Month: June 2011

Fireworks are part of many celebrations, and are tons of fun for humans… but not so much for our furry family! July 4th especially can be a day of terror for our dogs and cats. At night the bangs and screeching of fireworks elevate your pets’ fight-or-flight drive. This can cause them to panic, wet the floor, tear up things, try to escape, run, or exhibit other distressed behavior. Be aware! This is the busiest time of year at shelters across the U.S.A. for a reason. Even if your dog or cat has never tried to escape or run, this may be the time. They may seem fine and then suddenly bolt out an open door or gate. Fireworks can start days in advance, so use our tips as soon as needed. There’s lots you can do to help your dogs and cats stay cool and safe this day of independence. Here’s how:

1. Keep your pets inside during fireworks times. Some neighborhoods this can be every night for a week leading up to the July 4th! Even normally calm pets can be startled enough by fireworks to bolt over or through a fence they previously respected. 
   
2. Keep windows AND doors closed & locked. Startled pets have been known to push or jump through screens or even cracked windows. Keep doors to the outside closed during and after when fireworks are going off, to prevent pets from bolting and slipping past you as you exit or enter. Pets can stay stressed for hours after the fireworks stop – don’t discount they may bolt even after the fireworks have died down. If possible, keep pets locked out of rooms where a door to the outside might be opened.
3. Pet ID: Check that your pets’ collars are secure, with up-to-date and readable pet ID tags. Call your microchip company to verify that their microchips have your current contact information.
4. Turn on the TV or music. Put the volume as loud enough to muffle any fireworks noises, but it doesn’t have to be blasting! If you have a CD player, definitely check out Through A Dog’s Ear — the Adopt-a-Pet.com staff uses this for their anxious dogs and they really help!
5. Don’t coddle pets if they are scared. That rewards and encourages scared behavior. Talk in a normal voice, act indifferent to the sounds. If you are calm and relaxed, this will encourage them to follow your lead.
6. Distract with a toy or chew. Give your pet a special food-stuffed toy or long-lasting chew treat, to encourage their mind focus on that, not the noises outside.
7. Daily exercise. Give your dogs and cats their normal “big” exercise session every day leading up to, on, and after the holiday. Exercise helps relieve stress.
8. Homeopathic anxiety remedies. Try one like Rescue Remedy, sold at Whole Foods and at many pet stores too, or at  rescueremedy.com. If you know your pet gets dangerously distressed during fireworks, talk to your vet about possible short-term medication.
9. Thundershirt. This reportedly helps with fireworks too! Order online at thundershirt.com.
10. Stay home with your pets. If possible, do not leave your pets alone, (and never outside), during Independence Day fireworks celebration nights.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
Learn more about Jennifer, our blog author at Google+

Dear Adopt-a-Pet.com, I was looking for a Samoyed who needed rescuing.  My dog friend Lasky died in 2009 at the age of 17.  She was my second Sammy.  My first, Kira, lived to be 14. They are such great dogs.   I was looking casually, not rushing into another dog, but wanting the door to be open should the right dog come along.  I saw Zack on the Adopt-a-Pet.com website, inquired about him, and each step of the process, from the adoption application to picking Zack up in New Hampshire, went smoothly.  Zack has been in his new home for 5 days.  In that time he has become a smiler and a tail wagger.  He is small for a Sammy and looked like he had some other breed in his mix but, cleaned up, he turns out to be totally Samoyed, with all of the paw gestures, intelligence, manners and great temperament that is typical of Sammys.  He is very sweet.

It’s really tragic that, through the irresponsibility of humans, there are literally millions of dogs who need homes, who live desperate lives and meet sad ends.  Rescuing a dog, if you are in a position to take good care of them, is a gift not only to the dog but to the humans involved.

Sincerely,
Baruch Z.

Has Adopt-a-Pet.com helped YOU find your best friend?  Email us and let us know!  We’d love to share your Happy Beginnings story.

It’s one thing to know it, but another to prove it! A recent study focused on shelter dogs in Vienna, Austria. Their goal? To find out what would increase the chances for long-term shelter dogs to get adopted. It turns out they were able to conclude and actually prove that socialization and basic training were found to significantly improve the chance for adoption however time constraints often does not allow most shelter staff to engage in additional activities Person walking dog on leash with the animals. Yet the Vienna Shelter knew they could come up with a way to help their animals! They created a ”sponsors of care” program designed for each shelter dog to be matched with a sponsor who would be responsible for taking the dog on regular walks. The shelter even created a training program for sponsors to attend, and offered supervision when difficulties arose.

Over the years since this program began in 2003, the number of sponsors working with dogs has increased, many sponsors ended up adopting their shelter dog, and best of all as a result of this program, the number of long-term stays was reduced from 26% to 12% by 2009! This study proves that taking shelter dogs for walks significantly increases their quality of life as well as their chances for adoption.

Dog walking has health benefits for the humans too! If you’re a volunteer at a shelter or rescue that doesn’t yet have a dog walking program, feel free to share this article with them and let them know you’re interested in dog walking! Passionate tennis-shoe -wearing folks are needed who are willing to hoof it and woof it can help shelter dogs become more adoptable!

Friends, this month we’d like to introduce you to a very special group that really needs your help in order to continue their life-saving work.  Meet We Luv Paws Sharpei Rescue.  Based in the Chicago area and powered by Carol Judge, her husband Bill, and fellow rescuer Jen Fortner, We Luv Paws has saved the lives of at least 200 Sharpei dogs and mixes in the last five years. When you think of Sharpei, you usually think of those adorably wrinkly faces that look perpetually concerned. What you might not know is that they have reason to worry: Sharpei often end up in shelters because people buy them as cute, wrinkly puppies, most of the time unaware of the genetic eye and skin conditions inherent to the breed. These conditions, easily treated and controlled early on, can develop into expensive problems if ignored, which leads many irresponsible Sharpei owners to relinquish now-ill dogs to shelters. Once there, these sensitive and loyal dogs can quickly develop stress-related physical and behavioral problems.  As you can see, without the help of rescuers like We Luv Paws, Sharpei too often meet their end in the shelter.

We Luv Paws opens its doors to even the most difficult (and expensive) cases: currently they are caring for Mandy (pictured), a very sick dog who has both demodex mange and heartworm.  Like many rescuers, Carol, Bill, and Jen pay for supplies, medical treatment, and food out of their own pockets when donations and adoption fees aren’t sufficient to make ends meet.  It’s always a struggle and a juggling act, but lately the situation has become dire.  The organization, which already owes thousands of dollars to their veterinarian, is facing possible closure.  Not only have donations been down, but Bill, whose income helps cover the costs of the rescue, recently lost his job.  They need help…and fast.  If everyone reading these words would donate just $2.00, we would change the world for this wonderful organization and all the dogs they care for, not to mention the ones yet to be saved.  Let’s let We Luv Paws know that their work is important to all of us!

To donate funds, go to Paypal.com and use the email address weluvpawsilrescue@yahoo.com You can also send a check to We Luv Paws c/o Carol Judge, 512 Higgins, Park Ridge IL 60068.  In addition to money, they are desperately in need of dog food.  If you can help, please email weluvpawsilrescue@yahoo.com.  Thank you!

Guinea pigs are gentle, sweet pets who have a docile nature – not to mention are totally adorable! They respond to being handled, fed, and pet, and are also relatively easy to take care of making them a popular and fun pet for families. Guinea pigs thrive in groups and are social animals who love to bond with others!

If you’ve never had a guinea pig before you might wonder what they eat. Grass is the guinea pig’s natural diet and it’s also good for them to feed on fresh grass hay (called timothy hay) as well as food pellets. Interestingly enough, unlike other mammals yet similar to humans, guinea pigs need vitamin C in their diet and rely on getting it from their food sources as their body can’t make it. They require about 25 mg of vitamin C daily, which can be obtained through fresh, raw fruits and vegetables or supplements.

Making sure your guinea pig is getting sufficient Vitamin C is key, and there are specific signs to look for in order to tell if your he or she is Vitamin C deficient, to learn those click here. For more information on how to make sure your guinea pig is getting enough Vitamin C and how to tell if they’re not! Also, check out the many fabulous guinea pigs we have listed for adoption on Adopt-a-Pet.com by searching here. Make sure you have enough Vitamin C for two – you just might  find your furry friend to adopt today!

Does your dog get crazy excited when you come home? Does he jump all over you and, though its adorable, would you rather he took it down a notch? Next time you come home, try coming into your house playing ball with him right away so that it gets the excitement and dog playing ball eagerness off of you and onto the game! Keep a basket of tennis balls right outside your front door so you’ll be ready for a toss as soon as the door enters. This way, you’ll have an activity for him to focus on when you come home, and you can help burn off a little of his energy, too (he’s been waiting all day for you!). Take it outside to the back yard if he seems like he needs to run!

When he’s calmer after a few tosses, you can then pet your pooch and spend some quality time. Remember, every time you talk to or touch your dog you’re reinforcing behavior, so if you play ball as you can home you can reinforce the behavior you want and not the jumping up on you! Hey, you might even like playing ball at the end of your long day – so who’s helping who here? That’s exactly why we love our pets – they help us laugh and relax more every day!

– Written by Katya Friedman, Adopt-a-Pet.com’s Director of Partnerships and Promotions and a certified dog trainer

Care2.com is hosting the 2011 America’s Favorite Animal Shelter contest, and helping to promote Adopt-a-Pet.com and pet adoption.  You can vote for your favorite animal shelter that is listed on Adopt-a-Pet.com and help them win!  If you know about, volunteer with, or support a shelter and would like to see them win the 2011 America’s Favorite Animal Shelter contest, just go here to vote!  If your favorite shelter or rescue is not yet listed there, they’ll need to sign up for a free shelter account on Adopt-a-Pet.com here.

The Grand Prize is $15,000, the Second Prize is $7,000, the Third Prize is $3,000, and a weekly Random Prize of $500 will be selected.  We are so excited that Care2.com is helping us support our shelters, as we know how much these funds will help their life-saving efforts.  Tell your friends, your family, your family friends – tell them all to vote!  The top 20 vote recruiters will get a $50 gift card each, so you stand to win something, too!

America’s Favorite Animal Shelter contest is running until July 10th and shelter winners will be determined by the number of supporters voting on the contest page. So please, get on those computers and vote!  Your furry friends will thank you for it and they’re definitely worth voting for.

No matter how much time you spend in the shelter’s socialization room, or on a foster home’s floor, trying to get to know your potential new cat… it’s pretty hard to get to know a cat as quickly as you might say a dog, or even a person! Cats are such amazingly complex creatures, and even well-established adult personalities can shift from one environment to the next. So, what do you do if you adopt (or inherit or otherwise end up with) a cat that doesn’t quite fit into the figurative perfect cat box you’d hoped for?

One of our favorite cat authors at the wonderful Way of Cats blog has explored this topic in her usual attentive and insightful style! She writes: ” One of the many reasons I encourage and emphasize the choosing of our cat, when possible, is how the right cat match will make us both so happy. There’s a number of circumstances that can interfere. We could have misinterpreted the signals we got from our choice. Perhaps the stress of the cat’s current situation made them act contrary to their nature. With a rescue of any kind, we obviously have no choice at all.

Can mismatches still work out?

When we are finding romantic partners, we often discover that breaking out of our “type” opens a whole new world; which may contain our soulmate. With cats, we can find that while we never thought of picking such a cat; we love the results!

But if that’s not the case, here’s some important considerations for when we wish our cat was different:

Are we mistaking rescue for relationship? When we rescue a cat who turns out to be everything we’d love a cat to be; we feel incredibly validated. So when we rescue a cat who creates problems for us, we feel stuck. And, we shouldn’t.

If we have done all we can to make our cat happy and secure, we are seeing this cat at their current best. They might not be the right cat for us. In which case, we rescued them for some other lovely person; who is waiting for their cat to arrive.

Are we asking too much? Often, I get letters from people who would like their cat to be more outgoing, assertive, and cuddly. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that; unless it’s something this cat can’t give.

Recovering ferals, genetically challenged cats, traumatized cats; these could be cats who will never be the court jester or lovebug we really want. That’s fine.

Go out and get a court jester or lovebug, then. They could be exactly the cat to model the behavior we want from our other cat; and exactly the cat to make us happy, and stop radiating disappointment.

Are we sure the cat is unhappy? Many times, I must gently counsel that the way the cat is now is the way the cat is meant to be. We might see this as a restricted and miserable life; but the cat is living it, not us.

If the cat is content and not showing signs of anxiety or stress, then trying to change them is not the answer.

What is best for both of us? When I ran my cat rescue, it was easy for me to tell if a cat wasn’t going to be happy in my Circus of Cats. Obviously, the answer was not to give up my Circus and the cats who were happy there. It was to find this particular cat a place where they could be Only Cat.

There are many people who want and need an Only Cat. They can have restricting living situations, or restricted budgets. They might have health challenges that extend their energies to only a single pet, or live with people who want to deal with only a single pet. There can also be the desire to be the world to some other being; and give them the world in return.

There are many other possible mis-matching circumstances. Some cats love activity, while other cats need peace and quiet. We might be away so much our cat is lonely; we might be lonely, and are overwhelming the cat with requests they can’t fulfill.

If a cat needs something we can’t give, if we are asking something of the cat they can’t give; rehoming isn’t an admission of failure.

It is the recognition of what the cat needs, and giving it to them.

Which is what every relationship should be, with every cat.

Read more cat articles on the Way of Cats by clicking here!

We’ve paired up with Pet Sitters International, creator of Take Your Dog To Work Day®, for this year’s annual celebration! We’re so excited they started this day as a way to celebrate dogs and all they do to enrich our lives, but also as a way to encourage pet adoption. Pet Sitters International’s Take Your Dog To Work Day® offers a terrific opportunity for all businesses to allow dogs to come to work with their owners as a way to get involved in a great cause. Beth Stultz, a fellow animal lover at Pet Sitters International had some amazing findings to report about the success of this holiday!

“Employees at Village Green, a developer and manager of luxury apartments in Detroit, Mich., have adopted eight dogs since the company began participating in Take Your Dog To Work Day (TYDTWDay®). In 2010 they made the day into an event which raised more than $5,550 to benefit their local Animal Placement Bureau and support its pet rescue efforts.”

We were thrilled to hear about Village Green and hope more companies across the U.S. and abroad will join in to promote pet adoption this year on Friday, June 24, for the 13th annual TYDTWDay®! If your place of work is interested in participating or planning an event click here!
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And here are four reasons that Beth offers for why working with your dog on TYDTWDay can be a business savvy decision:

1. TYDTWDay® offers a positive, unique opportunity to increase community involvement and establish new community ties. Participating businesses are encouraged to partner with a local animal shelter, rescue group or humane organization to host a TYDTWDay® event—and often garner local or national media coverage of their efforts as well.

2. Studies have shown that having dogs in the workplace increases productivity and creativity. Surveys also indicate that employees credit dogs in the workplace for decreased absenteeism and improved co-worker relationships and teamwork.

3. Participation in TYDTWDay® is a fun, low-cost “pet perk” to offer employees. At a time when some businesses have been forced to cut jobs and decrease benefits, this simple event may boost employee morale and job satisfaction.

4. TYDTWDay® is for a good cause—to promote pet adoption. This fun day of celebrating the great companion dogs make could encourage employees to adopt a new best friend of their own and raise awareness of local adoptable pets. Participating businesses are encouraged to invite a local shelter or rescue group to bring adoptable pets or share information about their adoption policies. Participants can also use the Adopt-a-Pet.com widgets on Takeyourdog.com to search for local, adoptable pets.

Interested in participating in a fun day in the office with Fido that could also help other pets find their forever homes? Visit www.takeyourdog.com to learn more and remember there are hundreds of awesome dogs to choose from right at our “Search Dogs” tab on the homepage right now! We at Adopt-a-Pet.com dream for a time when every day will be a Take Your Dog To Work Day.

Adopt-a-Pet.com’s partnership PEOPLEPets.com is raising awareness of animals adoption! Each month, PEOPLEPets.com highlights a pet from AdoptaPet.com who is looking for a home. This month, it’s Cosmo and Newman, two bunnies who were abandoned at a California pet store and living in an uncomfortable fish aquarium when volunteer Christy Schilling first laid eyes on them. “They couldn’t even hop, the tanks were so small and there were bright lights on them,” Schilling remembers.

The animal lover rescued the duo (Cosmo is white with black and brown markings, Newman has gray and black touches) and has been trying to find them a permanent home since the end of February. “They’ve been inseparable ever since,” she says. “They’re complete buddies.”

They really love spending time together (“They clean each other!” Schilling says) and would thrive with a little outdoor space. “They’re very sweet and you can pet them and hold them. They’re good with kids,” she says.

Cosmo and Newman weigh 2 lbs. each, are both about a year old and won’t get much bigger. Both boys are neutered and litter-box trained. “I just put the litter box in their cage,” says Schilling, “and they went in it.”

If you could see Cosmo and Newman bouncing around your home, check out their profile at http://www.adoptapet.com/pet5388278.html and email the Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation at losangelesrabbits@earthlink.net