Deciding what size of dog is best for you can be a complex decision. But a little investigation and thought can go a long way in helping you make the right choice! We’re here today to help you with some questions to ask yourself, and to dispel the most common myth about what size of dog will be happy and a good fit for your home. ~ ~ When I was an adoptions counselor at an animal shelter, potential adopters would often tell me, “I’m looking for a small dog.” Much more rarely would someone say, “I’m looking for a big dog.” Talking to shelter and rescue staff and rescue volunteers at many other adoption agencies, I learned there too, bigger dogs were much harder to adopt out. Size, of course, is only one factor that an enlightened adopter considers when looking at pets to adopt. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your future dog’s size.
1. How much weight can you lift?
If your dog was ever injured and needed to be carried to the car or taxi to get to a vet office, could you pick them up, or get them onto a sheet and enlist a neighbor to help you carry them?
2. How strong are you?
Even very well-trained dogs can sometimes get excited and yank on their leash, like if a cat or squirrel darts across their path! You should be strong enough to be able to hold on to the leash, for the safety of your dog – and the squirrel!
3. Do you rent or have association rules?
Some landlords or homeowner’s associations have weight restrictions. Bigger dogs will limit your rental possibilities, just like multiple pets and certain breeds. What is your living situation now, and what will it likely be for the rest of your new dog’s life?
4. How much dog can you afford?
Bigger dogs do eat more food! So do more active, younger, and still growing puppies. Supplies for a bigger dog (collars, leashes, harnesses, beds, coats) are more expensive too.
5. How much space do you have?
This is our Myth buster! Bigger dogs don’t need much more “space” than a smaller dog – well, except when sharing your bed or couch! Energy level is a much more accurate indicator as to how much “space” a dog needs in a yard and inside their home for running and playing. My friend has a Great Dane who happily lives in a “small” town home. He has his own couch and goes for three short daily walks, and with his mellow energy level, is very content. Her neighbor has a Jack Russell mix who is bouncing off the walls and requires hours at the dog park daily to be happy in the same size home! Energy is not only determined by breed of course — age is an important factor.
We hope these five questions help you in finding the right size dog for you!
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A puppy or dog getting motion sick while in a car isn’t much fun for the pooch – or the humans in the car with them! Unfortunately, much like humans, dogs and puppies can also experience a feeling of illness while on car trips. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help your dog in the car. If your dog has been nauseous the first few times traveling in the car as a puppy, he may have conditioned himself to see car travel as a time when he will get sick. Since your dog can’t talk to tell you he’s starting to feel motion sick in a car, how do you know if your pet may be prone to getting sick, so you can head it off before they vomit? You can look for some common signs of car sickness in your pet, such as: Inactivity, Restlessness, Excessive Yawning, Whining, and Hyper Salivation (drooling). Typically symptoms will go away shortly after the vehicle stops, and many puppies will out grow car sickness. But if not or in the meantime, what can you do? Of course, always safely contain your pet in your car using a dog seat belt harness or a crate! Aside from that, there are a number of treatment and training options available to help prevent car sickness for your puppy or dog. Physical comfort in the car, reconditioning, medication and holistic treatments can all help to make car traveling a lot easier on your dog.
Yay for happily adopted pets thanks to wonderful adopters like Lydia K, who sent in this lovely happy beginnings story and photo to share with us all! We’d love to hear from you and share your thanks-to-Adopt-a-Pet.com happy adoption story too. Please email your adopted pet’s photo to 
Hooray it’s time for another Happy Beginnings story! Nothing warms us up from the inside out like reading a story of how Adopt-a-Pet.com helped a homeless pet find a new loving home. (We’d love to hear yours too, and would be happy to consider it for a future blog post too! Send your Happy Beginnings story to 
Cats, as the story goes, don’t like water. If you’ve ever tried to give a cat a bath you might have told that story! But water is critically important to a cat’s good health, just as it is to humans and other mammals. The challenge with cats is that they evolved from desert carnivores, who got all the water they needed from ingesting their prey. Cats were domesticated by humans over 4,000 years ago, but we only began feeding them convenient dry kibble a little over 100 years ago. That’s why it is so important for pet caretakers to feed their cats canned food along with dry and make sure they are drinking enough water, or only feed canned food. Cats that don’t get enough water are prone to all sorts of health issues. So how else can you make sure your feline is getting enough fluids?