Q: We have a 1-year-old Husky/Golden Retriever mix. She is very friendly but when we have guests over she barks and her hair stands up, like she's being overly protective. It makes our visitors nervous. She didn't start doing this until she felt more comfortable in our home after we adopted her. How can we curb this behavior? -- Jennifer H.

Andrea Arden, CPDT at Andrea Arden Dog Training in New York City, writes: Firstly, yippee for the adoption option! Dogs, like people, have some situations where they feel more comfortable than others. I for one, love chatting with people at parties, but my best friend gets really nervous. We're both friendly people, we just have different comfort levels.

With that said, we tend to hold our canine companions to a pretty high social standard. We want them and others to be safe and we want our friends to get to see how wonderful our dog can be.

I think your girl will greatly appreciate your efforts to help her build a larger social circle by doing the following:

We're ringing in 2012 with 12 ways you can make a difference for homeless pets. Whether you resolve to do one throughout the year, or try a different one each month, you'll be sure to spread a little joy to homeless pets with these New Year's resolutions:

1. Get yourself new sheets and towels -- then donate the old ones to a shelter or rescue group. You'll be recycling, helping homeless pets stay warm and comfy and getting new linens. Want to beat that? Ask your friends and neighbors to do the same!

2. Print out and post adoptable pet profiles at your office, dog park or grocery store. Does your local dog run, your office or your grocery store have a place for fliers? Ask if you can post a new adoptable pet's profile there each week. Simply click the print icon on a pet's Petfinder profile to get a printable page with all the pet's info!

3. Give a list of local shelters to your vet's office. Vets are often the first place pet parents go for recommendations on anything pet-related -- including where to find a specific kind of pet. Give your vet's office a list of local shelters and rescue groups and help get the word out to people who may not otherwise adopt. View shelters and rescue groups by state to get started!

Lombardi lives on Madison Avenue in New York City and spends frequent weekdays as an official greeter at an event planning firm where his "mom" works. His "coworkers" love him and he even recently got to attend an event where he rubbed paws with famed dog trainer Victoria Stilwell.

This little professional has come a long way from when Animal Care & Control Of NYC found him abandoned and starved.

Lombardi was older and in poor condition when he arrived at the shelter -- making it unlikely that he would be adopted in the high turnover world of AC&C. But People for Animal Welfare Society in Albion, NY, saw his potential. Because PAWS works with AC&C as New Hope partners -- a group of approved shelters and rescue organizations that can take on overflow from AC&C -- the rescue group was able to take him into its care.

PAWS boarded him in a private kennel while waiting for some kind souls to spot him on Petfinder and offer him a second chance.

Q: Help! I love having houseplants and I love having cats, but my cats won't stop eating the plants. None of them are poisonous (I checked) but my cats are killing the plants and then throwing up. Any suggestions for how to deter them? Thanks! -- Jamie H.

Mychelle Blake, CDBC, pet trainer and deputy director of APDT in Las Vegas, writes: Is it possible to block access to the plants? If not, here are some other tactics that may deter your cat: [Editor's Note: It's important to check whether your houseplants are poisonous to your pets. To find out whether yours are check out our article Plants Toxic to Cats and Dogs.]

• Make the area near your plants unpleasant when your cat approaches. You can do this with a motion-activated environmental deterrent (such as SSSCAT) which makes a noise or sprays a sudden burst of air when your cat gets near it.

Maria is a senior citizen in Florida. The government maintains that she lives alone. Maria begs to differ. She says she lives with her best friend, who just happens to be a Chihuahua.

One of Maria's many challenges is getting outside. Her dog is litterbox trained. However, buying pet food isn't easy for Maria -- she has to depend on others to do the shopping. Moreover, she has trouble paying for the food.

"There's no question that this dog has in so many ways changed Maria's life, so being able to provide proper pet food for Maria has made an enormous difference," says Enid Borden, president and CEO of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.

Learn more about the program, how you can help and how to get help if you can't afford your pet's food after the jump.

We asked shelters and rescue groups to tell us the most wacky or unusual names for adoptable pets in their care this year. Here are our favorites.

2011's Most Unusual Adoptable-Pet Names

1. Dodgy Wodgy Schnookum Doodle
2. Polly Picklepuss
3. Sukimayapoo
4. Iben Hooked (pictured)
5. Blue Sparkles McGillicutty
6. Killer the Dog-Dominating Declawed Cat
7. Purr-etzle
8. Fluff Dog Millionaire
9. Jimmy Chews
10. Ishkabibble

After the jump: Our favorite celebrity-
inspired adoptable-pet names of 2011!

Each year we look through the 300,000+ pets listed on Petfinder to find the top names for adoptable dogs and cats.

For the fifth year in a row, Buddy was the No. 1 dog name, while Lucy is again the top cat name.

The top five most popular dog names stayed the same as in 2010, but cats are a different story: Smokey and Charlie moved up to the No. 2 and No. 4 spots, respectively, while Midnight dropped to tenth after coming in second last year.

As the Twilight saga remains hot in bookstores and theaters, the name Bella, for both adoptable dogs and cats, has remained popular since 2010.

See the most popular dog and cat names after the jump.

A mystery dog. That's what Sparky was when he was rescued by Twyla's Friends in Kingwood, TX. His condition made his breed unrecognizable.

The dog had been abused. His veterinarian believed he had also been hit by a car because his hip was shattered in two places, making one leg unusable. The vet inserted pins into Sparky's hip, but after six weeks in a foster home, Sparky still wasn't using the leg. He seemed destined to function as a three-legged dog.

Then along came Kim Whaley of Spring, TX, who saw Sparky on Petfinder. "When I found Sparky online," she says, "he had a face only a mother could love."

Kim turned out to be that "mother." She adopted him, and he responded well to all the love and food she heaped upon him.

After the jump: Learn the fate of Sparky's injured leg.

Here's another great lost-dog reunion story from our partner, HomeAgain. You can help lost pets get home again: Sign up to receive lost pet alerts when a dog or cat goes missing in your area.

Enter the HomeAgain Holiday Gift-Away!
Help homeless pets for a chance to win an iPad, iPod Touch and other great prizes: "Like" HomeAgain on Facebook and enter daily. HomeAgain is donating 25 cents to the Petfinder.com Foundation for every entry -- up to $5,000!

The paramedics left the door open -- from Carrie D. in Avondale, AZ
After I took a nasty fall, the paramedics came to patch me up, but they left our front door open and our little Dot ran out! With the fire truck and ambulance outside, I think it freaked her out and she just took off. Upon returning home from the hospital, I was crushed to see that she
wasn't there.

I called HomeAgain to report her lost and make sure they had updated contact information. I drove around the neighborhood, talked to everyone and put flyers on doors, mailboxes and local businesses. I went home heartbroken and cried every night.

Our friends at KONG have quietly donated hundreds of toys to dogs in the Petfinder.com Foundation's Train to Adopt program. The other day, we got an amazing photo and email from Train to Adopt shelter Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control in Charlotte, NC:

"Last night, after giving out the Kongs, I watched our shelter dogs, quiet and happy for a time," wrote volunteer Elizabeth Richardson.

"I thought of the words from 'Silent Night': All is calm/All is bright. Every dog was happy for a little while -- and that is a huge blessing. I used to bring in special treats to the dogs on Christmas Day. Now, thanks to the Petfinder.com Foundation and the KONG Company, I get to deliver special treats every week!"

After the jump: The full photo, plus: Learn more about how Train to Adopt saves lives.