Search Results for: blog using the aspcas personality matcher to adopt a dog

Cat People vs. Dog People

I’ve already debunked the whole cats and dogs can never get along theory. What about whether you’re a cat person or a dog person, and what that says about your personality? I recently caught part of a NOVA documentary exploring that very thing, and I wish I’d seen more of it. The opening was full of cat people and dog people talking about the respective attributes of their favorite mammals, before examining what life is like at home for each of them. Although the concept was fascinating, I felt a little put out. What about me? I love dogs and … Continue reading →

Animal Relocation Initiative

My dog Chihiro was born in Arkansas. It might have been a bit of a head-scratcher how a young puppy made it across several states in order to be adopted from a shelter in the Washington, DC area before she turned four months old. I wasn’t perplexed, however, because before I even found my dog I was already familiar with the concept of rescue transport. When I lived in Baltimore I roomed for a while with a friend who loves Dachshunds. She adores the breed so much that she’s very active with the Coast to Coast Dachshund rescue group. One … Continue reading →

Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet Day: August 12

Petfinder.com has declared August 12th “Adopt a Less-Adoptable Pet Day”. For all the overlooked pets in shelters, this day’s for you! What constitutes a “less-adoptable” pet? Petfinder asked their member shelters which pets were the hardest to place. 30% of responders had the hardest time finding homes for senior pets 15% of shelters had a difficult time adopting out pets with health issues 13% of Petfinder shelters had problems with breed prejudices (and many shelters mentioned pit bulls specifically as being hard to adopt because of breed prejudice) 10% of responders had difficulty placing pets who need to be the … Continue reading →

Ask a Pets Blogger: Crate Time

We recently adopted a ten month old terrier mix from the shelter. My wife and I both work, and the pup spends eight to ten hours in his crate. He’s very good about going into his crate when it’s time to go to work, but more often than not we come home to a crate full of accidents! The shelter said he was housebroken… but maybe he isn’t. Is ten hours too long to leave him alone? Congratulations on the new addition to your family, and thanks for getting him from a shelter. There are lots of awesome dogs (and … 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 →

You Know You’ve Been Adopted by a Cat When…

“You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.”~- George Mikes-~ As I’ve mentioned before, I did not grow up with cats. I always thought I was simply a dog person because that’s what my family had when I was growing up. But when I went away to college, I was adopted by a couple of cats. I’ve always known I’m an animal lover, but a cat owner? Until Einstein and Sneakers came along and adopted me, I never considered that I could have my own cats instead of … 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 →