Blue Ridge Canine Safehouse

12/11/2026

THE MOMENT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! 💎 🏠 💎
Diamond finally has a home!!! Congratulations to our sweet girl - she’s waited a long time. And congrats to Crockett and Carol, and a huge thank you for giving her the best life she will ever live. This sweet girl is so worthy of all the love they can offer.

A special THANK YOU to Highland County Humane Society for taking her into their program as a favor. They posted her for us and within 2 days she found her happily ever after! HCHS are such an amazing group of people doing amazing things to help animals. I’m grateful they agreed to help Diamond!

11/11/2026

Wishing a Peaceful and Meaningful Veteran’s Day to all who wore the uniform. 🫡 🇺🇸

10/11/2026

Ok friends! We are chipping away at our vet bill. Slowly but surely. We have $542 left to pay out of over $3000 since Sept. Every time we are almost caught up, another dog needs the vet. This Thursday, we are bringing little Hope to the vet to see what can be done for her quality of life. Hope has been with us for years now - a feral dog who was trapped in the forest. She’s had friends and a routine, and became comfortable, stable and happy. She’s really aged in the past year and has lately been having some neurologic symptoms. She will go to the vet on Thursday to see if there’s anything we can do before accepting that she is on hospice care until she’s no longer happy.

If you have a little extra in your pocket and can put some money toward our vet bills, we would be forever grateful! Links to donate in the comments.

Thank you! 🙏 ❤️

09/11/2026

I watched a disturbing video of a woman “training” her Malinois to go into a crate by using a slip lead, lacing the lead through the rear hole in the back of the crate, getting behind the crate, and trying to use the lead to pull the dog into the opening of the crate. Her logic was “the dog will realize he’s safe in the crate when the choking pressure stops inside the crate”. Meanwhile the dog was flailing, in death mode, being choked out by the leash, flipping his body around the sides of the crate to avoid going in. It was traumatic. The crate opening was small. The crate was a plastic flight crate that likely felt small and claustrophobic to a dog in fear mode. I made a snide comment on the video and moved on. But I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop thinking of this abuse, the terrified dog, the “trainer” who’s been poorly trained herself. It will bother me all day. Friends - if someone is training your dog in a way that makes you cringe, or looks abusive, or makes you feel skeptical - it’s probably wrong. There is probably a better way. Dogs with extreme crate aversion can be trained using other methods. You can break down the behaviors into mini ones (teaching a “through” command with doorways, cardboard boxes, anything larger and more open than a crate). You can use baby steps by starting with larger, less claustrophobic crates. You can reward for forward movement into the crate but not going in. If the dog is not at all food motivated, you can try a toy. I’ve never met a Malinois who doesn’t like food or toys. If those rewards are not successful then pure desensitization and successive approximation are your friends. Feed close to the crate. In the doorway of the crate. The dog bed is in the crate. The crate is in a space that’s so sterile that the only interesting thing IS the crate or is inside the crate. Many pet owners don’t have setups like this, but if you’ve adopted a very fearful dog, be prepared to re-arrange your life to teach the dog the world is safe. Or hire a trainer who makes your dog feel safe and confident.

Ok. That is my rant. If the training feels icky, it’s probably wrong.

05/11/2026

UPDATE - THANKS TO YOUR SHARES, Dogs Deserve Better Blue Ridge was able to find a foster home for Sasha and Sawyer together!!!! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see them cozy in a home! SHARES MATTER! ❤️🙏

02/11/2026

Omg 😍 Surely one of these will win hearts in their costumes! The benefit of getting a dog through a trainer like Chris is that you already know so much of what you need to make the adoption successful!

31/10/2026

Hi All! We could use a little help from our friends if you’re able! Since the end of Sept we have paid $2000 toward veterinary costs. $1600 to Lovingston Vet and $400 to Animal Hospital of Waynesboro. Joey got insanely ill with something that we never figured out despite full work up, but Doxycycline and fluids got him feeling fine again. Linus got neutered and had an EPI test. Dove and Diamond both got updates. Several dogs got routine meds. All that to say we still owe $1242.00. If anyone can help us out, we would truly appreciate it! I’ll put payment options in the comments. Thanks to all who support us!

Pictured are a handful of the many dogs who live here for free. Some will live here for life, and some are waiting on forever homes. Message us if you’re looking to ADOPT! Maybe we have a good fit for you!

31/10/2026