Marlow
5 years • Border Collie X Golden Retriever
Large Sizehigh Energy
Get notified when a Collie is listed in Nelson
We will email you the moment a Collie becomes available in Nelson, from a rescue or an owner rehoming.
5 rescue Collies are available for adoption in Nelson right now. Every listing links straight to the rescue.
5 years • Border Collie X Golden Retriever
We will email you the moment a Collie becomes available in Nelson, from a rescue or an owner rehoming.
The Collie is a large dog breed originating in United Kingdom. Adult dogs typically weigh 20 to 34 kg and live 12 to 14 years. Typical traits: intelligent, sensitive, loyal, trainable.
Active families who enjoy training a clever herding dog and will keep up with regular brushing of a heavy coat. The Collie umbrella covers the Rough, Smooth and Bearded varieties, all bred to work stock. Homes wanting a low-maintenance coat or a quiet dog, since Collies shed heavily and tend to bark at movement and activity.
Adult Collies need about 60 minutes of daily exercise; adolescent dogs typically need 75 minutes. The coat is long-coated with high shedding, and weekly brushing keeps the coat manageable.
Use the city links to narrow to your area, or browse the full list below.
Breed-associated conditions worth asking any rescue about before you adopt. A good rescue will already know whether a dog has been assessed for these.
An inherited eye malformation common across the Collie varieties; a DNA test identifies carriers and affected dogs.
Source: VCA →A gene common in Collie lines makes some everyday drugs dangerous; a DNA test changes which medications are safe.
Source: VCA →A hereditary eye disease that gradually causes blindness; DNA testing is available.
Source: VCA →Editorial summary for adopters, not medical advice. Ask the rescue about a specific dog's health, and consult your vet for individual guidance.
Collies in Nelson are listed by a range of local rescues and shelters. Applications, home checks and adoption decisions are handled by the rescue directly. LocalPetFinder brings the listings together so you do not have to check each rescue separately, and does not take a fee.
Rescues rehome across the country, and many will consider adopters outside their immediate area. It is worth checking the nearby cities too.
As of October 2026, 5 Collies are available for adoption in Nelson across 1 rescue on LocalPetFinder. Listings are refreshed regularly as dogs are adopted and new ones arrive, browse the current Collies above and apply directly through the rescue.
LocalPetFinder lists Collies available for adoption from rescues across Nelson and New Zealand. Every listing links straight to the rescue that has the dog, and the application is handled by them, not by us.
Collies typically live 12 to 14 years.
Adult Collies need about 60 minutes of daily exercise. Adolescent dogs (under 2 years) typically need 75 minutes, more than mature adults.
Breed-associated conditions to ask the rescue about include Collie eye anomaly, MDR1 drug sensitivity, Progressive retinal atrophy. See the citations in the health section above for authoritative information on each. This is an editorial summary, not medical advice, so check with your vet for individual guidance.
Not for sale, for adoption, which is usually the better deal. Every Collie here comes from a New Zealand rescue or shelter, not a breeder, pet shop, or classified seller. If you searched "collie for sale nelson" or "collie puppies for sale", adopting gets you a healthy, vetted dog for a fraction of the price.
You can buy from a registered breeder, but it is worth weighing against adoption first. If you do buy, insist on seeing where the puppies were raised and getting vet records, and check the breeder against your local pet-sale rules. For most families in Nelson, adopting a rescue Collie is cheaper, faster, and gives a dog in need a home.
Both, but adults far outnumber puppies, and it is worth knowing that before you start looking. Most Collies arriving in Nelson rescue are adolescents and adults, because that is the age at which first homes tend to give up. Puppies do come through, usually as accidental litters or with a surrendered mother, and they are typically spoken for quickly. Setting an alert beats refreshing the page. It is also worth asking whether you actually want one: an adult arrives with a temperament a foster has already observed and described, where a Collie puppy is a prediction, and for this breed in particular knowing what you are getting is the more useful thing.
Start with the listings on this page, which pull from Nelson rescues and shelters and are refreshed regularly, so what you see is what is genuinely available rather than a stale directory. If nothing suits today, that is normal for this breed: rescue intake is intermittent rather than steady, and a breed with none listed this week often has several next month. Setting an alert beats checking back, and it is worth widening to nearby suburbs and towns, since most rescues serving Nelson will adopt out across a reasonable driving distance rather than only inside one council area.
If you are on the other side of this page and need to find your collie a new home, you can list them free on LocalPetFinder, owner to owner. Keep your pet at home until you choose the new family, and follow our guides on fair pricing, screening adopters and meeting safely.
How rehoming works →Adoptable dogs for towns served by Nelson rescues, with any pets based in that town listed first.