Almond Joy Australian Shepherd & Husky Mix Chattanooga, TN

Almond Joy, aka AJ, is a 2 1/2 year old Australian Shepherd mix girl that weighs ~ 50 pounds and needs a patient and kind hero who knows that "love returned" is worth waiting for. Her bond will be strong and her love unwavering. Please read her amazing story!

AJ was rescued from a high kill shelter in March of 2023 and escaped the fence at our shelter 6 days later. Search and efforts to trap her were unsuccessful and she was eventually deemed to be uncatchable. AJ then settled into a community where she was fed literally just down the street from the shelter and was able to be trapped 10 months later with chicken, cheese (a favorite treat) and the amazing efforts of her feeder, shelter volunteer, and McKamey Animal Center.

At that time, AJ was found to be VERY pregnant. She went into foster care with the wonderful volunteer that helped catch her and then escaped again! Our worry and fear for her was overwhelming as it was when the temperatures were plummeting to single digits, and it was snowing! Fortunately, AJ was spotted under the deck of a wonderful local Samaritan and was rescued once again. She then returned to her foster home and delivered 4 healthy puppies the very next night. (Yeah, we could hardly believe it either!)

AJ and her puppies remained in foster care for 5 weeks until they were ready for vaccines and preparing for adoption. Her beautiful puppies were all adopted quickly. In fact, one was adopted by the person who saved them all from freezing in the snow.

There is no sugar coating her bio. AJ is still "hand shy" and will be a bit of a flight risk until she settles in a new environment, but she has made SO MUCH progress with the kindness, love and determination of our volunteers and shelter staff. She is pretty smitten with our Shelter Manager and is very eager to please her, so we know she can be that way with her new person or family.

AJ is very smart, even brilliant, you could say. She is trainable, will do almost anything for a piece of cheese, and is already housetrained. She loves a good brushing to keep her coat in good shape but is not a huge fan of having her paws touched. She greets you in the morning with great excitement and lots of tail wagging. She is great with other dogs and bonds almost instantly to any newcomers. She hangs out with at least four other dogs most days and doesn’t seem to have any issues with cats. AJ is a gorgeous (albeit aloof) girl as the result of her contributing breeds: Husky/Aussie/Border Collie. All of these breeds are WORKING DOGS. She will require a fence, an air tag and/or tracker, and outdoor supervision on a leash or harness until she has fully bonded with you…then she will never want to leave your side. An active adopter is a must as AJ needs exercise, enrichment, and a job wouldn’t hurt either...but most of all, she just needs patience and love.

Almond Joy will be an amazing pet, but it will take some time getting there. She is looking for the love of her life and we are 100% determined to help make that connection.

Her story really should be on the big screen.


We're open Wednesday - Sunday 12 - 5 p.m but are doing meet & greets and adoptions by appointment only.

The adoption fee is $135 which includes a free veterinary exam within 2 weeks of adoption at local participating vets, up to date vaccinations, heartworm test, heartworm preventative, dewormer, flea preventative, microchip, & spay or neuter.

If you are interested in this pet, please fill out our ADOPTION APPLICATION at https://bit.ly/3HN4Tqq

Visit our website at www.PetPlacementCenter.com