The Best Small dog Rescues & Shelters in 2026

Barky Pines Animal Rescue & Sanctuary

Barky Pines Animal Rescue is located in Loxahatchee Fl. Founded in 2014. We are a 5.5 acre farm and house dogs and farm animals. We also have a veterinary clinic

Small Breed Rescue of Southern California

Small Breed Rescue of Southern California is an all-volunteer, non-profit, foster-based organization funded by donations. We are dedicated to taking in and caring for small breed dogs, small reptiles, and select exotic pets primarily from public shelters and other rescues. We are education and science-focused to help ensure that the animals that go into their new homes and their new families are set up for success! Our rescue is uniquely structured to rehabilitate animals who are at high risk of euthanasia due to manageable behavioral challenges, such as small dogs who are declining in a shelter environment and reptiles/exotics that have not been properly handled over their lifetime. We develop organizational and individual relationships to accommodate these specific assistance needs, which is one thing that differentiates us from other rescue organizations. Another is focusing on the two groups of animals that most would not usually combine. Initially, we started working with behaviorally challenged dogs under 15lbs who were not sheltering well. Because of our team's different skill sets, we decided to also work with reptiles on the side. The pandemic and the current shifts in the economy have drastically changed our direction to where we now care for more reptiles and exotics than dogs! With these shifts, we have also had to drop our weight limit on dogs down to under 10 lbs due to a lack of foster homes. We are always looking for new foster guardians who want to help us in our mission to save more lives with stability, commitment, education, and support. We provide everything you need no matter the animal type. Inexperienced? No worries! We will match the right foster pet to your skill set and comfort level as well as provide you with the training and tools that you need. Consider joining our team to foster a dog that needs a little patience, guidance, and TLC to come out of their shell, or foster one of our reptiles like a bearded dragon, ball python, or leopard gecko! We have assembled a support team that consists of experienced individuals who bring particular skills from the animal welfare industry that enable us to grow, educate, and enrich our foster community in a manner that supports our specific needs and those of our animals. The same support is given to our adopters. We will help you get ready for your new companion before they go home. Our goal is to set you up on the path to success so there are no broken hearts if we can avoid them. SBRSC remains interested in and committed to the welfare of the animals beyond the adoption process by providing continued education, training tips, resource references, and an open-door policy to our supporters. ~

Open Arms Rescue

Open Arms Rescue focuses on smaller breed dogs. We are a Non-Profit 501c3 Registered Charity and ALL volunteer based organization. We are based in Imperial Beach, CA but we have volunteers who foster dogs for us all across San Diego County, Riverside and Orange County. We are always looking for more volunteers to help foster a small breed dog. We rescue dogs from shelters across Southern California and all the way into the Mexico -Tijuana Perrera (Dog Pound) and from the streets of Mexico down to Ensenada. We have volunteers that go down to Baja on a regular basis to help out with feeding, cleaning and finding dogs to bring into our rescue program. Dogs in the Perrera only have 3 days before they are euthanized. We rescue a lot of dogs from this shelter because they have no chance of being adopted before they are either euthanized or become sick from being exposed to disease (as they are not vaccinated there when they first come into the Perrera). We select dogs that are adoptable, we quarantine them at our vet in Baja, monitor them, vaccinate them and then transport them to the US straight into volunteers homes for fostering until they can be adopted out. We also take in injured dogs that require surgeries to become healthy and adoptable. Typically when a California shelter receives an injured or special needs dog that is in need of surgery that the shelter is unable to perform due to their limited funds/resources they will either put the dog to sleep or only exit it to an approved rescue partner who can get the necessary medical care performed. We take a lot of these cases in from these California shelters and our adoption fees help support the medical bills. All of our dogs for adoption are spayed or neutered, microchipped,fully vaccinated, flea/tick treated and de-wormed. We are always in need of volunteers to foster a small breed dog.

Cute Odyssey Inc

CUTEODYSSEY'S DOGGIE RESCUE is an all volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and re-homing of abused, abandoned and neglected dogs. We are also a doggie hospice. Cuteodyssey Rescue is primarily a Shih Tzu Rescue (although we do take other breeds and mixes), located in S Cali. We are a 501(c)(3) non profit organization, tax ID number: 27-441-9788. We love dogs and we love to see them enhance a life. Our goals are two-fold. First, we want to save shelter dogs and secondly, we want your life to be improved by matching a wonderful dog to a safe, loving and caring family. No one should have to live without a furry little friend, when there are so many of these little munchkins needing loving homes.

Bichon FurKids Rescue

Bichon FurKids is a charitable not-for-profit organization whose members believe that our animal companions deserve to be cherished, cared for and protected. We value the loving contribution they make to our lives and are dedicated to assisting these loyal companions in finding forever homes — and a second chance at life. Our goal is to rescue bichons, bichon mixes and other small dogs who can no longer live with their original owners. Our Board and key volunteers are all dedicated, passionate and compassionate people who strive to make a difference in a dog’s life, assisting these FurKids to be adopted by loving owners who will care for and protect them as long as they live.