Adoptable (Official) Georgia Dogs for November 20, 2023

Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor‘s office is disbanding the Jail Dogs program, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett Jail Dogs Program volunteers said in a Facebook post that the county’s Sheriff’s Office has put the program on “hiatus.” The program pairs with dogs with inmates who are tasked with caring for the pooches.

”As many of you may have already heard the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office has put our program on hiatus indefinitely,” the program said in its announcement. “They will be expanding their mental health program which will take over the unit our handlers and dogs are housed in.”

“While we applaud what they look to do, our program also falls under inmate programs geared at the mental health of the inmates that come through our program.”

The decision has Jail Dogs officials scrambling to find homes for four dogs that had been paired with inmates. They are looking for Gwinnett residents to provide foster homes for the dogs.

Since Jail Dogs was established in 2010, it has resulted in “thousands” of dogs and cats who had been scheduled for euthanasia being rescued from local shelters.

“All received vetting from our rescue partner Society of Humane Friends of Georgia and then trained by selected inmate handlers that were being trained themselves,” Jail Dog officials said. “This gave the animals a better chance at adoption due to their training but also gave the handlers purpose during their incarceration.”

Jail Dog Tien is a 6-year old, 78-pound, male Shepherd-looking dog who is available for adoption from Gwinnett Jail Dogs in Lawrenceville, GA.

This ruggedly handsome, ever so lovable boy is Jail Dog Tien. His Jail Dog story started on March 12, 2019, when we rescued him from a local shelter. Tien was approximately 1 year of age with all the energy of a puppy in an adult sized body. He took to his training quickly and after he was neutered, vaccinated and microchipped he was adopted on June 26, 2019.

In November of 2022 his family reached out to us and asked to return Tien. They found that Tien wasn’t a fan of their young son once he became mobile. With open arms we took Tien back into the program on December 1, 2022. Tien fell right back into the routine of the program where we were able to bring him back up to speed on his training.

This loyal sweetheart of a dog is now coming up on his 1-year return date, a date we don’t wish to celebrate with him. We would rather find him a home where they can celebrate all that is wonderful about Tien every day!

Tien used to live in a home with another younger dog and when he was in the program in 2019 he loved all dogs of ages and sizes. Now at 5-6 years of age he prefers to keep his canine buddies limited. While Jail Dogs Kaiser and Nala are his pals at the detention center, we have found Tien isn’t a fan of dogs when our volunteers take him to local parks for walks. He requests rather loudly that the dogs keep their distance and continue to merrily stroll along.

Honestly, the ideal home for Tien would be one where he could be your one and only fur baby. No need for long walks, just a nice, fenced yard to play where he can chase things to his heart’s content and use that wonderful nose of his. He can’t be an outside only dog, (now that is no way to treat your family member) but would be a fantastic furry family member that would soak up all the love and pampering he could get. Tien is an avid television watcher that would love to binge any show you might want to watch, (now where can you find that?!?!) or help you cheer on your favorite sports team, (and help you eat your snacks!). A home without small children but maybe a teenager or two to keep company while playing video games, working on their homework, etc…. There is so much to love about this boy, and we don’t want people to miss out on all of his “awesomeness”. For more information about Jail Dog Tien and how you can foster or adopt please visit www.jaildogs.org and fill out an adoption application.

Jail Dog Rocky is a 1-2-year old, 68-pound, male Terrier-looking dog who is available for adoption from Gwinnett Jail Dogs in Lawrenceville, GA.

Rocky is also one of our last 4 adult dogs that we have been posting over the past year. He is a 1–2-year-old, terrier mix that is available for adoption. Rocky, like his namesake, has battled his way to the top and is now ready for a new beginning of his own.

We met Rocky after he was found tied to a door at a local church by a homeless person. This person had gone into the church that day and inquired about some of their services but did not mention a dog. Later that evening that person left Rocky tied to the church’s front door with a shoestring. When the staff arrived later that evening for church services, they found Rocky wagging his tail waiting for someone to come and save the day. The staff at the church were able to check their security cameras to find that the person they had spoken with earlier that day had been the one that left Rocky tied to the door. Some choices are hard, and we are sure that the one they made when leaving Rocky wasn’t easy. It was obvious they wanted Rocky to find a new beginning.

The loving people at the church wanted to make sure Rocky was set up for success so they contacted our program.

That was over a year ago. Rocky will be spending his second Thanksgiving holiday in the detention center when he should be celebrating with a family of his own.

Rocky has a narrow lane for adoption. Although he loves everyone he meets, he needs to be an only dog. He does love to play with puppies when we have them in the unit, but other adult dogs haven’t been a good match. Rocky would do great with teenagers, but due to his energy level would knock over smaller children. He needs to be kept active because that is where he thrives! A large, fenced backyard to run and play in and someone that is willing to work his body and brain. Rocky is also a snuggly lovebug! When properly exercised this boy enjoys being a couch potato with those that think he is all that and more. We can’t express what a fantastic family member Rocky will make for the right family, he just needs that chance.

Jail Dog Nala is a 2-year old, 49-pound, female Boxer-and-Terrier-looking dog who is available for adoption from Gwinnett Jail Dogs in Lawrenceville, GA.

August of 2021 and was part of our “Greek litter”. Nala was then known as “Athena” and was an adorable 6 week old puppy that weighed 4 pounds. She was such a beautiful puppy that it was easy to understand why she was adopted so quickly after receiving the vetting and training she needed. At 2.5 months of age Nala started the next step in her story with a family that loved her very much; which happened to include a young boy of her very own.

The family fell head over heels for her, provided her with a wonderful home and sent us fantastic updates that showed the little boy had a new friend that he adored. In May of 2022 her family contacted us and stated that they needed to return her to our program. The little boy had severe allergic reactions to the dander in Nala’s coat, placing him in the hospital 3 times. After speaking with their doctor it was advised that a home without pets would be the best for their son.

Nala is ready for her second chance at a new beginning with a wonderful family that is ready for all the unconditional love she has to offer.

Jail Dog Kaiser is a 1-2-year old, 89-pound, male Shepherd-and-Husky-looking dog who is available for adoption from Gwinnett Jail Dogs in Lawrenceville, GA.

This handsome 1-2 year old, working breed mix was adopted from us as a puppy. He was adopted to a family at 8 weeks of age and then returned at almost a year when they could no longer care for him. Kaiser has been with us a year now and the detention center is taking its toll on him. Although our program is a great place for a dog to start out in, it isn’t meant for them to be long term dogs. They start to become institutionalized and have a hard time finding their way back in a home environment. Thankfully we have some great volunteers that get Kaiser and the other longer term dogs outside the detention center walls for walks when we can, but it isn’t the same as giving them a home.

Kaiser is a lovebug, but needs time to adjust to new surroundings. Patience and commitment is what he needs in a new family. When he first came back into the program Kaiser played well with almost all of the dogs; now he does best with only Jail Dog Tien, (another one of our 4 adult dogs). Not to say he couldn’t be with another dog, but it would probably be best if he were an only dog to start with in a new home.

Kaiser has helped train some of our best handlers and is more than deserving of a home of his own. He knows all of his basic obedience commands, lots of awesome tricks and is house/crate trained. Kaiser does well on walks at the park with our volunteers and would love to be a companion to someone that would include him on fun adventures. Someone getting a dog for the first time wouldn’t be what he needs, but someone that is willing to give time to this awesome boy would get his love and devotion back in double fold.