because her owner had been sick. He begged them to call Rescue for Keira and thankfully they did. When the volunteer picked her up on that very sad day, she was upset and didn’t want to be caught, and her owner was crying. Keira was losing the only loving home she had ever had. But Keira came to rescue and went into a foster home and was so so sad. Her owner died a few days later.

Keira got caught up on her vetting and had time for her broken heart to heal. She got a badly needed dental, and she had a cancerous tumor removed from her foot. And slowly, that broken heart started to heal and she started to play with the other dogs in the foster home.

Eventually a new adoptive home was found for Keira with an older couple. She had not one owner now, but 2! Things went well for a while, but then it became necessary for hospice care to come in. Keira again went into protection mode. She had to protect her people from the strangers !! As time went by, the behavior got worse and worse and eventually a family member called rescue to come and pick her up. Again, Keira lost her home and her heart was broken.

This was Keira’s 3rd time going to rescue and she was 11 years old. Due to the protective behavior, age, and medical issues, Rescue decided to keep Keira as a Forever Foster, so she could live her life out in a foster home. The foster mom worked with Keira with the help of some volunteers and eventually over time this protective diminished but never really went away.

Keira was almost 16 years old. Puppy mill breeding dog survivor, cancer survivor. Not many dogs are so lucky.

Godspeed, dear Keira. You were loved, cherished and will be sorely missed.

RIP Max. Join the others in play over the bridge.

Max came into Rescue and enjoyed many months of love and care with his wonderful adoptive forever family. He fit right in with his family and gave back as much love as he was given. It is with great sorrow that we say goodbye to Max. His health took a turn for the worse quickly so it was time to help Max cross the Bridge.

RIP Sunny. Fly free over the Rainbow Bridge.

Sunny, half of the Weather Girls, lost her battle with a very aggressive cancer.

Her mom was able to keep her happy and living a great life with the help of several vets since the cancer diagnosis earlier in the year. For a few months Sunny enjoyed her life with her family, surrounded by loved ones, happy, acting like herself, and bouncing around the house and yard and full of life. Toward the end Sunny’s quality of life started to diminish so it was time. Sunny went on her own in her home with her family around her.

The Weather Girls were some of the first dogs that the new board helped out and they will always have a special place in our hearts. Gone, but never forgotten.

RIP dear Grandpa, you were very much loved in the sunset of your life.

The ER vets took him in right away. The fluids and glucose helped a little but not enough, he was fading away. His body was tired and was failing. It is with a very heavy heart that we decided the kindest thing to do for this sweet, sweet dog was to help him over the Rainbow Bridge.
Our dearest Grandpa Spanky, I wish we could have given you another 20 years. But we gave you 6 weeks, where you had a full belly, a soft bed to sleep in, the best vet care we could get you, and you are loved. Oh how much you are loved! Fly free, sweet angel …Grandpa Spanky.
When he was pulled from the shelter he was so frail, and so sweet. He was blind and had been for a long time. He had significant arthritis in his spine. His teeth were so rotten, and that combined with the smell of ammonia was overwhelming – the conditions he came from were pretty horrible.
We got those rotten, infected teeth pulled. It took 3 baths to get rid of the ammonia smell. He was getting accupuncture, cold laser, and chiropractic to help his painful back. That hunch in his back was going away and he was doodling all over the back yard in the sun until he decided it was time to nap. Then, he would lay down and take a nap. He enjoyed snuggling with his foster family.
We’re glad the our rescue got him out of the shelter and and that we got him 6 good weeks in a loving home with the best care we could get for him. We wish we could have given him more time but a lifetime of neglect and poor care finally caught up with him.