Life is labs Rescue, Inc. dba iWag

Dog shelter in Decatur, GA

We have operated a home-based boarding and training facility in West Georgia for over 15 years now. We have always had a handful of dogs here available for adoption, but formally started our rescue in early 2010 and currently keep 25-30 dogs in our program.

The entire operation was the dream of Joie and Kristie Wilder. When Joie completed veterinary school in 2007. the plan was to eventually open a one-stop shop facility where people could come and adopt a dog and have a lifelong relationship of veterinary care, boarding, training, grooming, activities and more. Sadly, Joie passed away less than a year after completing school. In 2010, Kristie decided it was time to renew the dream. With the help of family, friends and volunteers, enough grant money and donations have been raised to start a new facility on 24 acres. It will have enough room to accomplish all the goals and dreams for the rescue.

Contact Kristie Wilder

Email adoption@i-wag.com

Phone (770) 562-5228

Website http://www.iwag.org

Address

715 East College Ave

Decatur, GA 30030

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Meet their adoptable pets

715 East College Ave

Decatur, GA 30030

See every new pet that comes to this shelter!

Create an alert, and we'll notify you every time a new pet comes in who meets your criteria.

Shelter FAQs

We are a full-service non-profit rescue facility. We offer rescue, adoption, boarding, training and more. All adoptable dogs have been fully assessed for behavior and temperament. And they are each fully off-leash trained. We offer complete care and service before, during and after adoption. We currently offer 10-20% off boarding for the lifetime of your adopted dog as well as FREE unlimited private lessons for life as needed for dogs adopted through one of our training programs..

We have two shelter locations in Metro Atlanta, GA.

1. Submit Application
2. Visit the Facility and Find a Pet
3. Sign Adoption Contract

Additional adoption info

We offer full-service training programs with our adoptions. Each of those dogs leave our rescue program fully off-leash trained (and more!). What does this mean? It means that you will go home with a dog that you can truly relax and enjoy. You will have a dog that will come back to you every time you call it, no matter what the situation. You can go for a hike and not need a leash. You can hang out in your front yard and simply call your dog back to you if it wanders too far. You can go for a walk virtually anywhere without needing a leash. Here's a YouTube video of one of our rescues: http://youtu.be/l0SMi3FiJJM (this is in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA. It's a busy, metropolitan area.). Every dog that leaves our program has lived in our home with us, is crate trained and socialized with people, other dogs and cats. If and when we do feel there are lingering behavior issues, they are fully disclosed long before we proceed with the adoption process. We also advise you specifically on each dog and the best ways to integrate your new companion into home life with you and your family.

Our adoption process:

1. Complete an adoption application that is submitted with a $10 donation.

2. We do a pre-cursory review of your application, checking vet and personal references. At this time, we will address any concerns we may have and get detailed information from you so that we can help find a perfect match. If there are no issues with the application at this time, we proceed.

3. We set up a time for you to come out and visit any dogs that you have selected as well as ones that we feel may be a good fit based on your application, if you are willing to consider additional dogs.

4. In some cases, we do require a home visit and will set that up with you at a mutually acceptable time.

5. Once you and we are comfortable with the dog and the placement, we complete the adoption!

6. For adult dogs adopted with trainnig programs, they remain in our care for typically 2-3 weeks. During this time, the adoptive family must come out for three or more training sessions with their new dog. This allows the family and dog to bond over time and also allows the family to learn the training so that the transition home is very smooth. Puppies that are adopted with training programs will return to us for training at 6-8 months. And any dogs adopted without training can typically go home immediately, barring anything that needs to be resolved prior to going home (vetting, fence repairs, etc.).

7. We keep in touch and are available any time our adoptive families have any questions or concerns with their new family members.

Our adoption fee includes:
a) spay/neuter for dogs over 6 months of age (for younger, the adopter is responsible for spay/neuter by 6 months of age)
b) current vaccines (distemper/parvo/bordatella/lepto)
c) microchip (registration is not included and is $15 extra)
d) heartworm-free
e) current on flea/tick/heartworm prevention
f) lifetime discounted boarding at our beautiful country retreat
g) assistance with any questions or concerns at any time

Our adoption fee is $937.50. This price is a standard adoption fee of $250 plus the training program at half price ($687.50, which is half of $1375).

Although this may seem shocking to potential adopters, we have had incredible success with combining our training program with our rescue dogs. We originally offered the training at half price at the time of adoption and most adopters took advantage of it. Over time, we found that the trained dogs had incredibly smooth transitions into their new homes and were immediately able to enjoy freedom and fun with their new families.

Most of our rescue dogs are with us at least two months as we work through training and behavior issues. Many are great dogs that just need a little bit of training. But quite a few are, understandably, out of control. The results are amazing and we are thrilled to provide this service to adopters who understand the value of taking home a well-trained dog.