Our purpose is to give a second chance to dogs finding themselves in need of care and to find them loving, forever homes. 

Our team of Trustees have experience in kennel management, dog behaviour and dog training which spans over 25 years.

Join us for our first

Paws A While Shelter Open Afternoon

on Sunday 9th June 2024, 13:00-16:00

We welcome you all to come and visit our rescue kennels, to meet all the dogs in our care and those who are seeking their forever homes.

We'll have a variety of fundraising stalls on site including cakes sales, crafts including doggy items, tombola and even a photographer from Pure & Simple Photography of which all proceeds raised via the purchases of photos will be donated directly to the shelter.

There's also going to be a Fun Dog Show throughout the afternoon, awarding 1st-3rd and also a Best In Show. Entries will be £1 per dog and classes are:

1. Handsome Hounds
2. Gorgeous Girls
3. Waggiest Tail
4. Best Biscuit Catcher
5. Dog The Judge Would Like To Take Home

Neighbouring business Paws A While Therapy Centre will also have their doors open during the afternoon, for anyone seeking therapy solutions for their dogs such as physio, laser, land or hydro treadmills. Niki Warren will be able to discuss suitable methods available for your dogs.

Rehoming Criteria Grades

As you look through the details of the dogs in our care you will notice that each dog is coded with a rehoming criteria grade A, B or C. The grade shown should help in identifying a dog to suit your experience and the requirements that we feel the dog needs from any new owner, but please do discuss with us any dog which interests you, should you feel that you may not fully meet the requirements.

Please remember that the assessments and details of each dog we have available, are based on any history that we may have been made aware of from previous owner(s) and the behaviour we see here whilst they are in our care at Paws A While Shelter. Once any dog is rehomed, that behaviour may change due to many reasons and the changes the dog has endured may also affect their behaviour. It is very important that you allow a new dog to overcome as much of the stress it is under, during the early periods of being in a new environment. Dogs that are exposed to lots of new experiences too quickly can often lead to an increase of stress and then associated problem behaviours often surface during this time.

Criteria Grading Key: 

A: Generally, a well-balanced dog with both people, including children (we will of course advise of suitable ages to suit the dog in question) and other dogs who, we believe, from the history and/or assessments completed, should settle relatively easily in most homes, obviously with the possibility of some breed related traits and behaviours.

B: A dog usually suited for those with breed experienced dog ownership, the dog may be shy or wary and require ongoing training and understanding to achieve the best for the dog, or the dog may have medical health issues, that require some degree of owner intervention throughout their life.

C: A dog who has a history of and/or has displayed a higher degree of problem behaviour (e.g. resource guarding, behavioural issues), however the reasons for this can be varied. Generally, experienced homes only are required for this code of dog, with no young children, but again this is dependent on all the circumstances. These dogs will certainly require a lot of time, patience, and compassion to overcome their traits, but can be a very rewarding experience for the right person/family.

Rizzo (Border Collie, Female) - 2 years old

Rehoming Criteria Grade: C

Rizzo is vaccinated, flea treated, wormed and spayed.

Information from previous owners:

Rizzo came to us from a busy household with multiple children, and unfortunately, she became uncomfortable being around them and this led to her being shut away to avoid any close encounters. She had also had an incident at the vets, to which the vet advised that she should be muzzled on further visits. Her previous owner said that she did not have the time to provide Rizzo and therefore decided that it was best to rehome her.

PAWS information:

Since being in our care, Rizzo has shown that she is a very loving dog once she gets to know you and adores cuddles and fuss. She also loves playing with a ball.

As like many border collies, Rizzo does display typical herding traits around other dogs, so collie experience will be a must when she becomes available for adoption. She does however get on with most dogs she meets, so she would be suitable to live with another male dog, following introductions.

We’d advise that Rizzo would not be suitable to live in a home with children or that has visiting children, due to her previous history with them.

Whilst with us, Rizzo has been for vaccinations and her neuter, and on all occasions, we did not need to use a muzzle for her. She just needs a little time to feel comfortable in these sorts of situations.

We attempted a foster home for Rizzo at the end of Summer 2023, but unfortunately this did not work out and she returned to our kennels. This was because it became apparent that there were a lot of underlying issues with Rizzo in the home environment, such as reactivity to the volume of the TV (this was due to hearing a baby crying) and resource guarding of items that she had got hold of and not wishing to leave when asked.

Once she returned from the foster home, we’ve been working with her in our home environment sensory room, and she did display all of the behaviour that we learnt from the fosterer.

She also shows reactivity to the hoover – whether it is switched on or not, and the reactive behaviour is redirected to the person using the hoover and not the hoover itself, and she has also chased and attacked the broom whilst sweeping. Also a dislike was shown towards items used with wheels, such as wheelbarrows, prams/pushchairs and bikes. With all these items we are continuing to work with her and help her to redirect the negative behaviour and redirection into a positive manner.

We therefore feel that whoever would want to consider adopting Rizzo, will need to be of experience of this behaviour that she displayed to fully understand her, and are happy to continue to train and work with this is in the home positively, to ensure that she can learn to settle in a home.

Rizzo will benefit from multiple meet and greets prior to any adoption to ensure she gains your trust.

Rosie (Border Collie, Female) - 21 months old approximately
Rehoming criteria grade: B

Rosie is vaccinated, flea treated, wormed and spayed.

Information from previous owners:

Rosie came to us from a busy household, unfortunately the information that was provided on her was very vague. We were told that she was reactive to other dogs, noise reactive (coughing, sneezing, the clicking of washing machine button controls etc.) and was herding the children. This led to her spending most of her time in a muzzle around the children.

PAWS information:

Rosie is a typical Border Collie and displays many of the traits for the breed. Therefore, a collie savvy, experienced home is a must for her.

Rosie adores everyone she meets at the shelter, loving cuddles and fuss from all she spends time with; however, we strongly feel she would be better suited to an adult only home with no visiting children. This is due to her herding history and sensitivity to noise. The noise reactivity has been improving whilst she has been in our care, but it would be advised that potential new owners would need to still be cautious of this ongoing behaviour to ensure the reactions are redirected in a positive way rather than negatively.

Rosie’s reactiveness towards other dogs is also improving, its felt that it is due to her being under socialised with other dogs and not having the interactions needed with them from an early age. If she encounters a dog now, she will interact with them once she feels confident, however if the other dog does not feel comfortable and warns her away, she will back off from them and chooses to avoid them. For this reason, we believe Rosie would be suited as an only dog, or could potentially live with a calm, male dog only following introductions at our shelter prior to completing the adoption process.

Rosie has not been cat or small animal tested but does display being easily distracted by flying birds and even planes in the sky. This has been improving and is something that we are trying to deter her to do. She has also displayed typical collie behaviour of herding traffic, however again this has improved since being with us and spending time to desensitise her to these situations.

As Rosie is a very active girl, she would suit a household that could provide her with the stimulation that is required for a border collie, such as plenty of exercise and brain games etc. She could also excel at a variety of dog sports, as she loves playing with a ball. She enjoys her time going for walks with our volunteers and is a keen learner, therefore continued training would also be advised for this girl to fully blossom in the right home.

Jack (Greyhound - retired racer, Male) - 2 years old
Rehoming criteria grade: A

Jack is vaccinated, flea treated, wormed and neutered.

Information from previous owners:

Jack came to us via a greyhound racing kennels after recently being retired from the racing scene, along with his brother Oliver. They were living in the same kennel together up to the age of 8 months and were then separated and kennelled with female greyhounds thereafter.

PAWS Information: 

Since Jack and his brother Oliver arrived in our care, they have been kennelled individually but go out to exercise together and we can see that they are bonded – remembering each other from their puppyhood and playing lovely together. Therefore, they would like to be rehomed as a pair, but equally would be happy to be rehomed alone.

Jack is the smaller of the pair and has two white toes on his front right foot – this helps distinguish between him and his brother. He does rely on Oliver when they’re out together for reassurance, but when he’s back in his kennel he does settle.

As like all greyhounds, especially those that are retired racers, Jack does have a high prey drive, therefore he would not be suitable to live with cats or any small animals, or any neighbouring in the vicinity of your property. We're currently working on the desensitisation process with Jack, to reduce his want of chasing, so he can adjust to becoming a family pet.

We would advise that your garden would need minimum of 6ft fence panels as they can jump. A knowledge of sighthounds would be an advantage.

He is happy to be around other dogs, so could potentially live with another dog or dogs so long as they are not too small, in any potential new household, but we do recommend introductions prior to completing the final adoption process.

Jack loves the attention of people and shows that he would enjoy the home comforts of warm home. We feel he would be ok to live with calm, dog savvy children 8yrs+ also, this is due to his size.

Although Jack has only ever lived in a kennel, he is clean, but we would advise that toilet training in the home would be needed.

Due to being an ex-racing greyhound, Jack is muzzled trained, so should this be required when out and about for exercise, he is happy for one to be worn.

His general obedience requires some attention, as he has not had the normal upbringing that most dogs have, but we have been working on this since he arrived. He has also shown interest in a ball, so we can see that he can initiate some play and hope that this will continue. Jack responds well to food as a reward and enjoys his daily meals, so is not a fussy eater.

Adoption fees will be reviewed if Jack and Oliver are rehomed as a pair.

Oliver (Greyhound - retired racer, Male) - 2 years old

Rehoming criteria grade: A

Oliver is vaccinated, flea treated, wormed and neutered.

Information from previous owners:

Oliver came to us via a greyhound racing kennels after recently being retired from the racing scene, along with his brother Jack. They were living in the same kennel together up to the age of 8 months and were then separated and kennelled with female greyhounds.

PAWS Information: 

Since Oliver and his brother Jack arrived in our care, they have been kennelled individually but go out to exercise together and we can see that they are bonded – remembering each other from their puppyhood and playing lovely together. Therefore, they would like to be rehomed as a pair, but equally would be happy to be rehomed alone.

Oliver is the larger of the pair and this helps us distinguish him from his brother. He is more outgoing and confident, therefore not relying on his brother for any reassurance.

As like all greyhounds, especially those that are retired racers, Oliver does have a high prey drive, therefore he would not be suitable to live with cats or any small animals, or any neighbouring in the vicinity of your property. We're currently working on the desensitisation process with Jack, to reduce his want of chasing, so he can adjust to becoming a family pet.

We would advise that your garden would need minimum of 6ft fence panels as they can jump. A knowledge of sighthounds would be an advantage.

He is happy to be around other dogs, so could potentially live with another dog or dogs so long as they were not too small, in any potential new household, but we do recommend introductions prior to completing the final adoption process.

Oliver loves the attention of people and shows that he would enjoy the home comforts of warm home. We feel he would be ok to live with calm, dog savvy children 8yrs+ also, this is due to his size.

Although Oliver has only ever lived in a kennel, he is clean, but we would advise that toilet training in the home would be needed.

Due to being an ex-racing greyhound, Oliver is muzzled trained, so should this be required when out and about for exercise, he is happy for one to be worn.

His general obedience requires some attention, as he has not had the normal upbringing that most dogs have, but we have been working on this since he arrived. He has not shown any interest in toys, but we hope that he can start to enjoy play in the future. Oliver responds well to food as a reward and enjoys his daily meals, so is not a fussy eater.

Adoption fees will be reviewed if Oliver and Jack are rehomed as a pair.

Ted (Cocker Spaniel, Male) - 18 months old
Rehoming criteria grade: C

Ted is vaccinated, flea treated, wormed and neutered.

Information from previous owners:

Ted came from a loving family home with children, but unfortunately one of the family members was of ill health, which led to Ted not getting the full commitment he required as he’s a very energetic boy and they felt that this was unfair on him. We were advised that he was beginning to resource guard his toys and food, which led to him growling at them, this made the family become uncomfortable with Ted’s behaviour and it was also mentioned that he took a dislike to being groomed.

PAWS information:

Ted had been adopted from us recently but was sadly returned following several resource guarding situations of his crate, toys, and sofa once he had started to settle into the family home. Unfortunately, as much as his adopters tried to overcome these issues in a positive manner, it did lead to two adult family members getting bitten. He’d also displayed issues with his collar being removed and putting back on, which was improving with positive training.

His adopters had really fallen in love with him, but they had to make the difficult to decision to return him, due them having a visiting grandchild, which they could not take the chance of being involved in any resource guarding situation with Ted.

When not displaying the resourcing guarding, Ted was a loveable dog with the family and enjoyed his walks and playing ball with them.

Since returning to us, the resource guarding behaviour has not resurfaced, but we will continue to work on this with him in our sensory room whilst he is waiting to be adopted. During Ted’s first 3 weeks with PAWS, prior to his adoption he did show signs of resource guarding around food and high value food items, therefore we worked on this with him to overcome, as it was being displayed when he is within his kennel, as he sees this as his own secure place that he felt he needed to guard, which is very much the same behaviour he displayed once adopted.

We now feel that Ted certainly needs an owner with experience of Cocker Spaniels and also with dogs that do display behaviours of resource guarding, who know how and can deal with this to enforce a positive approach with Ted, for him to learn clear boundaries of what behaviour is and isn’t acceptable in the home.

He is certainly a very energetic young boy, therefore, he needs a family that would be able to provide him with plenty of physical and mental stimulation, and could be suited to a dog sport such as agility to keep his brain occupied and give him a job to do or something such as scent work as he enjoys foraging around and seeking out his ball.

Whilst grooming he has only mouthed at the brush, therefore, it seems that Ted just needs someone to teach him the boundaries of day-to-day life. We would advise that Ted would need further training sessions to ensure that these boundaries can be set by any new family and to also to continue with his basic obedience.

Ted has been fine with all other dogs he has met, and prior to him arriving in our care he was cared for temporarily in a home with other dogs with no issues. We feel it would be of a benefit to Ted, to live with another well-balanced dog to show him the ropes of appropriate behaviour in the home. This would be following introductions prior to completing the adoption process to ensure they are comfortable together.

Ted has not been small animal or cat tested, so it would be advised that he could not live with them.

He’s always very happy with all people his has met, including our volunteers, and never shown any negative behaviour when meeting and greeting them, however now due to his bite history he cannot live with children or in a home with visiting children for this reason.

In true typical spaniel style though, Ted absolutely loves playing with a ball and will quite happily retrieve and return. He also adores playing in water, therefore be advised he gets very soggy if any water is within his vicinity – therefore he will require regular grooming and visits to a groomer as his coat if very thick and will grow.

Even with the issues that have recently arisen with Ted, we feel he will make a wonderful dog in the right home that understands his needs and can set the boundaries and work with the training of behavioural and resource guarding issues, he needs to become a well-balanced dog.

Where To Find Us

We are just off the A38 between Lichfield and Burton on Trent.

Take the A513 at Alrewas towards Tamworth Following the signs for the National Memorial Arboretum (Croxall Road.) Drive Past the Aboretum, over the level crossing where you will reach a dead end and follow signs for PAWS on the right.

What3Words:

Our What3Words location is:

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Sponsor A Paws A While Shelter Kennel

We're now offering annual sponsorship of a Paws A While Shelter kennel, in memory of a loved one. Your annual sponsorship will mean you're helping the dogs in our care and your loved ones will never be forgotten.

You can order your plaque, directly with us by emailing enquiries@pawsawhileshelter.co.uk, advising of the details/wording you would like to be on the plaque of which  will be 6"x4" in size.

The price of annual sponsorship per kennel is £100.00, this means your plaque will be installed outside a kennel at PAWS for 12 months and will fund the care of the dogs we have with us during the year.

We'll be in touch once your plaque has been displayed for the year, to see if you wish to renew your sponsorship of the kennel. If not, we will fully understand and your plaque can remain with us, but will be relocated to another area on site for our visitors to see.

The image above, provides you with an idea of the plaque you can order for remembering your loved one and sponsoring a kennel.