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awe·some adjective \ˈȯ-səm\ = terrific, extraordinary, vs. fail·ure noun \ˈfāl-yər\ = lack of success. If you’ve ever volunteered as a foster home for a shelter or rescue, you may have heard the term “foster failure” when a foster home decides they’ve fallen so deeply in love with the pet they are fostering, they decide to become their adoptive home. The word ‘failure’ of course has a very negative meaning, a lack of success says the dictionary. The negativity was protested by a foster failure volunteer at a rescue where I volunteer. “I don’t feel as though we failed as foster parents. It shouldn’t be called foster failure. It’s foster awesome!” All the other volunteers and I couldn’t agree more, and ever since we have called a foster volunteer adopting their foster pet “foster awesome!” I myself was recently a “foster awesome” (click for my story about adopting Gizmo, my super senior sweetie) and it was definitely a terrific and extraordinary experience.

Fostering can be a wonderful way for a home to help possibly many pets get the care and love they need to flourish in a home environment, to learn about their personalities, likes, dislikes, and work on their training to polish them up to make them shine as an adoption possibility. It can also be a way for a family to live with one or more different pets to see if they are the best match for their home. This can be really helpful especially if their home may have a particular challenge, like a resident dog or cat that is very selective about which other pets they accept versus really enjoy.

Some local shelters and rescues allow their foster home volunteers to select a pet to foster, while others operate in a less democratic way, depending on the type of animals they have and where the animals are housed if they don’t work out in a foster home. (A small dog rescue might only let their foster home volunteer foster small dogs, for example.)  Each shelter or rescue is different. That is true too of how much involvement they allow their foster home volunteers in the adopter screening and decision making process. Some shelter foster volunteers have zero participation, while some rescues may leave all the interviews, home checks, and final decision up to the foster volunteer. You can ask the rescue or shelter how their foster program works before fostering for them of course!

Signing up in the Adopt-a-Pet.com volunteer database is a great place to start if you’re interested in becoming a foster volunteer, and maybe one day, a foster awesome!

Puppy and fireworks clipart credit: sweetclipart.com

Pets are amazing in so many ways, and one really remarkable way is how they handle a disability like deafness. Though cats and dogs who aren’t deaf use their excellent ability to hear sounds to interact with the world, including humans and other pets, partial or fully deaf pets use their other senses to make up for the one that they are missing! You can search for special needs dogs or cats that need homes near you by clicking the “Has Special Needs” check box on our Search Dogs and Search Cats pages.

Sight, smell, taste, and touch including feeling vibrations often take over and make it almost impossible to tell a pet is deaf, except by their non-reaction to sounds that occur without any other cues. For example, a fully deaf dog wouldn’t hear their person whistling for them to recall, but they can be taught a hand signal to come running just like a dog with full hearing would. Understanding their limitations (like a deaf dog shouldn’t be off-leash in a non-fenced in area) and the work-arounds allows deaf pets’ owners to enjoy full and happy lives together.

People that adopt pets with special needs like deafness often say that their pets don’t just have special needs, but are special pets in the most positive of ways! It might be because deaf pets often pay more attention to what they see, smell, taste and feel, which puts them more in tune with their immediate surroundings, including their human family. 

Check out DeafDogsRock.com for some great deaf dog training videos and more information too.

 

Tired of Facebook status updates about going to the gym or pictures of someone else’s lunch? Have we got a Facebook page for you! Click the “like” button on the Adopt-a-Pet.com Facebook page and then make sure you click  the like button again to get the hidden menu! (Click “more” at the end of this paragraph to see a screenshot of how the menu appears when it is unhidden, below.) On the like button menu you can select “All Updates” so that all the wonderful photos of our Five O’Clock Cuteness pets for adoption, and our motivational and fun message images similar to the one you see here on the bulletin board, will fill your Facebook newsfeed with adoption and pet-loving happiness!

Adopt-a-Pet.com has officially joined the Instagram community and we can’t wait to see your best pet pics and share ours with you!  We’ve posted 46 photos so far, and we’re just getting started. We’d love for you to follow us here: @AdoptaPetcom and we’re looking forward to following others who are passionate about helping pets get adopted too!

What’s better than a puppy cam, you ask? How about a puppy cam where the stars of the show have a rescue story that reads more like the plot of an action film? That’s exactly what you’ll find when you check out this live-stream of Luke, Elliot, Raven, and Logan – 4 precious adoptable pups who are named after the X-Men super heroes because they had somewhat of a super hero rescue! You can check out the live stream and read their amazing rescue story! 

The loss of a pet is one of the most difficult situations a pet owner and animal lover will need to endure. Never is the comfort and constant companionship a pet provides more evident than when it is no longer there. When you lose a pet, you don’t just lose an animal; you lose your best friend. No matter how old or how sick your pet may have been, death shocks the senses. The feeling of grief may be overwhelming immediately following your friend’s death and may linger for months or longer. It takes time to recover emotionally from such a profound loss. Below are some tips for helping you cope after losing your best friend.

Photo credit: BrittneyBush via photopin cc

Give Yourself Time

People widely accept that the grief process is different for everyone when it comes to mourning the loss of a person, but grief-stricken pet owners are sometimes frowned upon. Well-meaning friends and family may ask insensitive questions like, “Are you over it yet?” Even with pets, the time a person grieves varies from one person to the next. For some, it may last for a couple of weeks. For others the grieving process can take months or longer. Don’t rush yourself. Instead, allow yourself to experience the natural sadness that comes with loss. It’s necessary for healing.

Don’t Go Through It Alone

For some pet owners, the loss of their beloved pet results in more than tears and sadness. It may be a serious interruption in your life, an overwhelming feeling that prevents you from getting on with your daily routine. If this is the case, don’t go through the grieving process alone. Seek comfort in talking to friends or family. If you don’t feel they’d understand how heartbroken you are, talk to a counselor instead. There are therapists who are trained in dealing with and recovering from the loss of a pet. A counselor may be able to introduce you to coping skills that can help you resume your normal routine.

Remember Your Friend

One of the best ways to combat the sadness you experience after a loss is to remember all the good times you had with your pet. Look through old photos of your pet as a puppy, kitten or whatever the case may be. Create a collage of some of your favorites. Some people find scrapbooking to be a great form of therapy, and it’s the perfect way to tell your pet’s story through words and pictures. If your pet enjoyed sitting under a particular tree for cooling down, place a little statue there in his memory. Donate to a charity or animal shelter in honor of your pet. There are so many ways to remember your loved one. Do something that is meaningful for you that represents the life and legacy of your friend.

Embrace New Friends

There will come a time when you’re ready to get another pet, and that time varies according to each individual. After my Lab mix died, I was heartbroken. I rescued him after he had been dropped off on a neighbor’s farm. Yet as much as I missed him, I knew that Max would rather me save another dog than sit around sad and lonely. So three months after Max passed, I rescued a Shepherd mutt. It doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about Max. You never forget a pet. It simply shows that I enjoyed Max’s companionship so much, and I felt so good about providing him with a loving home, that I wanted to do that again. And I think Max would be very proud of me.

While some pet owners, like myself, find it healing to embrace a new relationship with a pet right away. Others prefer to wait until they’ve completely moved past their loss before getting another pet. Do what works for you, but there’s no better feeling than providing a safe, nurturing home for a pet in need of one.

Losing a pet creates feelings of grief that are very real. Don’t try to hide away your emotions; let yourself go through the grieving process.

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.

I’ve been fostering dogs and cats for 15 years, and Gizmo is my first “foster awesome” dog! Foster awesome is a rebranding of the commonly used phrase “foster failure” – when a foster volunteer adopts the pet they are fostering. Eight months ago I wasn’t intending on adopting another dog, much less fostering one. That day I went to the shelter to pick up two new foster cats that I’d seen on Adopt-a-Pet.com. One of the shelter staff, who knows me well, saw me walk in and asked, “Any ideas of a rescue who could help save a little senior dog who’s time is up? His name is Gizmo.” His shelter intake photo was a tiny black blob. Thinking I’d take some photos and a video for the shelter to add to his Adopt-a-Pet.com listing so adopters could get a better look at him, I went back to meet the little old man. He looked more like a skinny mini opossum than a Long Haired Chihuahua!  His black fur was missing all along his back and tail, and he was so shy, the staff told me he mostly just sat in the darkest corner of his kennel. No wonder he wasn’t getting noticed in a shelter crowded with other small dogs! As we stood talking, Gizmo did an army crawl out from behind the desk and tried to hide behind my boot. I found myself saying, “Let me see what I can do.” What I could do was ask a local rescue if I could foster him, and fortunately they could say yes!

Gizmo had been brought to the shelter by his elderly person who could no longer care for him. He was malnourished and severely underweight, in part due to how badly they’d let his teeth go, which had made it painful for him to eat. He had most of his teeth extracted, so his tongue often pokes out, adding to his lopsided-ears and gray-muzzle adorableness. We thought his hair loss, inflamed skin and itching were due to simple untreated flea allergies… but after a weeks excellent regular vet care, flea prevention, and nutrition, when the little guy started breaking out in itchy welts that looked like hives, the rescue’s vet recommended we see a specialist.

I’ve fostered dozens of dogs from the shelter, and this was the first time I took one in that needed more vet care than I’d expected. Fortunately, the rescue’s founder knew of a wonderful dog dermatologist. After many tests, the dermatologist diagnosed that Gizmo’s untreated allergies and poor care had trashed his immune system and thyroid – well, he didn’t say exactly that, but that’s my layperson’s translation of his medical findings! It took several months of food and treatment trials, but we finally figured out what diet, medications, and bathing schedule brings the poor little guy some relief. 

After eight months of nursing Gizmo back to health, and watching his transformation, I couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go. Gizmo still has some paw itching that require topical treatment and twice weekly rinses, and he’ll be on thyroid pills the rest of his life, but now his lush coat shines and he’s a super happy and quirky little guy!  He’s won over my big grumpy dog, my bossy cats, my husband, and when no one is looking, I’ve even caught him racing around in joyful circles, barking at a toy!

Thanks Adopt-a-Pet.com for leading me (if indirectly!) to Gizmo, and his forever home.

Is Having Pets Good for Your Health? It’s a pretty interesting question and we want to hear your opinions about this interesting topic! How does having pets impact your health? Take our quick nine-question survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2M57C3D and let us know how many pets you have currently, (it’s okay if you don’t have any right now), rate the impact pet ownership has had on your health, the kind of activities you and your pet enjoy together, and more. We’ll share the results of the survey in a future post here on the Adopt-a-Pet.com blog too!

Dog parks are a wonderful thing. For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to have a fenced-in yard, dog parks are a great way for your pup to get the exercise he needs without being confined to a leash. They’re also great for making sure that your dog stays socialized with other dogs. However, as a frequent visitor of my local dog park, I’ve learned that there are a there are rules that all dog owners should follow when they decide to take their pooch to get some exercise. Here are a few simple, common courtesy rules that my family and I have learned, and abide by, when visiting the park. 

(Photo credit: spilltojill viaphotopin cc)

Bring Water to Share

Dog parks will often have water dishes for owners to fill up with water to ensure that their pet is staying hydrated while running around in the hot sun. It’s common courtesy to fill up a jug of water and bring it with you to the park. While your dog is off having fun, walk around to the water dishes in the park and make sure each of them is full of cold water for all of the dogs to enjoy.

Clean Up After Your Dog

 It may feel as though you don’t have to clean up after your dog when he’s at the park because it’s essentially public property, but it’s nice to follow the rules and do it anyway. Dog parks can get crowded, with both people and dogs, and no one wants to be stepping in a present left by your pup. Or worse, take their dog home, only to find out that he stepped in doo-doo at the park and now it’s all over the backseat of your car.

Monitor Your Dog

Yes, the dog park is your dog’s time to have fun and let loose with other furry friends, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be watching him or her to make sure he’s behaving correctly. Dogs are easily excited by new environments, new people, and new dogs, which may cause them to be a little more aggressive, or get a little too rough without realizing it.

Is the Dog Park the Right Fit for Your Dog?

Every dog deserves to get out of the house and run free every now and then, but if your dog is antisocial, the dog park may not be the best place for him. If your dog is snarling and growling at the gate before he enters the dog park, you may want to consider taking him home and returning to the park when it’s less crowded. The last thing you want is another dog owner calling their injury lawyer because your dog bit them.

If you follow these simple rules for dog park etiquette, you and your dog are guaranteed to have a great time at the dog park. Just remember to be considerate of the other owners and dogs using the park, keep a responsible eye on your dog, and make sure you consider your dog’s personality and whether or not the dog park would be a good fit for him or her.

Last but not least, look up the rules of your local dog park and make sure you’re following their rules as well. Happy playing!

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.

We loving sharing Happy Beginnings stories about happily adopted pets, and here’s a lovely one about Lilly… “I adopted Lilly, a pure-bred 18-month-old Standard Poodle, through your site in September of 2008. I had been actively searching for a poodle to rescue for a couple of years. I made a 650 mile round-trip from Lubbock, Texas to Weatherford, Oklahoma, between two very wet storms, leaving after work on Friday, and returning Saturday. I woke up several times Friday night, thinking the storm was causing flooding. I discovered my room was next to the run-off drain for the building! Raining, yes; flooding, no, thank goodness! Lilly and I had lots of time to bond in the car. I took a water dish, dog biscuits, towels, and a collar and leash. While she never slept on that trip, she didn’t try to wander into the front seats or cause any problems. We stopped several times, and she was shy with strangers, especially men. We were met at home by my daughter, who had just moved to her new home, and she called Lilly “Sweet Pea”. It stuck, and she’s still Sweet Pea to my daughter. We also introduced her to the cat, who allowed her to stay.

We’ve had almost five years together. I never could have hoped for a better dog! Other than the “counter-surfing” that Standard Poodles are known for, and ingesting some strange objects while she was still young, we haven’t had any issues. She is smart as a whip, and can learn a new command within minutes. She still doesn’t regularly respond to “come” or “stay”, but she knows what they mean! Everything else has been a piece of cake.

Since September 11 is the day I found her in my inbox, it’s kind of our anniversary. I’ve attached a picture of us in a field of flags in Lubbock last September 11.”

Thank you Darla for sharing your story, Lilly’s photo, and for adopting a pet! Did you find your newly adopted pet on Adopt-a-Pet.com? Email your story and photo to info@cms.adoptapet.com if you’d like to share your Happy Beginning and inspire others to adopt too!