If you follow us on Instagram, you know all about Harley by now. But if you don’t, allow me to share with you the dynamic and unpredictable story of our 17th red list rescue pup.

I met Harley while I was advocating for Hailee (our previous red list rescue). Something about him stood out so profoundly to me while passing by his kennel that I knew I had to come back to learn more. This is unusual from how I usually go about red list rescues. Normally, I connect with one of my lead contacts at the shelter and ask for her to send me a special dog to advocate for. So, rather than being sent a dog I had not yet seen, I asked for all the details I could on Harley.

Harley entered the shelter in November 2023 when his adopters were arrested and sent to jail. He was adopted for about 2 weeks in April 2024 before his adopters once again move to a housing facility where they couldn’t keep a dog. So, they returned him back to the shelter where he faced red list status. In total, Harley was in the shelter for over 270 days before we were finally able to rescue him.

My initial thoughts were that Harley would make an incredible veteran service dog with training from Rescue 22 Foundation. (Just like we did in a previous red list rescue with Addison.) So, I reached out to their founder and thankfully he was willing to schedule a time to meet with us and assess Harley. I was then able to pull Harley from the shelter and take him about an hour north to meet R22 and see what might happen! To our excitement, R22 agreed to take Harley as they saw the same potential in him that we all did; he is toy driven, food motivated, eager to learn, and smart. So, it came as a surprise to me when a few weeks later I received a text from R22 sharing they were unable to keep Harley for training after all. Of course, this text came when I had just gotten to Yosemite on what was supposed to be a seven day vacation from it all. But, when Harley calls – I answer.

R22 shared with me that due to their scheduling, they had to take him back to the shelter the next day, which I knew would not be good for Harley for many reasons. So, with the INCREDIBLE help of my intern, Taylor, we sprung into action and created a Red List Rescue campaign to find Harley a life-saving adopter or foster once and for all. After days of potential leads, phone calls, and strategizing, nothing seemed to be unfolding. With the limited cell service, trying to also be present with my husband, and gaps in communication across multiple platforms, I felt like I was starting to lose my mind. That is until our incredible K9 training partner, Andrew, stepped up to help.

Andrew is the kind of guy who just makes every situation feel a lot let stressful than it probably actually is. He has a way of seeing things that just levels out the playing field and lowers tensions. This is perhaps, why he is also an incredible dog trainer. He just has a very calming personality. Long story short, Andrew agreed to adopt Harley when nobody else would. I went through the necessary motions of contacting the shelter, filling out rescue paperwork, and coordinating pick up/drop off times upon my return. Andrew lives in Arizona, so I picked Harley up two days after getting home and drove him about three hours to meet Andrew at a Petco past Indio.

Getting to have this time with Harley after such a long and drawn out battle for him spanning multiple weeks was like heaven to me. To know he was safe and had a secure future meant the world to me. And I know to everyone who was following and supporting his journey. Andrew is now taking incredible care of Harley and they are living happily together in Arizona. Harley is being given all the time he needs to decompress, to experience love for the first time, and to go through training with Andrew. The ultimate goal is to find Harley the perfect long-term adopter once Andrew completes his training. The great part is, there will be no rush to this process and Andrew and I will be able to thoroughly vet anyone interested in giving our sweet Harley a forever home. Until then, he is Andrews!

Please take 90 seconds to enjoy Harley’s red list rescue video below. We hope it melts your heart like it has ours.

If you would like to help us make future life-saving efforts like these a little easier in times of need, please consider becoming a one time or monthly donor for Frost Fund. We need all the help we can get. You can do so by visiting the donation link in the menu tab of our website, or by using one of the methods below. With your help, we will be able to share many more happy ending stories to come. Thank you.

Venmo: @frost_fund

Zelle/Paypal: teamfrostfund@gmail.com