Search Results for: blog six reasons why youll never regret adopting a dog

Mall Pet Stores: The Beginning of The End

I’ve been following the story of the move some cities in California made to ban all pet stores that actually sold animals. This was made in an attempt to curb the sale of dogs and cats sourced from puppy mills and kitten factories. I talked about how, as a teenager, one of the only stores I ever liked stopping at in the mall was the pet store. I wondered where that pet store got its animals. The era of pet stores in malls might be coming to an end. California-based company Macerich, which owns shopping malls all across the country, … Continue reading →

What’s This about the Obamas Getting a Puppy?

Barack Obama’s win was, naturally, the talk of all the news yesterday. But of course the thing that caught my ear was the focus on how the Obamas were considering getting a puppy. The Puppy Speech I’d tried to stay awake for Obama’s victory speech Tuesday night, but instead I ended up falling asleep. I guess if I would have watched it I would have heard for myself the part where he said he was going to reward his daughters’ support and patience during the campaign with a puppy. I was surprised to hear they were considering a puppy. I … Continue reading →

Faith: This Week’s ASPCA Featured Dog for Adopt-a-Dog Month

Have you seen the two-legged dog named Faith who walks everywhere on her hind legs? (If not, YouTube has Faith videos galore which you can watch by clicking here. Or visit her website.) My friend Brenda first introduced me to Faith when she sent me an email with pictures of Faith accompanied by “his” story. (Faith is actually a girl. And belongs to an American family from Edmond, Oklahoma. But there’s a lot of Chinese writing on the pictures in the email. I’m thinking somehow they’ve been passed around a time or two, something got lost in translation somewhere along … Continue reading →

Adopt a Shelter Dog Month: Getting Ready

October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month! If you’ve decided that this is the right time to add a four-legged family member, congratulations. Shelter pets are awesome… and yes, I’m biased because all of my pets have been rescues. Pet adoption isn’t an easy thing these days. A lot of shelters and rescues want to check vet references, meet the entire family, and may even want to visit your home! Dogster.com (one of my favorite pet sites) polled nearly 200 shelters and came up with a great list of things to think about before you adopt a dog or cat. … Continue reading →

Using the ASPCA’s Personality Matcher to Adopt a Pet

The other day I was cruising around the ASPCA’s website looking for information about pet adoption when I stumbled across their Meet Your Match (MYM) Canine-ality, Puppy-ality, and Feline-ality assessment tool. “What the heck is that?” you might be asking. (I did when I first read about it.) It’s a great question. (And I’m not just saying that because I asked it too.) The Meet Your Match Program It might be the face, the eyes, or even the shiny coat that first attracts you to a certain dog or cat, but as any animal lover knows, pets have personalities too. … Continue reading →

Helping Animal Shelters During a Recession

Some say the worsening economy is not quite a recession yet, others are convinced we’re already there. Whether we are or not, one thing is clear: with gas and food going up like they are, people have less to spend. Not only less discretionary income, but also less charitable giving monies to distribute. Some charities are going to feel the pinch more than others. Especially because historically this time of year (from now until fall) is when people tend not to give. (Come the holidays, from Thanksgiving through New Year, people tend to be more generous.) That’s why I say … Continue reading →

Tough Decisions: Watch the Euthanasia or Not?

April always brings to mind Budly because he was born during this month and died during it too. (Born April 21; Died April 23) Among the many memories I have him, the one that is guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes and which still haunts my heart is his very last moments. The ones right before he was euthanized. We were given the option to be in the room, or to wait outside until it was done and then come in to say our final goodbyes. Wayne and I didn’t even need a moment to discuss it. We wanted … Continue reading →

Shelters are Bad Enough, Deplorable in Tennessee

Not all Tennessee animal shelters are horrendous, but it seems there’s been way more bad than good lately. Case in point. (Three, actually.) Bad Shelter #1 The first time I heard a stir was last year. I forget which county the shelter was in, but wherever it was it had to be shut down for unsanitary conditions and poor treatment of the animals. I think lack of funding was a major contributor in that case. Bad Shelter #2 Then back in December the Sumner County Animal Shelter found itself in trouble. One of the local news stations, WSMV, conducted an … Continue reading →

Would You Make a Good Parent for a Deaf Pet?

I really took my quest to heart in regards to finding information about training deaf dogs for my friend who found out she’d adopted a deaf puppy. In addition to finding information on the Internet, I also posted a request for help in the Pets forum. Interestingly, several Families.com family members responded that either they’ve had deaf pets or knew of people who did. Not just dogs, but also cats and even a ferret was mentioned. The one thing that wasn’t mentioned was getting rid of any kind of deaf pet. Everyone who shared stories of deaf pets mentioned how … Continue reading →

Cats, Dogs, Pollywogs…How Is It They All Get Along?

As part of my New Year’s resolutions I decided to make an effort to find out what kinds of topics interest Pets Blog readers. So I posted a thread in the forum asking what you’d like to see from Pets in ‘08 and to my delight I got a few responses. Keeping Peace in Multiple Pet Households On of the issues people expressed interest in learning more about and understanding better was maintaining harmony when more than one pet –-same species or not– shares a house. In one of her replies, Mcmama remarked: “Having a peaceable kingdom is something that … Continue reading →