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Films about dogs, cats and a number of other pets abound in Hollywood; and there’s a reason why. To this day, I can’t even think about the final scene in Homeward Bound without wanting to cry – tears of joy, of course! And I’ll never forget sitting in my 6th grade class watching Where the Red Fern Grows. When my teacher turned the lights on, everyone was teary-eyed! Movies about animals have a way of pulling at just about everyone’s heartstrings, young or old. While many films about animals end with the loss of a beloved part of the family, it doesn’t make it any less heart-warming or sweet. The following movies will make you appreciate fur-balls, fish and even pigs, with these tales that celebrate the bonds that humans form with animals. Warning: Have a box of tissues handy, just in case!

That Darn Cat — The 1965 Disney classic features a Siamese tomcat that plays an important role in assisting the police and saving a woman being held hostage by bank robbers. There are plenty of hijinks with car chases, but also a sweet ending for this wily cat.

Lady and the Tramp — Everyone knows this animated movie for the sweet spaghetti and meatballs scene. That’s because the heart of this movie is all about the love between a mutt and a pampered household dog.

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale —Inspired by a true story, Hachi tells the tale of Hachi the dog, waiting for his owner Parker, at the train station every day. After Parker experiences a fatal heart attack, Hachi continues to go to the train station, proving a pet’s love knows no bounds.

The AristoCats — After a butler learns a family of cats is set to inherit their owner’s fortune, he kidnaps and hides them away in the French countryside. Fortunately, for the cats in this animated flick, they’ve got a lot of animal friends to help them find their way back to their Parisian home.

Lassie Come Home — While there have been many Lassie movies, it’s the 1943 original that first established the amazing bond between a boy and his dog, a collie named Lassie. After the boy’s family is forced to give up their dog, Lassie is determined to find his way home, as he travels from Scotland back to Yorkshire for his best friend.

Charlotte’s Web — After a young girl named Fern saves the life of a piglet runt, Wilbur, he’s moved to a barn among  farm equipment and a slew of new animal friends. To keep Wilbur alive through the winter though, he needs more than the help of Fern. Charlotte the spider, by weaving her web, convinces the farmer that this is one special pig.

Finding Nemo — Although Nemo the fish is no one’s pet, this animal movie is all about the lengths a father will go to save his son. With the companionship of a forgetful fish named Dory, Nemo’s father has run-ins with “vegetarian” sharks, poisonous jelly fish, and surfer sea turtles while on his journey to save Nemo.

Free Willy — A troubled boy named Jesse, befriends a surly whale named Willy at an amusement park. When he learns that Willy’s life is in danger, he’ll do anything he can to reunite his friend with his family in the great big ocean.

All Dogs Go to Heaven — While a strange premise, a dog returns from the dead to find his killer. The film quickly becomes an animated flick about forming bonds, even in the most unlikely of places. Charlie the dog then befriends orphan Anne-Marie.

Marley & Me — Dogs are important parts of the family; and that’s the heart of this story about a crazy dog and the family that loves him, faults and all. Warning: You WILL cry.

Where the Red Fern Grows — Based on the popular children’s book, this film follows the adventures of young Billy, and his two hunting dogs in Cherokee Country and the Ozarks.

Homeward Bound (and its predecessor Incredible Journey) — After three pets: two dogs and a sassy cat, are left in the care of a friend while their owners are away, they begin to worry about their masters. Determined to find their family again, they head out on a journey of a lifetime across the Sierra Mountains.

Any of these movies are sure to touch the heart of any pet lover. Once the credits roll, make sure you go give your furry friend a hug!

Michelle Rebecca is an aspiring writer, blogger, and animal lover. She has a passion for the Internet, and loves how it connects people across the globe. She loves that blogging gives her the opportunity to voice her thoughts and share advice with an unlimited audience. Follow her on Google+.

Cat watching TV photo credit: Creative Commons use as allowed by photographer Maggie Osterberg. 

Imagine you’re a happy kitten. You play, run, jump, bat toys around, and when you’re all played out, you snuggle with your feline and human friends, kneading them with your paws like you did your mom when you were nursing on her. Life is good. Then one day you’re taken to the vet, where you go under anesthesia, then wake up in terrible pain. The end of all your toes have been cut off! 

You try to stand up and walk, but pain shoots up from your amputated toes, despite the pain medication which makes your vision blurry and your stomach clench. You try to go get a drink, but there’s a huge plastic cone around your head, tied tightly with gauze around your neck. Your litter box is there, but it’s filled with shredded newspaper, not the litter you as a good kitten know you should use for the bathroom. You try to dig to see if maybe there is litter under the paper, and as your paws hit the litter box bottom, more searing pain shoots up from the missing ends of your toes. Every step is painful – even balancing to walk is difficult. You give up and lie down, wondering when this nightmare will be over, not knowing the pain may last for days and weeks, and maybe even the rest of your life.

Sadly, this is not a made-up horror story. Every year in the United States, pet owners allow veterinarians to declaw their cats. Each cat is an individual. Each veterinarian has a different skill level and technique when performing a declawing operation. There is no way to know how much pain your cat or kitten will be enduring for the rest of their life if you have them declawed. Please, don’t declaw your cat! Instead, humanely train them to scratch where you want, and use vinyl nail caps instead.

Black Friday in the US is the Friday right after Thanksgiving. Many of us  get a holiday day off from work or school, and what better way to spend that free day than… shopping for a new pet to adopt! Just like retail stores, many animal shelters offer special sales to kick off the holiday pet shopping season on this day. Just because you shop for a pet to adopt on Black Friday and appreciate a good deal doesn’t mean you take the responsibility of adopting a new pet any less seriously! Why not have a little fun with joyful season of giving by giving a homeless pet a loving new home for the rest of his or her life. To go along with the Black Friday theme, some shelters and rescues may offer even more special promotions for black pets! Black cats especially will often get a wonderful package or present to go along with them this time of year, since some organizations put them in the back around Halloween to keep them safe from impulse or novelty adoptions. We happen to think black pets (well, all pets!) bring luck and joy into their new home. Black Friday just happens to be a fun day to go on, indulge yourself, adopt a black or any-other-color pet from your local animal shelter or rescue!

Knowing how to cut or grind down your dog’s nails is an important skill for any dog owner… or knowing your can afford to take your dog to a groomer or vet to have them trimmed every four to six weeks! I’m sure I inherited part of my fear of clipping a dog’s nails from my mom. She loved big black dogs, and we had a pair of adopted big black mutts for most of my growing up. Though they had some white toes, all their toe nails were pitch black. In case you’re not familiar with the mechanics of trimming a dog’s nail, it is very important that you only trim off the tip. This is because, just like a human finger nail, if you trim too much off, you cut the “quick” which in a dog, just like a human, hurts tremendously, and can bleed copiously! When a dog’s nails are white, you can usually see the pink quick inside, and know how much or little you can safely trim. Black nails though, you have to make an educated guess, and with a wiggly dog, even your best guess can get thrown off, and ouch!

Almost all dogs’ nails need to be trimmed on a regular basis, usually about once a month. It does depend on how fast your dog’s nails grow, and how much walking and running they are doing on rough surfaces like asphalt, and if they have their “dew” claws  – those nails higher up on their legs which don’t receive any wear. Nails that aren’t trimmed regularly will keep growing, even to the point of growing around in a circle and into the pads of their feet. Not good! Even nails that are only trimmed occasionally, if too long can cause a dog’s feet and joints to take unnatural stress when they walk, causing pain both short and long-term. 

Many dogs don’t like their feet to be touched at all, often because someone at one point painfully trimmed their nails and got their quick. If you have adopted a new dog or puppy who doesn’t like his feet being picked up, you can…

Get your dog comfortable with paws being handled first!

1. Pick a time when your dog is most relaxed, like at the end of a day, after lots of exercise, when they are lying down for a nap. Gently touch your dog’s front paw and reward with treat and verbal praise. Repeat daily until you can touch all paws.
2. Pick up your dog’s front paw and let go right away, reward with treat/praise. Repeat with all four paws. Practice once daily for a week.
3. Pick up and hold your dog’s front paw for a few seconds, and reward with treat/praise. If your dog pulls his paw out of your hand, allow him to do so, but he doesn’t get the reward. Repeat with all four paws. Practice once daily until your dog lets you hold each paw for about 20 seconds without pulling it out of your hand, then add in gently squeezing each toe so the nail extends out.
4. Some dogs are afraid of the “click” noise the nail cutters make (or the whir of the nail grinder, if you use that instead). Ask your dog to sit and focus on a treat in your hand. With your other hand, make the click with the clippers (or turn the grinder on then off) and reward with a treat. This is like clicker-training your dog but you are clipper-training them instead! Repeat a few times, then practice daily until your dog is relaxed with the click/whir noise.

Now you are ready to trim your dog’s nails!

If this is your first time ever trimming a dog’s nails, I suggest having a professional groomer, or an experienced vet or vet tech, show you how the first time. If you have a nervous, big, or energetic dog, having someone help you can make the task easier if they can hold the dog still, or even just feed them treats as you trim their nails. I personally prefer to use a nail grinder. They sell pet nail grinders, but pro groomers most often use a two-speed dremel, which is a handheld rotary tool, on the low setting (6,000 RPM) with a sandpaper bit.

How to trim your dog’s nails…

1. Choose a time when your dog is most relaxed, like at the end of the day or midday nap time. Pick up your dog’s paw and gently squeeze one toe, so the nail is extended. See before photo below. 
2. Using a nail clip or a grinder, cut off or grind down the very tip of the nail. If your dog has very long nails, you still only want to take off the very tip. (You can trim them every other week so the quick will recede to make the nails shorter over time.) If you are grinding, allow the grinder to do the work, don’t press the nail hard into the grinder, and use 1 to 2 second pulses against the nail, to avoid overheating. You want to angle the cut so that when the dog’s is standing, the cut is slightly tilted up, almost parallel to the ground.  See photo below. 
3. Reward your dog after each nail with a treat and/or praise! 

While it’s wonderful to show your appreciation to shelter and rescue staff and volunteers at any time, it’s great to also have a special week every year to celebrate the important work they do saving and caring for homeless pets. In 2013 National Animal Shelter and Rescue Appreciation Week is November 3rd to 9th.  Inspired by the 7 days of this special week, Adopt-a-Pet.com has come up with 7 ways you can show your local shelters and rescues how much you appreciate the role they play in your community! You can pick one, two, try them all, or come up with your own ways to show the kind-hearted folks who have dedicated their lives to helping homeless pets how much their time and efforts mean to you and your family.

Shelter and rescue staff and volunteers are on the front lines of animal rescue. Day in and day out they are dealing with abandoned, abused, hurt, sick, and suffering animals — and people who are often in very difficult situations too. “Compassion fatigue” is just as common as it is in other professions that kind of high-stress work. For those compassionate souls who’ve chosen to work or volunteer in animal welfare, the numbers of homeless animals and people who can’t or won’t keep their pets can feel overwhelming. Sometimes it takes only a very small gesture of appreciation… a word, a note, a warm smile… that keeps them going.

Here are 7 ways for 7 days you can show shelter and rescue staff and volunteers your appreciation!

1. Send a thank you card. Or a letter. Put it the mail or drop it off at your local shelter. Yes email is easier, but a physical card or letter is more likely to have a longer lasting effect and be seen by many more people. If you have kids, enlist their help in making a thank you card!
   At the shelter where I worked, they would pin thank you cards and letters on a bulletin board by the copy machine, next to the door. Every time I made a copy or walked in and out of the office, my eyes would go to that board to see if anything new had come in – and that could really turn my  day around! 
2. Shake their hand. You can say thank you or nothing at all. A warm caring handshake is a wonderful way to show your respect and appreciation! 
3. Use your words. Tell them that you appreciate them, in person. You can keep it simple, but a few genuine words expressing why you appreciate what they do can mean so much. “Thank you for working so hard to keep these kennels clean,” I heard one visitor say to a shelter maintenance worker. You should have seen how he stood up tall and smiled at that compliment! 
4. Write a positive review. Did you have a good experience visiting or adopting your pet from a local shelter or rescue? Let others know by writing an honest review on their Facebook page, Yelp, Citysearch, or your local business review website. 
5. Give a gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive… at the shelter where I worked, vegan baked gifts were a huge hit and enjoyed by all the staff and volunteers.  (Some city and county departments have strict rules about employees being able to accept gifts, so you may want to check first.) If you own a local business, how about presenting your shelter with an award, proclamation, or plaque?    
6. Send a photo of your adopted pet.  If you adopted a pet, taking a happy photo and sending (mail or email) or sharing on social media is one of the most encouraging things you can do for shelter and rescue staff and volunteers. They dedicate countless hours, dollars, and tears with that one goal — finding a pet a new loving home. Your happy adopted pet photo (we call them “Happy Beginnings”) is possibly one of the easiest and most heart-warming ways to show your shelter and rescue appreciation!
7. Last but certainly not least… adopt a pet! We can’t think of a better way to show your appreciation for shelters and rescues, can you? You can find a pet to adopt at your local animal shelter or rescue at http://www.adoptapet.com

If you know me, you know I like to talk about pet adoption. A lot. Ad nauseum. Like, always. And it’s a bit much, I realize. Even my closest friends tend to go glassy-eyed these days as soon as I start shifting the conversation petward. I’m sure my statuses have been hidden more than a few times by my Facebook friends. (If you’re one of them, please unhide me. I miss being seen by you. Plus, I have this great post today about a pit bull who bonded with a Chihuahua in the shelter. I think those guys would look great in your living room.) Today, I’m turning the topic on its ear. Yes, adopted pets are wonderful. Yes, acquiring a pet from a shelter is the right thing to do. However, I’m here today to admit that there’s a dark side to adopting a pet. Here, my friends, are the downsides of pet adoption: 

1. That doctor you’re secretly crushing on? You’ll probably see him or her a lot less often. And think of all those wasted insurance premiums!
Here’s the problem: pets improve your health in so many ways that your trips to see Dr. Eyes-That-See-Into-Your-Soul may be limited to yearly checkups. Recent studies show that pet owners have lower blood pressure, lower resting heart rates, and lower levels of cholesterol than non-pet-owners. Just a few weeks ago, in fact, the American Heart Association released a study that found that pet ownership can vastly decrease a person’s risk of heart disease. Back in 2008, the American Stroke Association found that cat owners have fewer strokes than non-cat-owners. In fact, people who have never “owned” a cat have a 30% higher risk of dying from a stroke, and a 40% higher risk of dying from a heart attack, than those who have “owned” a cat (You cat managers out there will understand the quotation marks).

And if you’re just going to be healthy as a result of sharing your life with a companion animal, you’re throwing that health insurance money down the toilet. Might as well burn it, as my mom would say. She’d also say she never said that. Mom, you totally did. But I digress…

2. You’ll need more retirement savings.
Yes, you’d better contribute the max toward your 401k. With all those health benefits, you’re probably going to live longer than your sad, pet-less friends.

3. Au revoir, la mélancolie. And Prozac.
Victor Hugo wrote, “”La mélancolie, c’est le bonheur d’être triste.” Translation? Melancholy is the happiness at being sad. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about: sometimes you just want to stare out over the ocean, conspicuously alone, your green eyes showing deep sadness and, at the same time, a steely resolve to rise above. You sigh, lost in the romance of it all. The pink light of an early sunset highlights your cheekbones, while the soft breeze lifts your bouncy red curls. Oh, wait. That’s my fantasy. Anyway, I know you have your own version. Yeah…good luck with that if you adopt a pet. Kiss that depression, romantic or otherwise, goodbye.

Numerous studies have shown that both dogs and cats significantly lower the severity of depression in even the most clinically depressed people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges that the companionship of animals can help manage anxiety and depression. There are numerous charities that pair depressed persons with companion animals. Organizations like Pet Partners train people and their pets to become therapy teams, visiting hospitals and nursing homes. Being in the presence of an animal lifts the spirits. Taking responsibility for a pet’s welfare forces you to get out of bed in the morning, even if all you feel like doing is moaning in between bites of the leftover pizza from the box you accidentally used as a pillow last night. Touching an animal, whether it’s a dog, cat, rabbit, horse, bird, ferret or otherwise, soothes the soul in a way that’s nearly indescribable. When you come home to a pet, you never feel alone. And who wants that?

4. You might not get to try all those nifty fad diets all your friends are always going on about.
Your dog isn’t going to walk himself, you know? So you’re going to end up going on two or three good walks a day. Plus, who can resist taking a long weekend hike or a trail run with their dog as a workout partner? Studies show pet owners are more active than those couch potatoes without pets. In fact, one study from Michigan State University found that people who regularly walk their dogs were 34% more likely to be getting federally-recommended amounts of exercise each week.

On top of that, if you consider all the stress-lowering benefits of pet ownership, you can kiss those late-night emotional-eating binges goodbye.

More exercise + less stress = skinny jeans without the juice fasting. You’ll have to sit out those conversations about stomach stapling vs. the Morning Banana Diet.

5. Your social calendar is always full.
So, you’ll be healthy, and you’ll be happy, and you’ll be active. What does that lead to? Friends, of course. You’ll be out and about, walking your dog in the neighborhood, meeting your neighbors who are out walking their dogs. You’ll instantly connect to strangers at the dog park; after all, you have something in common: you LOVE your dogs. Soon, you’ll have friends all over the place. No more anonymity: guess you’ll have to put a little makeup on before you leave for your morning jog with your best friend.

Okay, you’ve been warned. Adopt a pet, and you’ll be healthier, happier, more active, and more social than you would be otherwise. If you can handle those consequences, go for it!

 While we all can enjoy the unconditional love a companion pet offers, cats can make ideal companions for senior citizens. Pets can offer loyalty, provide joy, and give unconditional love. They can also make excellent nap buddies and lap warmers! Retired senior folks often have more time to spend on caring and loving for their pets than working households. Pets don’t judge people based on how old they look or physical limitations. Instead, they only know they have someone to love and who loves them back. A pet’s devoted and affectionate nature can make a senior owner happier and even healthier. Medical professionals who work with seniors have long noted the benefits a pet can make in the life of an elderly person! Here are some of the amazing benefits a pet can bring to a senior person or household: 

• A pet offers a sense of well being and independence, helping to prevent stress, depression and loneliness.
• Being responsible for another living creature can add new meaning and purpose to a senior’s life.
• Caring for a pet with activities such as feeding, grooming and walking helps people stay active, both mentally and physically, and thus enhances and increases the quality and quantity of her life.
• Numerous clinical studies verify that owning a pet can benefit a human’s physical health. For senior people that results in lower blood pressure, decreased stress, reduction in bone loss, lower cholesterol levels, and improved blood circulation.

Yay! It’s time for another Happy Beginnings story, about a homeless pet that found a new loving home, thanks to Adopt-a-Pet.com. If you adopted a pet that you found thanks to Adopt-a-Pet.com, we’d love to hear from you! Send your adoption story and photos of your adopted pet to info@cms.adoptapet.com. Now back to our story… Lillian writes: “I found my pet on Adopt-a-Pet.com. Last year my Silky Terrier, Cody, was diagnosed with lymphoma and sadly had to be euthanized. I was so heartbroken. I swore that would not get another pet, I would be tied down, it’s too painful when they die etc., etc. But before I went on vacation, I put in some criteria using Search Saver on the Adopt-a-Pet.com website. When I returned I had an e-mail from Adopt-a-Pet.com, there was this dog called Brownie. I sent the e-mail to my friend, who is a huge dog person, one of her dogs is a rescue. My friend said to call that I have nothing to lose. I called, spoke to the person at Animal Friends of Connecticut and told her that I was interested in Brownie and would like to come and see him.  I made an appointment, had my application in hand and my friend and I set out for the long drive to Avon, CT., to the vet that had Brownie. Prior to going to Avon CT., I had a home visit done by a local rescue, so all AFOC had to do was call them.

Brownie came into the room at the vet’s and was very excited and nervous. His story was that some family gave him to some guy because they were moving, but the guy had two big dogs and was afraid Brownie would get hurt, so he surrendered him to AFOC.

Brownie was neutered, had his shots and I had a month to bring him back if it didn’t work out. I remember thinking, how could you keep a dog for a whole month then give him back. I adopted Brownie and we left for the drive home after the assistant wished Jack a nice life.

The rest of the story:

Jack (a.k.a. Brownie) just had his anniversary/birthday on July 7th he is about 3 years old. He is the most wonderful dog, I have had 3 dogs but he beats them all. He is loving, happy, protective and king of the house. He is such a joy, my family has fallen in love with this little guy and when they visit he just goes bonkers. I never thought that I would feel this way about a dog that didn’t start out as a puppy from a breeder. By the way, Jack is part Jack Russell and part Shitz Tzu (sp?).

I recommend adopting to anyone who is interested in rescuing/adopting a pet, besides there are too many animals that need a loving home. I have not regretted rescuing Jack for one second.”

Does your pet like being dressed up in silly costumes and making you smile? I know my dogs do! They might not be thrilled with the process of getting the costume on and perfectly adjusted, but once the velcro straps are secure, you should see how they strut around! They especially love the “treat” part of our in-house trick or treat sessions that come with the costume wearing too. My coworker Dana’s dog Estelle, pictured here, shows off her costume – and her wonderful doggie smile shows how much she’s enjoying looking super cute too! So far my cats have preferred to supervise rather than joining in the fun, but I have seen some adorable photos of my friends’ cats in costumes. Picking the right costume for your pet and getting them comfortable wearing it for the full duration of your trick or treat rounds or Halloween gathering can take some planning and training. If your pet has never worn a costume, you should start out slowly, working your way up to more elaborate costumes, like the full Elvis bodysuit with wig and sunglasses! Here are some tips to keep the horrible howls out of your Halloween pet costume fun.

PET COSTUME TIPS

1. First try a costume that can be taken off quickly, like those with velcro straps. (Examples: Football, Shark Fin, Angel Wings.) Let your pet smell the costume, and give them treats so they associate the costume with good things. For dogs, ask them to sit and stay, and reward them as you put the costume on.
2. The first time you put the costume on your pet, have them wear it for just 10 seconds. Gradually increase the amount of time your pet wears the costume. Never leave your pet unsupervised wearing a costume, for any length of time. If your pet continues to struggle or seem unhappy or scared after one or more short sessions, wearing a costume might not be fun for them, and of course never something you should force them to wear. Costumes are meant to be fun!
3. If you have an active dog, playing with a toy or taking them for a walk after you put the costume on can distract them from wanting to get the costume off, and get them used to the feeling of it being on, so they ignore it like they do their collar.
4. Most cats and dogs love to be admired and told how cute they look, so don’t forget to lavish them with compliments about how adorable they in their costume.

Yappy Howl-o-ween!

Drobot Dean / AdobeStock
Carl Chicken Nugget. Yes, that is what my cousin has to yell from the back door when calling the family dog inside! That might be what happens if you let small children name your newly adopted pet too. Hence my first rule in pet naming: Unless you’re excited about a pet with a possibly very unusual name, you might want to limit kids involvement in the naming process, like by giving them a few suitable options and they get to vote on their favorite from your list. My second rule: Be creative. You don’t get many chances to have this much fun, and you can pick a name that will make you smile every time you call your pet for many years to come (but popular pet names are fun too). So let’s take a peek at some useful tips on naming your new pet…

The Fun

As pet parents, when naming your pets you can have just as much fun as human parents do naming their kids! Plus the process allows for more creativity since you don’t have worry about possible mean playground rhymes, or making relatives happy. If you’re leaning towards getting creative with your pet’s name, wait and get to know their furry little personality first. You may be inspired by your kitty’s cute quirk of eating ice cream out of your bowl when you’re not looking — Nom Nom — or the Rottie mix that you were going to call Turbo might turn out to be more of a Muffin.

Consider some of these goofy pet name suggestions:

• Mr. Pants
• Chew Barka
• Muppet
• Nom Nom
• Tuna
• Sir-Barks-a-Lot
• Tootsie
• Nipper
• Zesty
• Sprout
• Woofer
• Byte
• Bitsy
• Mighty Mite
• Yappers
• Gumdrop
• Sushi
• Tater
• Squirt
• Chi Chi
• Pugsley

The Formal

Say you’re leaning towards a more formal-sounding name. Maybe you don’t want to go too far down the dog show name road — like Lafford Fly Me Too Farleysbane, yes, that’s a real dog’s name — but you still want it to have a ring to it. Try to imagine your pet’s name on custom letterpress stationery. Zippy just doesn’t cut it now, does it? You can follow more formal naming guidelines if you know where your pet came from, including a part in their name — like in the case of an adopted pet, the shelter’s or rescue’s name. Or take your inspiration from your pet’s heritage, like a German name for your German Shepherd. Or get inspired by their color.

Consider these fancy pants names for your four-legged pal:

• Roscoe’s Wrangler Banjo
• Odin Forest
• Bentley Reed
• Sir Lancelot
• Olive Rae
• Cooper Nolan
• Hunter Maddox
• Waylon Scott
• Violet Woofregarde
• Max Ryder
• Felix the Cat
• Professor Wigglesworth
• Waggie Gyllenhall
• Amelia Pawheart
• Dakota Meowing
• Kitty Pride

The Ol’ Changeroo

When you’re adopting a pet and they know and respond to their existing name, you may decide to choose a similar-sounding name, so your dog or kitty can recognize and respond to it more quickly. But pets can learn totally different names too! Positive reinforcement is a great way to train a pet to enjoy and understand their new name. Say their new name and offer them a treat. If they respond to their old name, you can say both names at first, like “Fluffy Odin!” Then in a week or so start gradually using their old name less and less, until the transition is complete.

Other things to consider when changing your adopted pet’s name:

• Don’t choose names that sound like command words you use, such as Beau and No.
• Smile when you call your pet’s name so they see you are happy and will be more likely to respond to you.
• Try to select a name that will grow with your pet. Baby Kitty Fluff might be adorable now when your little ball of fluff is a kitten, but if he hits 13 pounds it might not seem like such a good fit anymore.
• If you are going to be doing verbal recall training with your dog, choose a one-syllable unique-as-possible name so it is easy for you to call out at a distance.
• You don’t have to change their name if you like the one they were given by the shelter or foster home you adopted them from. I kept my adopted dog’s name – Sir Lancelot – because it’s funny and unique, and he was already somewhat used to it.

Michelle Rebecca is an aspiring writer, blogger, and new fur mama to a 1-year-old boxer mix rescue. She has a passion for the Internet, and loves how it connects people across the globe. She loves that blogging gives her the opportunity to voice her thoughts and share advice with an unlimited audience.