This month we're helping pet parents get -- or keep -- their pets fit for life. (Check out our expert pet-diet and weight-loss tips and videos.) But regular exercise with you pet can have mental benefits, as well as the physical ones.

For Wallace the Pit Bull, regular exercise helped turn him from a shelter resident with behavioral problems to the 2006 Cynosport World Champion and the 2007 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Champion for Freestyle Flying Disc. Wallace's dad Roo tells their story in the video above. Watch it -- then share this post -- to help us spread the word about the importance of getting off the couch with your pet.

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.

Chen was running down a busy street -- by Jen in Jacksonville, FL
My husband had accidentally left our front door open and I didn't notice that our Shih Tzu-Poodle mix, Chen, was missing for probably ten minutes. After panicking and calling for her on our street, I realized she was nowhere near and jumped in the car. I was terrified I'd find her injured or dead since there is a lot of traffic near our home.

Thankfully, after another ten minutes of fruitless searching, I received a call from HomeAgain -- they were connecting me with a man who had found her running down the middle of a busy street.

I met John and thanked him profusely. John said he also used a pet recovery service for his two dogs and that it had helped him in the past. I am so glad that I started the HomeAgain service and have been renewing. It only takes one time for it to be completely worth it!

Maintaining your pet's weight is an important part of keeping him healthy. But, with more than half of U.S. pets overweight, some of us need a little help. On Wednesday, May 16, join us from 12-2 p.m. ET for our live Facebook Q&A on keeping you and your pet in shape. Dr. Ernie Ward, veterinarian, founder of the Association of Pet Obesity Prevention and certified personal trainer, will be answering your questions live. Don't miss it!

How to participate:

• "Like" Petfinder on Facebook for updates and reminders
  
• Visit our Facebook page on May 16 from 12-2 p.m. ET
• Ask your questions about how you, your pet or both of you can get in shape and more!

About our expert:
Dr. Ernie Ward is a 1992 graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, founder of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP), and author of Chow Hounds: Why Our Dogs Are Getting Fatter - A Vet's Plan to Save Their Lives. Dr. Ward is also a founder and board member for the International Veterinary Senior Care Society and member of many veterinary organizations, including the American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition.

Dr. Ward has authored over 60 veterinary journal articles, texts, and four veterinary training videos. His works have been published in the US, Canada, Japan, England, Spain, France, China, Taiwan, Hungary and Portugal. He is a popular lecturer, was voted "Speaker of the Year" for the North American Veterinary Conference, and has been the resident veterinarian for the Rachael Ray Show since 2007. Dr. Ward has been a spokesman for the profession on Animal Planet beginning in 2003, CNN, NBC Nightly News, Today, Good Morning America, and Nightline as well as all of the nation's major newspapers and pet and health magazines.

Dr. Ward founded APOP in 2005 after witnessing the growing number of obese pets and the impact it had on his patients. APOP's mission is to raise awareness of pet obesity in both pet owners and veterinary healthcare providers, monitor the prevalence of overweight pets, and to create parallel weight loss programs for pets and people.

In addition to being a veterinarian, Dr. Ward is a personal trainer and triathlon coach. Dr. Ward is an avid surfer and competitive triathlete and has completed two full Ironman triathlons and over a dozen half-Ironman competitions in addition to countless other races.

Dr. Ward hopes to bring to Petfinder.com his experience and knowledge in assisting both humans and pets achieve their optimal health through natural, integrative and preventive measures. Dr. Ward has been very active in the areas of senior pet care, general and weight-loss nutrition, and preventive care. For more information, visit www.DrErnieWard.com and www.PetObesityPrevention.org.

Today we're tackling childhood allergies to pets -- and whether those allergies can be prevented by early exposure. We touched base with Deborah Pockross, M.D., an allergist and immunologist at Kenilworth Medical Associates in Illinois to get the facts:

PETFINDER: How can parents know if their child is developing pet allergies?
Dr. Pockross: Parents should look for symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, cough, wheeze or shortness of breath that occur in association with pet exposure or close contact with pets. Sometimes a child will not experience the symptoms around his or her own pet, but will become symptomatic around a new pet or someone else's pet.

Why might a child not have as much of a reaction to his or her own pet?
With chronic exposure to a pet, a child may develop tolerance to the pet even though they are allergic to it.

Rockers The All-American Rejects (AAR) want to help spread the word about how great adoptable pets are. And they should know: Guitarist Nick Wheeler's adopted dog, Dexter, is their unofficial fifth member and joins them on all their U.S. tours! (Read Nick's Happy Tail.)

So all year, AAR will be working with Petfinder to help other pets find homes and to give back to those who help. First up: Three lucky Petfinder fans will win tickets to see AAR in concert and a signed copy of their new album, Kids in the Street. (Find out how to enter here.)

Check back often to learn more about how AAR and Petfinder are working together to help homeless pets. Plus: Don't miss more adorable photos of Dex after the jump.

Nick Wheeler plays guitar in The All-American Rejects (AAR). Here he shares how he adopted his dog, Dexter, who has become the band's unofficial fifth member. (Like Petfinder on Facebook and enter for a chance to win tickets to see The All-American Rejects in concert, plus a signed copy of their new album, Kids in the Street!)

We got off the road in late 2009. A song called "Gives You Hell" had literally taken us around the world twice that year. It's always a head trip when the tour is over and you get plopped back down in reality. This time was different, however. There was definitely something missing in my life.

My family dog, Chiquita (whose portrait I got tattooed on my left leg on an episode of L.A. Ink), was in very poor health, and I had seen her for what I knew would probably be the last time when I was home over Christmas. So I decided that I would take take full advantage of the time off ahead and adopt myself a puppy dog!

I asked a friend in Santa Rosa Beach, FL -- where I was living at the time -- if he knew of any shelters in the area. He told me about Alaqua Animal Refuge (AAR, coincidentally) and all the work they do in the community. So my buddy Tex and I made the trip up to Freeport [where the shelter is located] the very next day.

That's where I met a little man by the name of Buster. Knowing full well my affinity for animal-print stuff (faux, of course), Tex said, "You HAVE TO get him -- he looks just like one of your guitar straps!" He was talking about Buster's tiger-stripe-like brindle coloring. So I snapped this picture and went home to think about whether or not it really was fair for the little guy to go home with a touring musician.

Our partner, HomeAgain, recently celebrated its one-millionth lost-pet reunion and we're thrilled! Watch a video HomeAgain's celebratory reunion story above, then check out HomeAgain's celebration website.

Chewy was missing for two years
Anita Baumgardner and her family lost their Peekapoo of seven years, Chewie, in 2010 from their home in Arizona. As a military family, the Baumgardners move frequently -- one of the few consistencies for their three children is their pets.

Chewie was found two years later on the highway by a good Samaritan, who took him to a vet to be scanned for a microchip. Because the contact information on file with HomeAgain along with Chewie's microchip number was up-to-date, the family (now in California), could be reunited with their beloved pet!

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.

Another family tried to keep the lost Pit Bull -- from Ashley N. in Austin, TX
My dog's name is Blew. My husband and I lost him at a shopping center. He jumped out of the car and he went missing for 11 days. My husband and I put up posters and put ads on websites. Of course, he also had his microchip.

On the eleventh day, the people who found him tried to take him to a vet ... and get him checked as their dog. The vet had the alert from HomeAgain and, when they scanned Blew, it showed that we had reported him missing. The couple could not take him and Animal Control was called. We were contacted and asked to pick Blew up at the animal shelter.

I was so happy and relieved that we found our Blew thanks to HomeAgain! We missed him dearly and just want to thank you and say how appreciative we are that the microchip helped bring him home.

Here's another great lost-cat 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.

Animal control thought Leo was a feral cat -- from Jennifer in Dixon, CA
Leo had been missing for 10 days when I got a call from the local animal control saying they had him there.

When I got there I found out someone had trapped him and thought he was a feral cat. Animal control deemed him untouchable so they did not scan him for a microchip. So he sat there in a feral cat trap for seven days.

After the seven-day holding period, they took him out to euthanize him but are required to scan all pets before doing so. Thank goodness! The first words the animal control officer said to me were, "You know that microchip saved your cat's life."

Thank you, HomeAgain. Without you I may have never seen my beloved Leo again.

Wondering how to puppy-proof your home? Want a fun and funky way to disguise your cat's litter box? On Thursday, April 26, join us from 12-1 p.m. ET for our live Facebook Q&A on pet-friendly home design. Julia Szabo, writer and nationally recognized authority on how to live stylishly with your pets, will be answering your questions live. Don't miss it!

How to participate:

• "Like" Petfinder on Facebook
• Visit our Facebook page on April 26 from 12-1 p.m. ET
• Ask your questions about pet-proofing, how to make your home pet-friendly and fabulous and more!

About our expert:
Julia Szabo's writing on pets has been published in The New York Times, The New York Post, The New Yorker and Travel + Leisure, and her expert commentary has appeared in Family Circle, Real Simple and the Los Angeles Times as well as on the AP newswire. She's made numerous TV appearances, including on the PBS Nature documentary Why We Love Cats and Dogs, and is a frequent guest of Morning Living on Sirius Radio's Martha Stewart Channel.

The author of six lifestyle books, including the acclaimed titles Animal House Style and Pretty Pet-Friendly, Julia is a columnist for Dogster.com and makes guest appearances on Catster.com. Follow her on Twitter: @PetReporter1.