Petfinder Blog

When 12-year-old Ernie's bond mate passed away, he was lonely. Laurelin Sitterly of Providence, RI, had adopted Ernie from Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue in Foster, RI, nine years earlier, so that's where the family turned to find him a new friend.

"Knowing that he has always preferred larger buns -- he weighs in at two pounds -- we tried Ashley, a middle-aged Giant Chinchilla," Laurelin says.

Ashley had spent her entire life as a breeder in an outdoor shed where she had regularly witnessed other rabbits being slaughtered. She herself had narrowly missed being someone's dinner, according to Laurelin. The death of her owner saved her, and she ended up at Sweet Binks, awaiting a loving home. How lucky she was when Laurelin saw her on Petfinder and decided to give this big bun a chance at the good life.

At first it was dicey. "She was traumatized, to say the least," Laurelin says, "and spent the first couple of days with us hiding in her litter box, which was larger than her previous cage."

February is Adopt-A-Rescued-Rabbit Month, so today we're featuring the story of Patch and Peewee.

Patch's previous family probably started out with good intentions when they bought her at a pet store, but they eventually surrendered her to the District of North Vancouver Animal Welfare Shelter in British Columbia when one of them developed an allergy to her.

Peewee was abandoned in the wild. Her odds of survival there were slim. Fortunately she also ended up in the care of the North Vancouver shelter. Both were posted on Petfinder, where Karen Chan Fong of Vancouver saw them and arranged
to adopt them.

The two have become good companions for one another, even though they have very different personalities. "Peewee is very sweet-natured," Karen says, "and Patch, well, is the opposite. She took longer to feel safe and trusting, which is no wonder, but she's a great and hilarious, peevish 7-year-old lady!"

What happens when two dog lovers live in a no-dogs-allowed apartment? Emily Scheu of Washington, DC, tells us what she and her husband did. "Whenever we'd see a dog on the streets," she says, "we'd have to bend down and pet him or her. We watched dog show after dog show on Animal Planet. We knew things had gotten bad when we found ourselves standing outside the local dog park fence, ogling all the adorable dogs inside."

All these "symptoms" meant one thing: The couple had to move. So they did, to a dog-friendly apartment.

Once that was accomplished, the search began. "We immediately turned to Petfinder and fell in love with 1,000 dogs," Scheu says. Fortunately, one stood out. His name was Billy.

Billy was being fostered through K-9 Lifesavers, also in D.C. The couple applied for him, had a home visit and were approved, then drove to Billy's foster home to meet him.

We're spotlighting another bird for Adopt-A-Rescued-Bird Month (be sure to submit your own story to encourage others to adopt!).

Mikey is a special-needs cockatiel because he is missing toes on one foot, which perching hard, if not impossible, for him. He was listed on Petfinder by Bergen County Animal Shelter in Teterboro, NJ.

When Tiffany Leonard of Ridgefield Park, NJ, saw his photo and story, she and her parents went to meet him. "The minute I saw him," she writes, "I fell in love." She arranged to adopt him on the spot.

Happy Adopt-A-Rescued-Bird Month! Here's another touching bird adoption story from our Happy Tail database (be sure to submit your own story to encourage others to adopt!).

After her original guardian died, Max, a double yellow-headed Amazon parrot, was surrendered to a rescue group. She found a home with a couple, but when the husband got sick, it was back to the Parrot Outreach Society in Punta Gorda, FL, for Max, where she waited for a year for a permanent home. Then Athena Wilder of Seffner, FL, spotted her on Petfinder.

Athena has nothing but praise for her new family member. Double yellow-headed Amazon parrots are considered the best of the "talkers," so it's no surprise that in the short time Athena has had Max, the bird has already learned three new words.

January is Adopt-A-Rescued-Bird Month, so I want to tell you about three doves who had little to coo about. Max, Buster and Piper's owner was found dead in his sleep, leaving the three birds and other farm animals alone.

Live and Let Live Farm Rehabilitation Rescue and Sanctuary in Concord, NH, came to the rescue. "These doves were in pretty poor shape, as it seemed the owner had been sick for a while without friends and family realizing it," says Teresa Paradis, executive director of Live and Let Live.

Doves are a communal species by nature, and these three were lucky enough to be adopted together. Not that Meg L. of Goffstown, NH, was looking for three doves to adopt. 

"My original reason for wanting to adopt a dove was because I had a pair of diamond doves and unfortunately one of them died, leaving the female lonely and sad," she says. "I checked Petfinder for doves to try and find one who could be her mate, and instead I found three."

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.

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.

Twelve-year-old Poptart had been a resident at Seattle Humane Society for almost a year when at long last a family adopted her. Unfortunately, they brought her back after a month because she was "kidney challenged," as Lu Lockwood of Kenmore, WA, puts it.

Lu and her husband, Rocky, had been thinking about adopting a white cat because they had lost their beloved one to a rare blood disease five years earlier.
Poptart's story, posted on Petfinder, touched them, and the idea of giving her subcutaneous fluids to help her kidneys function didn't daunt the couple. They'd done the same for an elderly toy Poodle before they lost him to kidney disease.

Poptart came to her new home on Memorial Day 2011. She "integrated beautifully with all of her new family members," Lu says. Those included two kitties and a senior dog. "There was some hissing and chasing, but all of that settled down. Her new name is Princess Poptart, for she is truly a princess. Her personality continues to shine through and she is more loving each day."

After the jump: How Poptart's health
condition changed.

Tank's early life was a horror. The Bull Mastiff mix was used as a bait dog to train fighting dogs. When he wasn't "working," he was chained to a pole.

One day his people left and never came back. He was rescued by the local shelter. By then he was 30-45 lbs. underweight and riddled with scars, with bad joints as a result of malnutrition and no front teeth because he had tried to eat the concrete post to which he'd been chained.

At the shelter, life was better, but no one was interested in him, maybe because of his breed and his condition. Eventually the open-admission shelter needed to make room for other dogs. Euthanasia loomed in Tank's future.

Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month is winding down, but many older adoptable pets still have so much love to give and certainly don't deserve to spend their remaining years without homes. So here's another sweet senior-pet adoption story:

The Housers of State College, PA, don't let a pet's advanced age worry them. In fact, they have sought out older cats to adopt.

"It was autumn of 2006, and one of our two cats had died," Ellen Houser says. "Our surviving kitty, Murphy, then 10 or 11 years old, seemed lonesome. As we considered adopting a buddy for him, we looked for a mature but still active feline that would match Murphy's age and energy level. But local shelters didn't have any cats that fit all of the necessary criteria."

Charlotte Venable of Springdale, AR, is one of the thousands of volunteers across the country who help at their local animal welfare facilities. In 2008, her volunteer job was taking photos of the adoptable pets at City of Springdale Animal Services so they could be posted on Petfinder.

While taking pictures, "I came across this tiny, emaciated, nearly bald neutered male Chihuahua," she says. "They had him listed as being about 10 years old, but he looked far older than that."

He was snuggled up in a blanket but still looked cold, so Charlotte gave him another blanket and moved on to take more photos. A few minutes later she heard pitiful howling and crying and went to see what was going on.  

This Wednesday was the fourth annual Petside Pet 'Net event, in which pet bloggers around the world wrote about pet adoption to raise awareness of homeless pets. (Read our entry here.)

To celebrate, Petside invited pet parents to post their adoption stories on Petside.com's Facebook wall for a chance to be featured here on the Petfinder blog. Here are a few of our favorites:

Prince Poodle
Prince is a 5-year-old apricot Miniature Poodle. In January, he was spotted as a stray running in traffic by animal rescuer Brenda (our hero!), who works at Fuzzy Friends Rescue in Waco, TX.

She saw him on the road and hoped that he would go into a house. When a vehicle almost hit him, she called him over and he jumped into her car. He was matted and had sticks and leaves in his hair, and although he was wearing a little jacket, he had clearly been out for a while. Fuzzy Friends shaved his hair and looked for his owner, but no one ever appeared.

We adopted Prince Poodle (Fuzzy Friends had named him Brando) on March 14 after spotting him on Petfinder. He is a wonderful dog and I can't imagine why he sat at the rescue for weeks.

Prince loves wearing clothes and playing with stuffed animals. He also loves children and people -- he has visited the hospital (to see a sick friend) and the elementary school (to be part of a talk on rescue dogs) and won the adoration of all. Since we adopted Prince, I have started volunteering at our local animal rescue, Humane Society of West Texas in Lubbock, and have found it very rewarding to help people adopt their next family member!
-- Jackie B.

After the jump: Two more great adoption stories from Petside.com's Facebook fans!

Jeanette Matlock's two West Highland Terriers had passed away, and she missed them, so she'd been looking on Petfinder for one to adopt. One day she was driving home from work and saw a sign in front of a church that read, "When one door closes, another opens." Thinking about her dogs, she asked, "When?"

"When" turned out to be the very next morning. The Tampa Bay woman saw a sickly 9-year-old Westie listed on Petfinder by Tampa's Hillsborough County Animal Services, an open-admission facility that takes in all the strays brought to its doors. She knew that Teddy might face euthanasia given his age, his poor health, and the fact that the shelter might be overcrowded.

"I had to save him," Jeanette says.

According to Tiny's Petfinder profile posted by Jackson County Animal Shelter in Cottageville, WV, "A couple who had gone for a walk in Tiny's neighborhood saw Tiny thrown out a door and over a porch. She was never allowed back inside and not fed again." After three weeks, an elderly neighbor took matters into her own hands and took Tiny to the vet.

Flea bites riddled Tiny's body, leaving scabs. She was malnourished and several pounds underweight. She had an ear infection. After being treated, she was turned over to the shelter to find a forever home. But senior pets can be hard to find homes for, and the shelter thought Tiny might be hearing- and vision-impaired as well.

Carmen Embert of Baltimore saw Tiny's listing on Petfinder and, knowing that senior pets -- particularly those with special needs -- often have little chance of getting adopted in crowded shelters, decided that if no one local stepped forward to adopt the little Yorkie, she was going to drive the five hours to get her.

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, when we spotlight older homeless pets, who often get passed over in favor of puppies and kittens.

The 10-year-old dog in today's Happy Tail found himself in search of a home after years of neglect had left him skinny and bald, his gums severely diseased. He didn't have a lot going for him.

But when Caroline Esclapez saw him listed on Petfinder by the Animal Welfare Society of Howard County in Columbia, MD, her heart went out to him and she adopted him.

"He had the demeanor of a little middle-aged hippie troubadour, so I named him Willie Nelson," the Baltimore woman says. She gave him lots of TLC and "wonderful veterinary care," and soon he transformed into "a gorgeous Schnoodle."

His emotional adjustment took some time -- he had severe separation anxiety. "He was scratching my door to the point of his paws bleeding every time I left for work," she recalls. Her friend Dave has a doggie daycare and offered to let Willie come there for free while Caroline was at work.

After their 11-year-old Golden Retriever developed an auto-immune disease, the Haught family of Loveland, OH, realized their dog would only be with them for a short time longer.

"We knew we wanted another dog to help ease the blow when our beloved Silence would be gone, so we turned to Petfinder, knowing we wanted to rescue," Kristen Haught says.

They weren't in a hurry, so they browsed Petfinder for several months -- but then when they saw Rigsby's photo, they knew their search was over. They called Miami County Animal Shelter in Troy, OH, and made arrangements to meet him.

"When he came out, his tail was wagging a mile a minute and he was so happy to see us," Kristen says. "He was emaciated and had several cuts on his legs. He couldn't stop licking the kids and rubbing up against them like he was a cat." They adopted him and renamed him Sawyer.

Murfree is for real. When Sandy Gower of Moundsville, WV, showed him off at a 4-H program for kids about dog safety and care, one little boy was amazed. "He thought Dalmatians were fictional characters invented for stories about firemen," she says. Sandy is the leader of 4-H Dog Projects in her county.

Things weren't always going so well for the dog who was once called Hondo. The 5-year-old was with Dalmatian Rescue of Southwest Virginia and was suffering from heartworm.

Sandy had always had Dalmatians and had recently lost her last one. "I often check Petfinder to see Dalmatians that are up for adoption through the various rescues and shelters," she says, and when she saw Hondo, she sensed he was the one. Unfortunately, when she inquired about him, he had already been spoken for.

Kandice Mickunas of Toledo, OH, wanted a dog. A college student now living in an apartment, she missed the dogs she'd had while living at home. She began searching on Petfinder and made a list of ones she wanted to meet.

"On the list was a corgi-mix named Tippy," Kandice says. "She was a good size; she sounded like she would be a good fit." But Kandice really had her eye on a dog at another shelter.

But she stopped by Toledo Animal Shelter to meet Tippy first, and as it turned out, she fell for Tippy immediately.  "She was fast. She loved to run. She loved to chase tennis balls, and she loved to play in the kiddie pool they had in the yard." 

Una wasn't high on the list of adoptable pets while she waited for a forever home. She had spent most of her five years at Estherville Animal Shelter in Greenfield Center, N.Y., so she was no longer a young pup. In addition, she was missing a front leg. Still, the folks at the shelter had high hopes that the right person would come along.

And she did. Laura Foster was looking for a Rottweiler to keep her Rottie mix company when she happened upon Una's picture on Petfinder.com. "It was love at first sight," she says. And if that wasn't enough, Una got along splendidly with Laura's dog and two shelter cats; it was a done deal.

When Laura got married this past July, Una was the ring bearer. "Before we could begin the ceremony, she greeted all the folks in the front row, working the crowd like a politician," Laura says. "She later stole the show by barking when the
minister said the usual thing about objections."

As part of a family after those years in a shelter, she was probably just registering her approval.

Last week was Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week, and we worked with individuals, adoption groups, bloggers and the media to raise awareness about the pets who too often have the hardest time getting adopted -- all to help these extra-special pets find homes.

It worked!

Thanks to everyone who helped us spread the word, many of the pets who were nominated by their shelters or rescue groups for our Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week Gallery got adopted. Here are a few of our favorite adoption stories from the week.

Mabelline, an older Pug who needs daily medication and dislikes big dogs
"Mabelline came to us in March of 2010," Terri from Arizona Pug Adoption and Rescue Network in Mesa, AZ, writes about the 8-year-old Pug who needs daily eye drops. "She is a friendly, outgoing Pug, but does not like large dogs. She went to many adoption events and, of course, everyone who wanted to adopt her turned out to have large dogs! Finally, a woman who adopted a white Pug from us over a year ago saw Mabelline online and emailed that she wanted to adopt her!"

Mabelline is now enjoying life in her new home. She and her new Pug sister Pinkee "had a few spats at first over treats, but seem to have worked everything out," Terri says. In fact, Mabelline's new mom reports that she's caught the two snuggling in the same bed.

Special-needs pets often have trouble finding homes -- and the challenge is even greater for pets with special needs who are no longer young.

So when Sheltie Shack Rescue in Riley, KS, took in Gracie, an 11-year-old Sheltie, they knew her chances of being adopted were slim: A retired breeder, Gracie was not only old, she was also totally deaf.

She had been in another home for a year and was then relinquished because the family said she didn't fit into their lifestyle. Sheltie Shack's volunteers knew they needed to cast a wide net to find a special person for this special dog, so they listed her on Petfinder.

That special person was Beth Arnold of Gurnee, IL. When she saw the pooch on Petfinder, it was love at first sight. "My husband and I hesitated to bring another dog into our home, as we already had three, but there was something telling us to do it," Beth says.

It's Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week -- and it's worth noting that less-adoptable pets are not only those of certain breeds or who are deaf or blind; pets with emotional issues are also often passed over.

Collin, who was listed on Petfinder by Friends of Attleboro Animal Shelter in Massachusetts, is an example. He was extremely timid and didn't put his best paw forward when he met potential adopters.

When Melissa Salce of West Roxbury, MA, visited his foster home, dogs came running to meet her, looking for a pat or a belly rub. But not Collin. He cowered in fear and tucked his tail under.

Melissa saw beyond that. Collin's big brown eyes and shy behavior won her heart, so she took him home. "His foster mom was so nice, but she did caution us that he would need a lot of work and socialization," Melissa says.

Jeri Romer's Rottweiler and Pit Bull, both of whom had been with her for 11 years, died within a month of each other. She was despondent, but knew the best antidote for her grief was adopting a dog.

"I was looking at rescued Pit Bulls, and there was Mickey Mouth who needed love and a home as much as I needed healing at the time," she says. She found him at New Hope Pit Bull Rescue in Goose Creek, SC.

A year later, she decided Mickey needed a friend, so she began browsing New Hope's pet list on Petfinder.

She and her husband "inquired about Piper -- found starved, literally a spinal column with a head, she has scars on her legs and has had probably had more than one litter -- but still weren't in agreement on a second pooch."

We're celebrating Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week later this month, so this story features just such a dog: one who was thought to be less adoptable because of her size and color.

Puma was on death row. She was extremely energetic and because she was a big black dog, the staff at the overcrowded shelter where the stray was being housed thought she would be overlooked, as so many big black dogs seem to be.

Fortunately, someone from City of Vancouver (BC) Animal Control Shelter & Services arrived on the scene to "spring" a few dogs. They took Puma to Vancouver and posted her on Petfinder, describing her as very high energy.

Nathan Yager was turning 10, and he eagerly reminded his parents that they'd said the family could get a dog when he reached that age. The family's younger son, Luke, was enthusiastic, too. The whole family logged onto Petfinder to search.

"We discovered a wonderful rescue agency called A Tail to Tell," Mary Yager says. "The group specializes in freeing dogs from the horrors of life in a puppy mill." The rescue is located in Mt. Gretna, PA. The Yagers filled out an application and went to meet Kaleb, an American Eskimo Dog.

It was a match.

"Nothing compares to the greeting we get each morning, or when we come home from running errands," Mary says of the "perfect" dog. "He has never had an accident, chewed or been aggressive." But there was one thing: The family felt he needed a doggy friend.

"Once again we turned to Petfinder.com," Mary says. They found Lulu, "who was surrendered by an owner who had kept her in a cage for most of her life." She was listed by All Things Pawssible Animal Rescue in Downingtown, PA.

The results are in, and 9-month-old Sheltie/Shepherd mix Francis is the winner of Fuzzy Nation's Super Model Photo Contest! The puppy has become a local celebrity of sorts, and the face of pet adoption for Jackson, MS.

Francis was found on the side of the road in the middle of winter. He had been abandoned in a cardboard box, dehydrated and freezing. He was taken to Community Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA) in Jackson, where he remained in a coma for four days. He was so malnourished that when he woke up, he couldn't eat by himself or even walk.

After weeks of dedication from the CARA staff, Francis was adopted by Harriet Scott of Ridgeland, MS.

"He was named after St. Francis of Assisi," Harriet told local paper The Clarion-Ledger of Francis. "It took a lot of prayer and a lot of love to pull him through."

After Harriet adopted him, she created a Facebook group for Francis that quickly gained more than 800 members. It was these dedicated supporters who helped Francis clinch the first-place spot in the Fuzzy Nation contest, with more than 8,000 votes.

By winning first place, Francis earned a $10,000 grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation for CARA. On Saturday, Francis and Harriet presented the check to CARA at the group's "Dog Days" fundraising event. There were more than 200 people in attendance, and by all accounts it was a joyful celebration for CARA. Francis even got some good face time with his fans. Read an article from the Clarion-Ledger about the event.

"Must love cats" was a requirement for any dog that Vanessa and J.R. Van Noy of Highland, NY, adopted. Vanessa had never had a dog before, but the couple had an older cat. They also had a large house and yard, and J.R. was eager to add a dog to the family mix.

They started searching on Petfinder. "We narrowed our search down to Pit Bulls," Vanessa says. "We knew that the breed was in so much need for families." They came across Animal Farm Foundation in Bangall, NY, and "set up a meet-and-greet with some potential housemates."

The first dog they met was Patton. "He barreled into the room like a tornado on fire," Vanessa says. "He leaped right on top of us both and immediately started licking our faces and climbing on our laps."

When Lulu went into labor distress, the backyard breeders who kept her refused to pay for a Cesarean birth. Instead, they called Shih Tzu and Furbaby Rescue to take the dog off their hands. Her pups didn't make it, but at least Lulu was going to get a second chance at a good life. Lulu went into foster care in Connecticut, and her description was posted on Petfinder.

Lisa Scolaro of Wilmington, DE, was interested in three Yorkies in the rescue's care -- including Lulu -- but she couldn't make up her mind without seeing the dogs. She credits two foster moms with being patient with her.

"Finally, they decided to take a road trip down to meet me, right after the big blizzard in January," she says. "They brought all three dogs. My neighborhood friend, Traci, who is an integral part of Shih Tzu and Furbaby Rescue, hosted a meet-and-greet."

It must have been some trip. "Lulu was miserable, car sick and frightened," Lisa says. "The other two Yorkie girls were totally gregarious and were bulldozing my dog, Lucky Oliver, around too much for his gentle soul."

Marley is living the good life. His human mom and sisters give him spa treatments (a cool rag placed over his eyes and paw massages), and he loves play dates with a Labrador Retriever buddy. Then there are the daily rides in the car (in his harness to keep him safe) and comfy naps in front of the air-conditioning or heating vent, depending upon the season. He also gets his nightly chew bone.

Marley's just one big lucky Labradoodle.

It wasn't always so. Formerly homeless, Marley was adopted by the Frank family of Dunwoody, GA, from Paulding County Animal Control in Dallas, GA.

"Our youngest had just turned 9 years old," says Marie Frank, the mom, "and we thought it the perfect time to add a dog to the mix. I had one requirement and one requirement only for our dog: It had to be a rescue. We would not support the breeders while a homeless dog remained homeless."

Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, recently adopted a kitten from the Ottowa Humane Society.

Then, in a truly democratic move, he decided to let the public name the cat. Fans of Harper's Facebook page were asked to vote for one of six names: Smokie, Vingt-quatre, Stanley, Earl Grey, Griffin and Gandalf. One soon became the clear favorite.

"Stanley is the winning name! Thank you to those who voted," Harper announced on Facebook in June. "We encourage everyone to adopt their animals from the many wonderful animal shelters across the country."

On Friday, Harper posted the below video of Stanley to his Google+ page. But Stanley isn't the only homeless pet to
benefit from Harper's advocacy: The PM is a longtime cat foster parent who has sections on his official website about fostering pets and pet adoption (including a weekly featured adoptable pet). To which we can only say, Go, Canada!  



Tell us: Would knowing a politician adopted a pet help sway your vote?

Ollie isn't an ordinary dog. He's deaf, and the folks at Wiregrass Humane Society in Dothan, AL, knew it would take a special adopter to give a home to the spotted puppy. After the rest of his litter had been adopted, he was still waiting.

Chloe Bryant of Troy, AL, had been waiting, too -- for the day she could adopt a dog. As soon as she moved into a house where the landlord allowed pets, she began to search on Petfinder.

When she saw Ollie's photo, she fell in love. "I'm a sucker for the dog nobody else wants," she says. But her boyfriend was concerned about Ollie's special needs.

So Chloe read everything she could find online about training a deaf dog, and called the shelter to make sure Ollie was still available. He was.

"When my boyfriend, Gaige, arrived home that night," Chloe says, "I spilled my long-rehearsed plea for the small deaf puppy. I included all the training tips I'd read online to prove I was ready for the 'special needs' pup."

The weekend of Petfinder's Big Birthday Adopt Event arrived at a busy time for our little Spencer, NY, volunteer-run rescue, Wildrun. As a Petfinder staffer, I planned to spend Sunday supporting our shelter and rescue-group members, but as Wildrun's founder, I wanted to take advantage of the extra buzz and easy publicity tools for the big adoption event.

At the last minute, we decided to go for it and hold an adoption event on Saturday. Our local paper squeaked our press release in at the last moment. We printed  the Petfinder-provided flyers and cards, and I posted Petfinder's ready-made graphics and volunteer appeal on Wildrun's blog. Friends responded with promises to help out -- and we were ready to go!

When adopters arrive at a shelter or rescue, their heart is often snagged by the charming cat who reaches out a friendly
paw to say, "Take me home!" Or visitors may feel drawn to a shy cat with scared eyes who just needs some love and security to bring out her brave side.

But Tiger Tom, a handsome cat abandoned here in 2005, was passed over year after year. He was shy with strangers and could look positively grumpy despite his sweet disposition.

Because he was a familiar-looking brown tiger short hair, he faded into the background compared to flashier-looking cats and cute bouncy kittens. At off-site events, he stubbornly hid under a towel.

Of course, as soon as the strangers left, he would hop down from his cubby, headbutt his fellow cats affectionately and roll over for a belly rub. He looked like a little stuffed cat with his short legs and plush fur.

Tiger Tom was a highly adoptable cat. He just refused to show it to visitors!

When the blog post about our Petfinder Big Birthday Adoption Event went public, longtime reader Georg left the comment: "Jazz and I will be there, with an empty cat carrier." Georg, along with several friends, regularly crocheted kitty blankets for shelters, including Wildrun. She and Jazz had recently had two beloved pets pass on from old age, and they wanted to adopt a cat who had been homeless a long time.

And Saturday was Tiger Tom's lucky day: Even though he put on his "grumpy face," Georg and Jazz chose him! That night I emailed them a video of Tom being cute, so they could see how he would blossom once he settled in. After a pre-adoption check-up and a dental, he went to his new home on Sunday.

Two other adult cats -- Tyler, who had been with Wildrun for a year, and Portia, a five-month resident, were also adopted at our birthday event. For a tiny rescue at a short-notice event, three adult-cat adoptions is huge!

Sometimes it takes just a little bit more to find those special adopters who see beyond a grumpy face. Thank you to Petfinder for making it easy to hold our Big Birthday Adoption Event. It was the best party ever for Tiger Tom!

After a six-month search for the "right" pets, Claire Sterling found the perfect match for her family -- or in this case, matches: Buddy and Baby, two 7-year-old Maine Coon cat siblings.

Their story touched her heart. The cats' owner had died and a neighbor had been feeding them, but that was a short-term solution because their house was about to be boarded up.

Fortunately, Animal Rescue Force in East Brunswick, NJ, took them in posted them on Petfinder, where Claire saw them.

"Although they were both shy at the adoption site," Claire says, "they almost instantly transformed into gregarious cuddle bugs within minutes of arriving at our house. We are honored to have inherited these wonderful little beings."

It was a sweet outcome for the cats, who are now, fittingly, named Tartufo and Tiramisu.

See Buddy's original Petfinder profile.

See Baby's original Petfinder profile.

In one incredible weekend, Missouri's Joplin Humane Society found homes for more than 700 pets displaced by the Joplin tornado.

In a recent newsletter, JHS executive director Karen Aquino writes:

Our super-adoption event was a HUGE success, where an amazing 739 animals found loving homes this past weekend. A total of 390 dogs and 343 cats -- and one ferret and five rabbits -- were welcomed into loving homes in what we're told is the biggest adoption event in the Midwest.

Since the May 22nd tornado, more than 1,300 animals displaced by the storm sought refuge at the Joplin Humane Society. After 500 pets were reunited with their families, the rest of these pets remained unclaimed. It was time to find families ... and the families came with open arms!

An astonishing 5,000 people, representing 24 states, waited patiently in the heat to add a little love to their families. Each animal went home spayed or neutered, micro-chipped and with a new leash, collar and personalized ID tag.

Of course, JHS still needs your help. Karen writes, "A gift today can help us continue to rebuild and ensure that all these animals that continue to come through our doors are able to find the loving homes they deserve." Read Karen's full message about the adoption event now or watch a picture slide show of the rescue efforts.

Dogs listed on Petfinder are awaiting their second chances. And in an inspiring program, the dogs listed by the Second Chances Canine Program in St. Mary, KY, are also giving inmates at the nearby Marion Adjustment Center correctional facility a second chance.

The Marion Adjustment Center has partnered with Friends of Second Chances, the Marion County Animal Shelter and a community of volunteers to make the program work, helping inmates learn life skills such as patience, responsibility and compassion. They also learn job skills.

At the same time, dogs in the program graduate with obedience training that ensures they won't end up back at the shelter for want of manners. They also are spayed or neutered, get their routine shots and are housetrained.

Dot Campbell of Louisville, KY, adopted Tilly -- a graduate of the Second Chances Program -- and praises the training Tilly received. Tilly, she says, "is such an awesome and loving girl! I am so blessed to have found her and to have added her to my family."

The Second Chances Canine Program is a win-win for everyone.

Working for Petfinder.com has its hazards -- or perks, if you will. Take the case of Tim Blanchard, who helps keep the technical side of Petfinder running.

When Tim started working for Petfinder last year, he was the proud parent of Geronimo, a 13-year-old Catahoula leopard dog.

"I found Geronimo on the side of the road in Kingman, Arizona, when he was just eight weeks old -- someone had discarded him," Tim says. "I picked him up and took him to the nearest vet, and he stayed with me until he succumbed to cancer in December of 2010."

The loss was devastating, and Tim vowed to not put himself through such a loss ever again. When friends urged him to get another dog, he countered that he was not a "dog person," that Geronimo had been a special case and now that he was gone there wouldn't be another dog in his life.

So he buckled down at work to get over his grief. At Petfinder, he performed test searches and invariably used the search criteria: Breed: Catahoula; age: baby; location: DC area. One day that search brought up a photo of Betty, an 8-week-old Catahoula mix at Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in Washington, DC. All day as he worked on his task, he kept seeing Betty.

"She looked an awful lot like Geronimo when he was a pup, and something about those eyes just kept gnawing at me," Tim says. "On Tuesday morning, I caved. I sent my wife, Christie, the link to Betty's page. She responded via IM, 'Cute! Go get her. Now!' "

These days, Betty is Tim's constant companion -- at his feet if he's at his desk or beside him if he's on the couch. And Tim is officially a "dog person" again.

We're just about to the end of June, Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, but here's another story that shows a side of cats that some folks never get to see.

Two years ago, the Spicers of North Canton, OH, adopted a kitten they named Pinky Tuscadero. Their oldest cat had died, and they hoped a new feline friend would be great for their other two cats.

"After two weeks of looking on Petfinder.com, I saw one profile in particular which melted my heart," Kathy Spicer says. Miley, as she was called then, had been living on her own during a bitter winter. Woozez Animal Rescue, part of the Coalition for Animal Concerns in Canton, took her in and posted her on Petfinder.

Shy at first, Pinky eventually formed a strong bond with the Spicers' oldest cat, Cleo, but as 2011 dawned, Cleo, at 17, was fading, and Kathy worried about how Pinky would react to the older cat's death. She and her husband decided to adopt another cat.

They found Roxy listed on Petfinder by Independence Animal Control Shelter in Independence, OH. Just from reading about her, they knew she might just be the special cat that would help Pinky deal with the inevitable. Roxy had raised her own kittens in a woodpile before she was rescued and, once at the shelter, she fostered other kittens -- all the more amazing, considering her diminutive size: six pounds. She had a strong nurturing nature.

Roxy was at the shelter for "almost a year, often passed by for the young kittens and the more exotic-looking cats," Kathy says, evidence that "this little grey tabby was meant to be with us." She goes on to say that Roxy "will get the love, attention, good veterinary care, fun and cuddles every animal deserves."

Cleo passed away recently, and Pinky is grieving. But her loss is tempered by the presence of her new friend, Roxy, with whom she is bonding. Friends always help, and Roxy is a natural at befriending.

We're celebrating Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month by featuring happy tails we've received about cats. Here's one about Genie, a little cat who was all alone on the streets.

She had an injured front leg and a cut on her side and no one to tend to her. But then a bit of luck came her way. Beth, a volunteer at Just Strays, a rescue group in Yonkers, NY, found her wandering in an alley and took her in. The rescue tended to her needs and posted her photo on Petfinder.

Patricia Pasquale of Eastchester, NY, spotted the cat online and adopted her. "She is so sweet, gentle, energetic and playful, and she has brightened every day since I brought her home," Patricia says.

Not only is Genie all of the above, she's also something of a celebrity. Patricia entered her in a pet photo contest sponsored by a local magazine. "She got a lot of votes," her proud "mom" says, "and was picked as one of the ten pets in the issue." What's more, "she's the only cat among a crowd of dogs."

Now that's something to meow about.

Rebecca Takacs had decided to buy a kitten from a breeder to make sure it wouldn't have a congenital heart defect like the 8-month-old kitten she had just lost. Little did she know that adoptable pets on Petfinder are often as healthy as or even healthier than those from breeders.

While she waited to buy a kitten, however, she couldn't resist surfing on Petfinder, and once she saw Poppy, her decision to buy flew out the window.

The female Siamese, then called Sasha, was the last kitten on the last page that matched her search criteria. And as fate would have it, Rebecca, who lived in Grand Rapids, MI, had fallen for a kitten at Randolph County Animal Shelter in Wedowee, AL.

"Most people would have kept looking," she says. She learned that the shelter had never done a transport, so that left her with a decision.

"Eighteen hours and four cans of Red Bull later," she says, "I was standing in the shelter with the most perfect kitten I had ever seen. The ride home was filled with rock slides, multi-car accidents and tons of snow, but less than 36 hours after I left Michigan, I was pulling back into my driveway with our newest family member in tow."

She sums up the experience: "It just goes to show that love knows no distance."

Emma came from a home where there were 27 cats, five dogs and 18 birds. "She had already had kittens of her own and she was also nursing kittens from some of the other cats in the home," says her adopter, Pamela Hackett.

When Pamela saw Emma's listing on The Humane Society of Atlantic County's Petfinder pet list, she suspected that Emma was the cat for her and headed to Atlantic City, NJ, to meet her. "I absolutely fell in love with her," the Ventnor City, NJ, woman says.

People often say an adopted pet is especially appreciative of being adopted, and Emma seemed to be just that. "When I took her home," Pamela says, "she cautiously checked out every inch of the house and then came over to me purring, almost as if saying, 'Thank you!' "

Emma is the perfect little friend, according to her new mom. "She sleeps by my side at night, she loves to play with furry toy mice and she even plays 'tennis' with me with her toy bouncy balls," Pamela says. "She loves to drink out of the faucet and chase her tail. She's always at the door to greet me when I come home and when I'm taking a shower, she lies in the bathroom waiting until I'm done."

As many other adopters have said, Pamela feels that she didn't adopt Emma -- Emma adopted her.

Emma is a perfect example of how loving and fun a cat can be. June is Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, a good time to consider adopting a feline companion.

The Pit Bull sat quietly next to the block wall of his kennel, watching as Emily Richardson and her boyfriend visited with dogs at Redlands (CA) Animal Shelter they had seen on Petfinder.com.

It was about a month after Emily's 15-year-old dog had died, and they were looking for a companion for their now lonely dog, Darby.

None of the dogs seemed to click with Darby, however, so Emily, who had never considered adopting a Pit Bull and knew the breed had a bad reputation, suggested they give this quiet guy a chance.

"I was so impressed when the handler took him out and he didn't try to drag her across the yard like all the others did," Emily says. "He was a ball of joy in the play yard -- a little wild, but who can blame a cooped-up pup? He thought we were cool and Darby was fun, so I made up my mind to adopt the 6-month-old pup."

It has worked out better than she ever expected. "Ranger is a real special boy," she says. "He has a level of patience and tolerance that always impresses me and others."

Sometimes Ranger goes to work with his "mom." He goes "from one coworker's desk to another to visit," and as he does so, he changes people's attitudes about Pit Bulls. In March he passed his Canine Good Citizen and TDI therapy dog tests and now will go out in the community and "rub off a little bit of tarnish that clouds the Pit Bull's image," Emily says. "He definitely changed our minds."

Dean is a big black dog, and they often get overlooked in shelters, but not Dean. That's because the staff at Sulfur Springs Animal Shelter in Texas was rooting for him. When Lexey Sparks of Mt. Vernon, TX, inquired about another dog she had seen on Petfinder and told shelter staffers her story, they recommended Dean.

"I have a now-7-year-old son with Down Syndrome," she says, "and I wanted to get a dog that could someday become his companion and therapy dog."

Lexey went to the shelter to meet Dean and "after only a few minutes, I just had this feeling that this was our dog, so I decided to adopt him then and there," she says. "That was one of the best decisions I ever made!"

Since the adoption, Dean has been neutered and treated for heartworm, "but he never lets anything get him down," Lexey says. "The vet was very impressed
with his attitude and said that he was one of the most well-behaved dogs he has seen in a long time. The vet thinks he is about 3 or 4 years old."

Amy Rogala of Mackinaw City, MI, was having a bad winter. "I have struggled with depression for a long time," she says. When she found herself with no job and bills to pay, she sank even deeper into the doldrums. "I knew I needed help, so I sought medical help and counseling."

Things improved. She found a job, but still felt as if something was missing in her life. She thought maybe that something was a warm puppy.

She spotted Willow on Petfinder and made arrangements to adopt her. Willow was listed on the website by Alcona Humane Society in Lincoln, MI.

Amy's decision to give Willow a home was a good one. "She keeps me going, gets me outside and is always at my side," Amy says, adding that "there is no more weeping."

The cute brown puppy has been the perfect antidote to help heal Amy's spirits.

Satch was getting old. The 11-year-old black Lab was not as peppy as he used to be, and his zest for living was at low ebb. 

The Ruthemeyers of Mount Vernon, Wash., wanted to bring another dog into the family to liven things up.  "We knew that, before we lost him, it would do him (and us) good to bond with another baby," Laura Ruthemeyer writes. She also thought it would let Satch "impart all of his doggy wisdom" to a newcomer.

Laura, her daughter and her sister were sending Petfinder pups' photos back and forth. One day her daughter saw one particular pup that really caught her attention. "Mom," she said, "you have to adopt her."

The pup in question was 14 weeks old and was rescued after a good Samaritan saw her bungee corded tightly to the back of a bicycle. After first offering to take the puppy off the bike owner's hands and being refused, the Good Samaritan offered him $15. The deal was done.  The puppy was taken to Yelm (Wash.) Animal Alliance and posted on Petfinder.

Laura agreed with her daughter and the adoption was completed. "Within a week," she says, the puppy, whom they named Sophie, "was making herself at home with Satch and has been a bundle of love and energy."

Sophie gave Satch a new lease on life, Laura says: "He has become a puppy again." Nothing like a little blonde to pep up an ol' boy.

When Black Jack's guardians lost their home to foreclosure, they moved out and left the Dalmatian alone in the backyard.

A neighbor opened the gate and let Jack loose on the streets, where animal control officers eventually picked him up. At the shelter he became very sick with kennel cough, and his days were numbered.

Fortunately, Save a Spot Dalmatian Rescue in Turlock, CA, took him in and nursed him back to health.

Nathan and Teresa Pry saw Jack on Petfinder and went to meet him. The Prys work for Angels Camp (CA) Fire Department Station 21; Nathan is a captain and fire marshal and Teresa is a firefighter. They thought the 2-year-old Dalmatian would make the perfect spokesdog to help Nathan educate the public about fire prevention and safety.

Jack, now 3 and an official fire prevention and public education dog, "loves to ride in the fire engines, greet the public and participate in fire prevention duties," according to the Prys. He shows kids how to stop, drop and roll and get low and go.

"When children see Jack, the loud noises of sirens, bright flashing lights and people in uniform aren't so scary," the Prys write. "He is helping them understand that firefighters are here to help." An elementary-school student recently nominated Jack for a Kindness Hero award, which Jack received at a City Council meeting.

Off-duty, Jack lives with the Prys, their 3-year-old daughter and their dogs Belle and Josey. "Even though Jack has been through a lot," the Prys say, "he is the one of the most loving animals you will ever meet."

Wallace Mozart of Forked River, NJ, was browsing on Petfinder when he saw the listing for a three-legged German Shepherd named Buddy.

"I have always liked shepherds and have had shepherd mixes in the past," Wallace says, "so I decided to inquire."

The dog's foster mom responded promptly and told him that Buddy had been rescued from a yard where he'd been chained to a post.

The chain had become firmly wrapped around his leg, cutting off circulation and causing a wound that had become infected. A portion of his leg had to be removed.

Buddy was part of a group of dogs that were transported from Lenoir County SPCA in Kinston, NC, to Furry Angels Rescue in Elwood, NJ, to increase their chances of being adopted.

"I was interested in meeting Buddy and set up a meeting that next weekend," Wallace says. When they met, Wallace was impressed by what a friendly and happy dog Buddy was.

When Amanda Maurer saw CG's photo on Petfinder, it was love at first sight. But then she read his description and had second thoughts.

He was born with cerebellar hypoplasia, a condition in which the cerebellum is not mature at birth. It affects a pet's fine motor skills and can cause tremors and jerky movements.

The condition is usually caused in utero, by a bacterial or viral infection such as feline parvovirus being passed through the placental barrier while the fetus is developing.

"I wasn't sure if I could handle that," says Amanda, who lives in Chicago, "but I soon decided if I was going to adopt and love any cat, it may as well be one that needed love the most."

She contacted Heartland Animal Shelter in Northbrook, IL, which had listed CG on Petfinder, and applied to adopt the cat, whose name is short for Cary Grant.

"Adopting CG has been one of the best decisions of my life," she says. "Living with and learning about his condition has taught me millions of things, including unconditional love." 

She has put her love to work by starting a blog: Life with Cerebellar Hypoplasia: The Joys of Living with a Special Needs Cat. On it, she educates readers about CH, posts photos of adoptable CH cats and connects with other parents of CH cats. 

What's even sweeter than chocolate? Chocolate that helps homeless pets.

That's the idea behind Rescue Chocolate. Founder Sarah Gross donates a 100% of the profits from her hand-crafted vegan treats -- which have names like Peanut Butter Pit Bull and Foster-iffic Peppermint -- to pet adoption groups.

At the end of this post, find out how you can enter for a chance to win a Rescue Chocolate gift box and help your favorite shelter or rescue group!

Sarah was inspired to start her company by her own rescued dog: Mocha, a Pit Bull she saw listed on Petfinder by Animal Care and Control of New York City.

Mocha had been picked up as a stray in the Bronx. She'd clearly given birth shortly before that, but her pups were nowhere to be found, so animal control officers assumed she was a throwaway mom.

At the shelter, she passed her temperament test with flying colors, but no one stepped up to adopt her. Time was running out, and Mocha was scheduled for euthanasia. Fortunately, another Sarah -- Sarah Oren -- pulled her from the shelter to foster. That Sarah had Mocha for three weeks and spread the word on the Web, but she couldn't keep the dog indefinitely, and Mocha would eventually have to go back to the shelter.

It was then that Sarah Gross saw Mocha's picture and something about the dog struck her.

When Sue Walters of Aurora, Ont., was looking for suitable pets for her two autistic sons, Devin and Michael, she decided guinea pigs might be perfect. 

"Our lives are too hectic for a dog, and a cat would not be a great fit either," she says.

To begin her search, she visited Petfinder. "Knowing how many pets are put up for adoption, we were glad to find Piggles Guinea Pig Rescue close to our area," she says. "We fell in love with Morris and Victor when we saw their pictures on the site." 

Soon the piggies had a new home and were introduced to "pats" parties, which they enjoy. "We put the piggies into the boys' laps with a special treat (carrots and flat-leaf parsley are favorites); while they snack, the boys pat them," Sue says.

Today is Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day -- a day devoted to helping spread the word about pet adoption. Today we'll be featuring three new blog posts highlighting pet adoption in different ways. First up, the story of four little piggies.

Mealtime is a treat for Penny, Shyla, Nim and Jackson. When they see someone coming with their food, they wheek with delight. These four guinea pigs were lucky to find a family willing to take on a little herd of piggies so they all found a home together.

"After our beloved dog had died due to cancer, our family decided we wanted another pet in our home, but were not ready to commit to another dog," says Sarah Cornelius, the mother of the family, which lives in Whitby, ON.

After meeting some guinea pigs at a friend's, the family put cavies, another name for these lovable rodents, at the top of their list. "We didn't want to buy from a pet store," Sarah says. "We wanted to save the lives of those that needed a second chance." Through the magic of the Internet and Petfinder.com, they found Piggles Guinea Pig Rescue, a small, home-based animal-welfare organization in Ontario.

Calico Jack, then named Larry, was among 14 senior guinea pigs who found themselves homeless when their pet parent passed away.

The Critter Corral in Steger, IL, took them in and set about finding them homes. One person who learned about the pigs was Ilana Ostrar, who had worked with the Critter Corral in the past and who'd been thinking of adopting a friend for her guinea pig.

"I contacted The Critter Corral and told them I could offer one piggy retirement," she says. "I told them my pet situation and let them decide who would best fit in my environment.

Annie was the center of attention as a classroom pet, but when the school year ended, her glory days seemed over.

She was surrendered to Piggles Guinea Pig Rescue in Unionville, ON. Fortunately, Cassandra Jackson of Barrie, ON, was looking for a friend for the family's piggy, Spunk.

Cassandra filled out an application and the Jacksons went to visit the rescue. But there were many adoptable guinea pigs. How could they decide?

Fortunately, they received expert advice from Caroline at Piggles and adopted Annie.

Sandie Dawley wanted to adopt a pet. The Pawtucket, RI, woman has permanent inner ear nerve damage, making her balance unsteady, and the resulting vertigo keeps her from driving.

"It's an invisible disability, but I'm no longer able to work," she says, which means she spends most of her time at home alone.

But what kind of pet? She is allergic to cats and thought a dog would be too much work. "My boyfriend thought of a bunny and started looking online."

She adopted Puddin' through Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue in Foster, RI. Sandy soon learned that life with a rabbit can also keep a person hopping.

Puddin's cage is in the bedroom, but she likes to spend time with the family in the living room. The uncarpeted floors between the two frightened her, so Sandie made a path with throw rugs.

While most designers in New York City's Fashion Week stick to the runway, Rachel Antonoff prefers to present her collections in alternative venues, including a townhouse and a school gym. And for the past three years, the fashion elite attending her shows have been in for a special treat: adopted cat Mr. Wendy mingling with the models and their admirers.

Mr. Wendy was inherited by my sister Amy after our grandparents passed away within a month of each other. He was originally adopted from Animal Welfare Adoption Network in West Hurley, NY, after being rescued out of a Dumpster behind a Wendy's restaurant.

After seeing a request on Antonoff's Twitter feed for a friendly cat to take part in her next show, Amy and Mr. Wendy jumped at the chance.

Tara Jernigan's middle son had wanted a rabbit for years, but his mom told him he would have to wait until he was old enough for 4-H Rabbit Club to get one. 

Finally adoption day came. Tara had spotted a bonded pair of bunnies on Petfinder, so the family, who live in Sewickley, PA, trekked to the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh to get acquainted with them. They adopted both bunnies.
   
Nebula, a Holland Lop, is shy, but is a good lap bunny who "goes along with the 4-H for bunny therapy sessions, visiting elderly residents in nursing homes and spending time just being a lap-warmer," Tara says. "When she's on a lap, she's like a stuffed animal with a heartbeat!"
   
Eclipse, a Mini Rex, is more social. "She's curious, doesn't like to be held long, and is always up to something," Tara says. "She's been nicknamed Magellan because she likes to explore."

Read more about these bunny BFFs after the jump.

Can a bunny and a dog be buddies? 

In 2008, Linda Parendier and her kids, of Essington, PA, were looking for a pet to complete their family. They already had a 15-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier, Jasmine, and a 9-year-old Chihuahua, Harley. But they wanted something small and furry because their guinea pig had recently passed away.

Carol at Luv-N-Bunns in Broomall, PA, who had posted a cute little bunny named Nadia on Petfinder, was a little hesitant about introducing a bunny into the doggie mix, but Linda assured her that the dogs would be cool with it.

Summer Brennan of Brooklyn, NY, didn't know much about rabbits, and she thought they always needed to live in a hutch or a cage.

Still, she wanted a pet and, since she was allergic to cats, thought a rabbit might be a good alternative.

Seeing on Petfinder that Animal Care and Control of NYC had rabbits for adoption, she went to the shelter to check them out.

Though she was "just looking" that day,
when she saw Mr. Spots, she knew she wanted to give rabbit adoption a try.

One evening last April, Kara Elliott was flipping through photos of adoptable pets on the Petfinder iPhone app.

Though she did want to adopt, at that moment she was just browsing. But fate stepped in via a technical glitch: The phone froze.

"The screen was stopped on a patchy-furred puppy by the name of Tweety," says Kara, who lives in Arlington, TX.

"I don't really know what called to me about that face; it could have been the wrinkles, or the sweet yet stubborn expression, but something was simply right about her," Kara says.

She e-mailed Shelter2Rescue Coalition in Arlington, and two weeks later, she was bringing home her very own dog, a Pit Bull mix. Kara named the pup Rhyder, after country artist Brandon Rhyder.

Right from the start it was clear that Olive was a lover, not a fighter. "When we visited her in the shelter," says her new mom, Brandy Watson, "she didn't bark wildly for our attention. Instead, she just walked up and kind of leaned into my husband's hand."

That was enough to convince the Watsons, who live in Jamestown, ND, that 7-month-old Pit Bull-mix Olive would fit right into their family of six children. Olive was listed on Petfinder by the James River Humane Society, also in Jamestown.

"So many people are afraid of Pit Bulls," Brandy says, "but like any dog, so much of it has to do with how you raise them."

Big though she is, Olive is afraid of some things, including brooms, vacuum cleaners and the family's big male cat ... but not the family kitten.

I usually think of strays as dogs or cats, but birds can be stray, too. Such was Cloud, who was found flapping around in Cambridge, MA.

The Animal Rescue League of Boston took Cloud in and saw to his needs, and the staff posted him on Petfinder. He was at the shelter for two months before Jake Cohen of Hingham, MA, saw him on Petfinder and applied to adopt him. Once the match was approved, Jake and his family began getting acquainted with the little budgie.

When Annette Young of Woodbridge, VA, hears the phone ringing, she's never sure if she should answer it. It's not that she's expecting a call from someone she doesn't want to talk to -- she's just wondering if it's the real thing. You see, the family's 15-year-old African Grey parrot, Elvis, does a first-rate imitation.

The Youngs first fostered Elvis for The Central Virginia Parrot Sanctuary, but he quickly won them over and they adopted him.

Elvis's quirks provide the family with lots of laughs, such as his preferred way to play: hanging upside down in his cage. He's also got an impressive range of vocalizations in addition to his phone impression.

"Not only does he proudly say, 'Hey Elvis,' " Annette says, "he calls the dog, imitates the microwave, sounds like water dripping and makes countless other words and sounds. He whistles the Andy Griffith theme better than any bird on YouTube! And as for the dog, Elvis wanders to the floor and walks around with her. They've become good friends."

No one would suspect that the vibrant little rascal who loves to run and play and drag all his toys out of the toy basket was once a shy shelter dog. Jack (shown in front) was relinquished to animal control by his person and then, just before he was scheduled to be put to sleep, Partners for Pets in Troy, IL, saved him and posted his photo and description on Petfinder.

Rachael Heaton and her family in Collinsville, IL, had been looking on
Petfinder for a buddy for their other dog, a Pomeranian, so when she saw Jack's photo, she took note.

"I watched him on Petfinder for a few days until a friend of mine asked me to donate some cat beds to the shelter for her," she says. "I drove down to the shelter to drop off the cat beds and saw that Jack was in one of the outside enclosures. I decided, why not?"

In a cage: That's where Crystal spent her early years -- the five years before the breeder who owned the fluffy pup relinquished her to One Step Closer to Home in Dyersburg, TN.

The rescue folks posted her on Petfinder and waited for that special someone to come along who wanted to give Crystal a chance for a better life.

That someone was Courtney Harris. When she saw Crystal on Petfinder, "it was love at first sight," she says. She e-mailed the rescue and was invited to come and meet Crystal, so on a Saturday evening, the Kennett, MO, woman headed to Tennessee.

It was an interesting Christmas gift for someone who didn't have a cat: cat toys, a litterbox and other feline essentials. "The obvious implication was that I would get a cat," says Nathan Russell of Cedar Rapids, IA.  He had been wanting a feline family member, and his girlfriend (now his wife) obviously thought the time was right.

The couple had adopted two dogs after seeing them on Petfinder, so Nathan logged on to Petfinder once again to find a new furry family member.

"I came across BB's picture and story, and my heart melted," he says. She was posted on the site by At-Risk Animals Rescue & Rehab in Hiawatha, IA. "Her name comes from what they thought were BBs in her body." It turned out they were rifle bullets. "From what I was told, there were bullets removed from her stomach when she was spayed after coming to the shelter, and she has a bullet in her neck that you can still feel to this day ... she also has the remnants of a bullet in her knee."

The Petfinder.com Foundation is always hearing inspirational stories about how shelter pets change people's lives. And we recently heard of one grumpy kitty who inspired an Arizona artist to make a difference in the lives of shelter pets.

Diana Madaras, a gallery owner in Tucson, AZ, recently came us with her whimsical character, Kitty Humbug, based on a real-life cat named Starsky who was adopted by a veterinary hospital from a local cat sanctuary.

Today is Celebrate Shelter Pets Day on Facebook, a day dedicated to showing how rescue pets make great companions.

Our partners at the Shelter Pet Project and Maddie's Fund are calling on people like you to post about how a shelter pet has touched your life. Learn more about Celebrate Shelter Pets Day here.

In honor of the campaign, we've chosen a special Happy Tail about a former shelter dog who touches many lives in his new home. This story comes to us from Heidi Harden, shelter administrator at Paws for a Cause in New Brighton, MN:

This is Beau. He is a 10-year-old gorgeous blond Labrador who committed his life to one family. At the age of 10, his family decided they were too busy to take care of him anymore -- he had too much energy, demanded too much time.

At Petfinder, one of our goals is to elevate pets to the status of family members. And today we're teaming up with Petside.com for the Pet 'Net Family Event, in which we and 19 other blogs are writing about the special role pets play in our families (see links to all the Pet 'Net blog posts here). Here, we're sharing one of our favorite Happy Tails, in which one pet changes the life of a special boy -- and his whole family.

At Petfinder, we regularly get happy-ending stories that touch our hearts and show us how much pets make a difference in people's lives. One of these comes from Margo Eichholz of Grundy Center, Iowa.

"No smiles -- no jokes -- no happy laughter." That's how she describes the change she'd been seeing in her son's behavior. Eichholz's two sons are on the autism spectrum, and the oldest, Alex, was showing signs of depression. She worried about how she could help him. She wondered if getting him a dog of his own would help.

Since November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet month, we're highlighting older pets, and Ponch is another example of an older pet who needed a home -- although for a cat, age 8 is not so senior. 

Nevertheless, his age weighed against his being adopted. He had been at the shelter for six months. He had lost his former home when his elderly pet parents went to live in a nursing home.

Their daughter consigned Ponch, then called Honcho, to the outdoors.  A neighbor felt sorry for him and took him to the Baltimore Humane Society, where staff posted him on Petfinder.

But Joelyne King of Laurel, Md., didn't practice age discrimination. "The moment I saw his face, I knew he was the one," she says. "There was just something very special about him. My husband fell in love with him, too."

Greg Kincaid is the author of A Dog Named Christmas. His next book, the prequel Christmas with Tucker, is now available at Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com, and all major retailers. You can also read Greg's previous blog posts for Petfinder and visit him at www.facebook.com/ authorgregkincaid.

Over the last two weeks, Greg shared Christmas with Tucker's prologue and chapter 2, in which we meet a tethered dog and the family who takes him in when his neglectful owner is arrested. This week, their story continues. Enter here for a chance to win a signed copy of Christmas with Tucker. (Official Rules)

From Christmas with Tucker: Ch. 3
As I let the kitchen door slam behind me, it occurred to me that, like an elephant or a giraffe, a dog was foreign to the McCray farm. The adult words, spoken frequently by my father and by my grandfather, too, came rushing back to me. "Dairy cattle and dogs don't mix, George. Quit asking for a puppy."

For years I grumbled about it, as any kid would, but like hot days in February, I accepted that dogs were not part of the McCray landscape.

Now this no-name dog was sitting in the truck and I didn't know what to make of it. Part of me was excited, but there were other, unsettling feelings, too. At that point in my life, I needed the world to be arranged according to rules that I could count on, even when those rules were unpopular.

In my life, the one rule that children counted on most had been broken: Parents don't leave their children. That rule I considered inviolate. For me, there was an obvious corollary, too: A boy doesn't lose his dad in a tractor accident on a hot summer afternoon. My father, John Mangum McCray, was here one morning as he had always been, ate breakfast, went outside to work, and by that afternoon, was gone forever.

Now this dairy cattle and dogs don't mix rule was being broken, too. Deep down, I was sure that I would never be allowed to have a dog, and though I resented it, it was still one of the rules that I counted on to keep my crumbling universe in order. It was somehow frightening to see this rule broken. Which rule was going to be broken next? What had I done wrong to be the only kid in my school who had lost a parent? I felt as if I were being punished, but I didn't understand why. Somehow, my father's death spoke some dark truth about me. Surely, good kids didn't lose their dads -- only the unworthy and the undeserving are so fated. What had I done?

There was more swirling around in my mind, too. I put my hand on the stock gate release and hesitated before pulling the latch. Surprises had lost their appeal. I just didn't know what to do or how to feel about this most recent unplanned event. The latch release needed oil and it creaked as I opened the rear stock gate. I made a note to myself to squirt some oil on the hinge. Standing in the truck bed, hesitant but with his tail wagging, was a beauty of a dog. I had never seen Thorne's dog up close. Though he seemed thin and needed cleaning up, he had long red hair and looked to be an Irish setter. I opened the door fully and reassured him. "It's okay, boy. I won't hurt you. Come on, jump on down."

Granny was no spring chicken. She was a 13-year-old German Shepherd with poor vision and hearing loss. She also had a large tumor in her abdomen. Her chances of being adopted seemed slim.

Fortunately, that didn't deter Tammy Lord from adopting her after looking into Granny's big brown eyes on her computer monitor.

Granny was transported to Tammy in New Hampshire from Vermilion County Animal Shelter in Danville, IL.  When Tammy met the transport van, she says, "I fell in love with her all over again. She was so petite and dainty. I couldn't wait to get her home."

Granny fit right into her new family. "She instantly accepted my two middle-aged dogs," Tammy says. "They seemed to sense right off that she was to be treated with respect and that she wasn't a new rough-housing playmate. ... She is the most loving, loyal, best-behaved dog I have ever had."

Chaco was born at a shelter and transferred to Sandy City Animal Services in Sandy, UT, in hopes that he would get a chance at a happy home. But things didn't look too promising.

Open-admission shelters are usually short of space and budgets are tight, and euthanasia loomed for Chaco. Shelter work is difficult under the best conditions because there is always pathos that can transform a routine day into a sorrowful one. Needing to make space for more strays and relinquished pets compounds the stress infinitely. Fortunately, the staff had taken the time to post Chaco on Petfinder, so his photo and description were out there, far and wide.

And just in the nick of time, Peg Biedermann in Albuquerque saw him on Petfinder. She didn't think there was much hope that, being so far away, she would be able to adopt him, but she e-mailed the shelter anyway.

Biedermann lauds the responsiveness of the staff at Sandy City. "Rather than put him down, the girls at the shelter drove him to the airport, gave us a kennel, and we got him a ticket to fly down to Albuquerque," she says. "It was amazing: At the beginning of the day, he had a few hours left to live and no adoption possibilities, and by the end of the day, he was in our laps." The shelter staff went above and beyond what was required of them, as is so often the case. (Read Chaco's adoption story in his mom's words here.)

We at Petfinder hear stories like this all the time. Here are just a few more:

Greg Kincaid is the author of A Dog Named Christmas. His next book, the prequel Christmas with Tucker, is now available at Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com, and all major retailers. You can also read Greg's previous blog posts for Petfinder and visit him at www.facebook.com/authorgregkincaid.

Last week Greg shared the prologue of Christmas with Tucker, in which he explores the life of a tethered dog. This week, the dog's story continues. Enter here for a chance to win a signed copy of Christmas with Tucker. (Official Rules)

From Christmas with Tucker: Ch. 2
The truck door creaked open and then slammed shut. The old man walked through the back kitchen door and took off his hat, exposing gray hair cut short. He had high, flat cheeks that were tanned in the summer from hours spent working outside, a Roman nose slightly large but proud, and a complexion that was surprisingly immune from wrinkles for his seventy-two years.

He was an inattentive shaver who apparently believed that using a razor on alternate days was good enough. His eyes were as blue as the Kansas sky and as sharp as a red-tailed hawk.

Poor Simon. He had been adopted, but returned to Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin, IL, and had been waiting for years for someone to give him a second chance.

But, at 8 years old and a little portly, he had only slim opportunities indeed. People just walked by and headed for the kittens.

Just when hope was almost lost, into his life came Beth Reiter of Chicago, who saw him on Petfinder. She says her cat, Annie, needed a feline companion, and Beth wasn't daunted by Simon's age or appearance. She adopted him, and Simon suddenly found himself in an entirely new situation.

"After a bath, he spent the first month hiding under the bed," she says, "but slowly, over the next few months, he expanded his comfort zone to include the entire house."

You might say the strapping young Merrick owes his happy new life to a cat litter commercial. Jessica Yuksel of Kinnelon, N.J., sees the irony in this. But she and her husband were watching television when the ad came on, and right at the end, there was a quick "blip" about the Petfinder iPhone application. The couple had been thinking about getting a dog in the future, so they both took a moment to download the app.

Greg Kincaid is the author of A Dog Named Christmas. His next book, the prequel Christmas with Tucker, comes out in November and is now available for preorder at Amazon.com, BN.com, Borders.com, and all major retailers. You can also read Greg's previous blog posts for Petfinder and visit him at www.facebook.com/authorgregkincaid.

This week Greg shares the prologue of Christmas with Tucker. In it, he explores the life of a tethered dog. Enter here for a chance to win a signed copy of Christmas with Tucker. (Official Rules)

From Christmas with Tucker: Prologue
With one paw in the wild and another scratching at the door of humanity, dogs are caught in an awkward spot. It misses the mark to describe a dog as just an animal. We recognize that our pets can be both beasts and evolved life-forms keenly attuned to human needs. Country dogs may be more appreciated for their animal nature -- hunting, herding, and guarding -- while city dogs are cherished for their humanlike ability to expertly deliver companionship and unbridled affection.

From time to time, for a lucky few of us, we come across a dog that seems to move naturally back and forth from one world to the other. Such a dog can howl at the distant coyote, hunt for his own food, refuse to back down from a charging adversary, and run for hours on end with equal glee under snow or sun. In an animal like this, we respect the sheer aliveness that radiates from his eyes. And, when the day's work is done, he'll lie down by our feet, content. For this dog, you know that there is nowhere he would rather be than with you. This dog is complete in both worlds. He models for us how to simultaneously be good and alive -- animal and angel.

Frank Thorne owned this kind of dog. He received the 4-year-old Irish setter in exchange for repairs he made to an old tractor. The owner of the broken-down machine had inherited the tractor and the dog from his grandfather. He kept a picture in his wallet of the old man standing beside that proud setter, taken after one of their weekend hunting trips. The snapshot was good enough -- he had no room for a dog.

Dawn Goehring's life has gone to the dogs. She and her troupe of 14 pooches, mostly former shelter dogs, perform at the Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, TN, six nights a week during tourist season.

The dogs skateboard, walk tightropes and hop over hurdles, things you don't expect a dog to be able to do. The stage is a flurry of amazing activity.

For years, Miss Ellie, a Chinese Crested, was the spokesdog for the troupe, but at almost 17, she was ready for retirement, so Dawn began looking for a dog with star quality to step in.

We love it when celebrities promote pet adoption. So I was thrilled to learn that one of my favorite actors, Lost star Jorge Garcia, just adopted two rescue dogs he found on Petfinder.

Even better, he gives a step-by-step description of the adoption process, complete with adorable photos of the dogs, Pip and Smidge. (Read Jorge's blog post about the adoption here.)

Jorge adopted the pups from Cuddly
Canines in LaHabra Heights, CA. We wish Jorge, his girlfriend Beth and their two new family members a long life of happiness together. Thank you for helping two little rescue pups!

Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable Pet Week brought Petfinder lots of stories about Pit Bulls, big black dogs and special-needs pets.

One of these stories was about Marco. It really touched our hearts and we just had to share it with you in the lead-up to National Pit Bull Awareness Day this Saturday.

A stray, Marco was brought into Darlington County Humane Society in South Carolina by animal control with raw wounds along his back. The veterinarian who looked at him said that they had been caused by acid, and it looked as if something had been poured on him.

Whatever was the case, it was clear that such wounds would have caused more suffering than any creature should have to bear. And as if one heartbreaking condition wasn't enough, the shelter also learned he had heartworms.

It was a Monday evening, and Ziggy's time was just about up at Evansville Vanderburgh Animal Care and Control, an open admission shelter in Indiana. No one had stepped forward to adopt the Pit Bull.

Five and a half hours away in Cincinnati, Lindsey Murphy and her husband recognized the urgency of his story when they saw Ziggy on Petfinder. Lindsey's own Pittie had died a few weeks earlier, and since his death, she had made it her mission to watch Petfinder for Pit Bulls in need. When she saw one, she would alert other Pit lovers via forums and message boards, hoping to save lives.

But Ziggy's case was an emergency. Lindsey had cross-posted his listing, but by Monday at 11 p.m., no one had responded. On Tuesday morning, a tearful Lindsey was still holding out hope when her husband revealed that he'd been speaking with the shelter about adopting Ziggy. "Although the tears came on harder," Lindsey says, "they were tears of happiness."

Soon Missouri dog lovers will be going to the polls to vote on Proposition B, which would establish common-sense standards for the care of dogs in breeding establishments. 

The state's reputation as a haven for puppy mills is well known. Vicky Cosgrove, who lives in New York City, is aware of it, and it spurred her to look at rescued puppy-mill dogs in Missouri who were up for adoption on Petfinder.com.

She found Helga, a retired breeding dog who was surrendered because she could have no more puppies. "I fell instantly in love with her picture," Cosgrove says.

Edmund Meurer of Highland, MI, has been a cat person for 20 years, but when he and his wife moved into a new home, the first thing she wanted was a dog.  He was a little skeptical, but he logged onto Petfinder.com, where he was "shocked and saddened" by all the homeless cats and dogs.  It was then the couple agreed they would adopt, not buy, a pet.

"In short order we found our boy, a poor scrawny little guy who had escaped an abusive owner and had wandered around starving until the Sanilac County Shelter [in Sandusky, MI] people had found him," Meurer says.

Petfinder has named Sept. 19-25 Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week to call attention to the many homeless pets that, for one reason or another, aren't likely to be adopted.  Donna Thayer of Citrus Heights, CA, knows what it is to adopt one of these often overlooked animals.  She adopted her Lhasa Apso, Mini, from the Sacramento SPCA when the dog was 16 years old.  After Mini's death, Donna knew she wanted to help out another needy Lhasa, so she began searching on Petfinder.com to find one.  Her search wasn't in vain. Patches was waiting.

Patches had two strikes against him: he was about nine years old and blind.

Sarge is a great spokesdog for a much maligned and misunderstood breed, according to Leslie Cochran of Leesburg, Fla. 

She took care of the one-year-old Pit Bull while her boyfriend, who had adopted Sarge after he was listed on Petfinder by the SPCA of Central Florida, was recuperating from back surgery.  

"I took him for daily walks around the neighborhood," Leslie says, "and Sarge met many friends along the way. I also took him for lots of car rides, and Sarge ended up with friends everywhere we went."

Leslie also credits Sarge with keeping her senior dog, Chevy Louise, who had been diagnosed with cancer, active during a difficult time. "Chevy Louise has been more playful and energetic with Sarge around," she says.

Sarge the Wonderdog is what Leslie and her boyfriend playfully call him, but that's just their way of saying "wonderful."

Petfinder created Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week to highlight those pets who might otherwise be overlooked: breeds that are discriminated against, e.g., Pit Bulls like Sarge; special-needs pets; senior ones; and big black dogs. This year the celebration is Sept. 19-25. 

When Jim and Myra Peterson of Madelia, MN, saw Louie listed on Petfinder, he was just a shadow of the dog he was born to be. "He was about six months old, extremely thin and had just been cured of a bad dose of fleas," Jim says. The couple went to meet him at People for Pets in Spencer, Iowa, that very day.

"He became an instant member of our family," Jim says, traveling with them to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and the shores of Lake Superior. "The only time Louie would seem sad is when I would go for a ride on my motorcycle," leaving him behind.

Josie is an eight-year-old, completely blind Pekingese. Some might say she is a less-adoptable dog.  Fortunately, Cassie Singh didn't think so when she saw the little ball of fluff posted on Petfinder by Toy Breed Rescue in San Jose, CA.
    
"I wanted a special dog, and she is that and so much more," the Sacramento, CA, dog lover says.  What she got is a dog that is completely trained and loves to play.  "She doesn't think of herself as disabled," Cassie says.  "She gets around the house ... we go for daily walks and she loves to romp in the backyard."
   

Stephanie Levinson of Studio City, Calif., had hit a wall in her life. Her teaching career had been her focus for 10 years, but when she arrived home tired after a long day, she had little energy left to do more than play on her computer or watch television into the wee hours. 

"I had little self-esteem (as I am a plus-size girl) and had lost interest in doing much," she says.  Loneliness and depression assailed her.

Someone suggested she get a dog.  She knew she needed to do something, so she took the advice, moved to a dog-friendly apartment, and began looking for a canine companion.

"One night on T.V., I saw a show where the cast members had to go to Pet Orphans to volunteer," she says.  Pet Orphans of Southern California is a private, nonprofit rescue group with a shelter in Van Nuys.

Joanne Wannan is the author of New Lives: Stories of Rescued Dogs Helping, Healing and Giving Hope. Below is an excerpt from her chapter about Leo, a Pit Bull once owned by Michael Vick who became a therapy dog and Canine Good Citizen. Enjoy the story, and come back on Monday to find out about a chance to select your favorite shelter to receive 50% of the profits from the sale of New Lives for two months!

On April 25, 2007, Marthina McClay was relaxing in her living room watching television when a newsflash was broadcast. Property owned by NFL star Michael Vick had been raided, and approximately 50 Pit Bulls, allegedly part of a dog fighting operation, had been seized.

She sat bolt upright, stunned. "I don't believe it," she thought. And then: "I would really love to get one of those dogs and train it to do therapy work."

Dudley was looking pretty pathetic when Beverley Blomert of Gainesville, GA, first cast her eyes upon him on Petfinder.com.  Nevertheless, she says, "there was something in his eyes that said, 'Take me home.'"

She took the look seriously and did just that. She adopted him from Dekalb County Animal Services in Decatur, GA. Once in his new home, he came down with pneumonia.  "The vet wasn't sure if he would make it.  After days of hospitalization, intravenous antibiotics, a month on oral medication, lots of TLC and a good grooming, he is now fully recovered and the most wonderful and loving dog."

Click through to see Dudley's dramatic makeover photo!

It's not every formerly stray pup who is memorialized on adorable kid-size bikes. But stop in at any Toys"R"Us store and you can see a cartoon of Dezzie Mae the dog decorating the Avigo 12" girl's Dezzie Mae BMX bicycle.

Not long ago, Dezzie Mae was at the City of Dothan Animal Shelter in Alabama when a local adoption group called Save A Pet pulled her from the crowded facility and gave her a second chance. Mae, as she was called then, was transported to New Jersey and found a home with the Wheelers, thanks to her listing on Petfinder.

Guest blogger Rachel McPherson is the founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation in New York City and author of the new book Every Dog Has a Gift.

In my new book, Every Dog Has a Gift, I share true stories of dogs who have made a tremendous difference to their human companions. The dogs in the book are diverse - some are purebred service dogs and others were found at shelters. Yet, as the stories show, every dog has so much to give. Here are just a few of their gifts:

• Dogs help us relax. They lower our blood pressure, decrease our anxiety, and distract us from trauma. In the story "Dog Medicine," members of The Good Dog Foundation were allowed on site to comfort survivors of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. The level of comfort and calm that these therapy dogs provided was amazing to witness.

Guest blogger Rachel McPherson is the founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation in New York City and author of the new book Every Dog Has a Gift.

People frequently ask me how their dog can become a therapy dog. There is a common misconception that therapy dogs need to be a certain breed, or raised to be therapy dogs from a very young age. On the contrary, therapy dogs come in all breeds and sizes!

A therapy dog can provide healing to his or her companion or family, as well as hundreds of other people in a therapeutic setting - whether a hospital, a school or a retirement home. The remarkable work of therapy dogs (as well as service dogs and household pets) inspired me to write Every Dog Has a Gift. Likewise, I hope that readers will be inspired by the amazing stories in this book to do some good work with their own companion dog!

If you're interested in getting your dog certified, here are some tips to get you started:

• Find a reputable therapy-dog organization. If you're located on the East coast, visit TheGoodDogFoundation.org. If not, find an animal-assisted therapy organization in your state that offers a training program. There are a number of organizations mentioned in the book, and many can be found online as well.
  

For Fred, there was nothing to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving. Old, blind and toothless, he had just been relinquished to a shelter when his "dad" was admitted into hospice care.

Eight years earlier, the Chinese Crested was found wandering the streets of New York City.

He limped because a broken leg had not healed properly, had a scar across his nose, and was going blind and deaf. His teeth were rotten, and his hair had fallen out.

Fortunately, he was taken in by an old man and nursed back to health. But now, with the old man near death and unable to care for him, Fred was once again without a home.

Now 14, Fred's future was bleak.

Read the rest of Fred's story after the jump.

Soon to be released at select theaters across the U.S., MINE takes a heart-wrenching yet redemptive look at the struggle of Hurricane Katrina survivors to locate and reclaim their beloved pets as they rebuild their lives.

This striking film delves into the complex world of rescue and rehoming pets when their original parents were forced to leave them behind -- a hard subject for pet parents, pet lovers and anyone in the animal welfare industry. (Find a screening near you.)

We caught up with Geralyn Pezanoski, Director of the award-winning documentary, to ask her to tell us a little more about her creation:

Why did you make this film?
A few weeks after Katrina, I got an email from a friend who had been in New Orleans rescuing animals. Her pictures stunned me.

As the months went on, ... I started hearing stories of people encountering serious resistance to getting their pets back. There was so much wrong with this situation, yet everyone seemed to be trying to do the right thing. I had to tell this story.

Find out more about MINE and the Hurricane Katrina rescues after the jump.

Henna, a smooth-coat Border Collie, was having a hard time finding a home. She was returned to the Pulaski County Humane Society in Dublin, VA, several times because she nipped at people.

Then Rachel Shaw of Lynchburg, VA, recognized Henna's nipping as something else -- a typical Border Collie behavior to herd just about anyone or anything.

Continue reading Henna's story after the jump.

Twenty-one-year-old Eva Lapin of Beverly Hills, CA, suffered for three years with epilepsy.

"I knew I only had seizures when I was stressed, but I could not figure out how to relax myself," Eva notes.

She soon realized that browsing on Petfinder relaxed her. Then, while browsing one evening magic struck.

"I had always wanted a cat of my own but never thought my parents would let me have one," she says. "I saw a beautiful orange tabby that seemed to be smiling in his picture. I thought he was the cutest cat ever. I had to have him."

She showed the photo to her parents and was surprised when they gave their okay to adopt him.

They visited Head 2 Tails Foundation, in Culver City, CA, who had listed the cat, Elvis, on Petfinder. Once there, the family learned that he had been rescued from an animal control facility when he was only an hour away from being euthanized.

After the death of their 15-year-old dog, Melanie Zapf of Vancouver, British Columbia, found that the house seemed very empty -- even though she and her husband had decided that they wouldn't get another dog.

Their resolution lasted six months, and then they began looking on Petfinder, where their hearts went out to a nine-month old Labrador Retriever mix at the BC SPCA - Burnaby Shelter.

"He was very fearful due to his past," Melanie says. "He had been found as a stray in Northern British Columbia with a big heavy chain around his neck. It had worn away all the fur and was much too tight, as he was still growing."

They had dealt with fearful dog behavior before, so they went off to meet Deeken and put in an application to adopt him.

"When we first brought him home," she recalls, "we discovered he'd never been in a house and everything (mirrors, doorways, TV's, radios) scared him," she says.

Rex, a German Shepherd, Labrador and Bassett Hound mix, never knew anything but shelter life. His mother was dropped off at a Tennessee facility two days before Rex came into the world.

Quickly transferred to another shelter, Rex was put on a transport for New Hampshire in an effort to get him to a part of the country where shelters weren't so overcrowded.

Eventually he came into the care of the Salem Animal Rescue League in Salem, NH, where his photo and description were put on Petfinder then jettisoned far and wide.

A year and a half earlier, the Walsh family dog, Bootsie, was killed in an accident. The whole family was devastated but Jamie, now seven, had a particularly rough time.

"She spent many nights crying for her beloved Bootsie," says Jamie's father Michael Walsh. "My wife and I really had a hard time deciding whether or not we should get another dog and possibly put her through something like that again."

Titan, a Great Dane, was recently named the World's Tallest Dog by Guinness Word Records and appeared on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He is also special for another reason.

The Baltimore Examiner reports that Titan's mom found the blind, deaf and epileptic rescue dog on Petfinder when he was just three months old -- and already weighed 55 pounds.

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, and we'll let people who've done just that explain why seasoned companions are so special.

Read on for five senior-pet Happy Tails -- and if you can't adopt your own senior pet, you can help them find homes by adding our adoptable senior pet search widget (shown here) to your Web site.

Bunny
"We drove 800 miles to get her. It was love at first site. She happily hopped in the car and headed back to Alabama with us, where she immediately made herself at home and has stolen all of our hearts. She has filled much of the void left by my old pal Bud, and filled our home with the love of a senior dog. We tell her every day that she hit the Basset Hound lottery, but actually it was us who won."
>> Read Bunny's full Happy Tail.

Bugsy, an eight-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, was Lauren Morris's dog. He had come with her from her parents' home -- where he had plenty of playmates -- to her marital home.

Now he was depressed, missing the little pack of terriers he'd been around all his life. Lauren and her husband decided to get him a companion.

"We both agreed the route of rescue would be best," Lauren says, "giving a forever home to someone in need, rather
than supporting the breeding industry."

The couple asked their veterinarian what kind of dog would be best for Bugsy. The vet suggested that a younger female dog would probably work out well.

Lauren's husband favored German Shepherds, but they figured that was too large a breed to be a good companion for little Bugsy. So they logged on to Petfinder to see what was available and were shocked to see how many homeless pets were in their area.

"Don't buy a dog when you can adopt one from the shelter," Amanda Burke told her mother, who was tempted by Dachshund puppies for sale at a flea market. Amanda's mom was ready to bring a new pet into the family after losing her dog a month earlier.

Amanda decided to see what was available on Petfinder, so she went online, typed in Dachshund and up came Troy -- a Dachshund/Basset Hound mix -- at the Abingdon, VA, department of animal control's C.C. Porter Animal Shelter.

"I took the grandkids by to meet him since my mom had work that day," Amanda says, "and they fell in love with him." The next day, they took Mom to the shelter to meet Troy. She was quite taken with him, but a puppy had recently been brought into the facility as well, so she was torn: the cute little puppy or Troy, an adult dog.

For Amanda, the choice was clear. She
knew puppies get adopted quickly, but Troy might never find a home. Even a 1-year-old dog stands less chance of being adopted. Her mom adopted Troy.

Brody has more than 270 friends on his MySpace page and the neighbor kids come over to ask if he can come out to play. That's quite a change from the "unsociable" label he earned just a few years ago while waiting for a home.

Brody, then two years old, was spotted on Petfinder by Dale Mustard of Cannon Beach, Ore., after the Pembroke Welsh Corgi had washed out at his previous two homes: once for his high energy, once because he bullied the family's new dog.

Rescued Paws in Longview, Wash., posted Brody on Petfinder, but he "was pegged as one 'who does not get along with others,' " according to Dale. "Now he has a more active social life than his human family."

October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month and, with the ongoing economic crisis, there are more dogs in need than ever. But what if you can't adopt?

Here are some easy ways you can still help:

1. Donate your Facebook status. Just paste this message into the "What's on your mind?" box at the top of your page: "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com"


2. Tweet, retweet and repeat the following (or your own brilliant message): "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com"

It's Deaf Dog Awareness Week and we're happy to bring you an interview with Melissa McDaniel, an avid deaf-dog advocate and blogger, as well as photographer for The Photo Book Projects, a stunning series of soon-to-be-published books calling attention to deaf and rescue dogs.

(Don't miss the great giveaway at the end of this post!)

What is the purpose of The Photo Book Projects?
I wanted to do something to raise awareness and money for deaf-dog advocacy [and rescue] groups and to show these dogs for the beautiful animals that they are. In many respects, deaf dogs are just like hearing dogs. [My deaf dog] Sadie has a great life. She has no idea she's deaf and if she does, she doesn't let it hold her back. Humans could learn a lot from deaf dogs.

What inspired you to create the books?
My dog Sadie is a deaf Border Collie mix that I adopted. Her mother was deaf and she passed this trait along to the puppies. After getting Sadie, I learned all about the issues deaf dogs face, including the horrible statistic that thousands of deaf dogs are put to sleep each year simply because they are deaf.

Why do you think deaf dogs are singled out?
There are many myths circulating about deaf dogs, including that they are untrainable, dumb, stubborn and aggressive, and these just aren't true. Many of the dogs appearing in the books are better-trained than most hearing dogs I know and some are even therapy dogs and/or compete in agility.

A Better Place, a New Boston, MI-based rescue group, produced this great video about two Springer Spaniels found living in filthy conditions who went on to thrive in foster care and at their new forever home. The story of Duke and Spike shows what's possible with a little grooming, a little affection and a lot of love.

You might also like:

Learn about English Springer Spaniels

Adoptable English Springer Spaniels listed on Petfinder now

Learn about Welsh Springer Spaniels

Adoptable Welsh Springer Spaniels listed on Petfinder now

Pets available for adoption at A Better Place

All better now: Read Grace's story in her adoptive mom's own words.

The tiny kitten had been abandoned by his mother and hand fed until he was seven weeks old. Now he was getting a second chance.

Lisa Driscoll had seen the kitten on Petfinder and contacted the rescue group, Pet Guardian, in Virginia Beach, VA, which had listed him on the site. She arranged to meet the kitty at his foster home.

"There were several kittens in foster care, but we still loved the one that we had seen online," Lisa says. "We took him home with us that night."

All the events in this kitten's short life had thus far been traumatic, but now everything seemed rosy. He had a new home and loving pet parents. Two days into his new life, however, Lisa noticed that something wasn't right. Her new kitten was sick.

Troublesome Toby continues to teach me each and every day.

Meet Toby, a.k.a the Tobes Man, the Tobester, America's Fat Cat and Mr. Man. Toby, my 10-year-old, 15-lb. Maine Coon mix, my problem child, is the reason I'm here at Petfinder.

While I've had the honor of caring for many wonderful pets in my life, it's the one who made things the hardest that turned my life-long passion for animals into a profession.

It all started as my first foray into foster care. I'd recently adopted the sweetest little Domestic Short Hair/Tortie, Kura, and felt the need to help some of the many other homeless cats that I saw at the shelter. So I called the adoption group and arranged to take in a foster for a week: Toby.

Right from the beginning Toby, then one year old, was different. As soon as I got him home he immediately strutted around the house, seeking out people to literally paw for attention. There was no way we could give him up. Thus Toby became my first and only "failed" foster.

It wasn't until about a week after the adoption that the trouble began. I went back to school.

Gracie and Ann Marie's 2-year-old granddaughter are "instant best friends." Read Ann Marie's story.

Shortly after Ann Marie Gonzales of Espanola, N.M., moved to the country, her two dogs got out of her walled yard while she was at work.

When she arrived home that day, she found her Pit Bull mix Nakita, "the most beautiful, loving, loyal animal you could ever meet," dead, lying beside the wall.

"I think when the neighbors saw her, all they saw was a Pit Bull and they didn't [want to] take a chance that she wasn't there to eat the cows or sheep. They just shot at her and killed her."

Eventually, Ann Marie began browsing on Petfinder, just looking, not sure she was ready to chance such a heartbreaking loss again.

Then one day she was having computer problems, and when she rebooted a picture of a dog came up. "I clicked on it, thinking it was odd that of all the past viewings for my computer to save, it would be one of a dog," Ann Marie says.

Michael and Alicia Stiteler of La Verne, Calif., wanted to adopt a puppy and they found just the one, an Australian Shepherd mix, on Petfinder, listed by Chihuahua Haven Rescue. It was their dream come true, but it ended abruptly when they got him home.

Brian, as they named him, cried and cried and cried. "The first few nights with a crying puppy ... were pure chaos," Alicia says. "We started regretting our decision and wondering if we had done the right thing. They decided to return him and called the rescue.

"We held each other and sobbed," Alicia says. "We felt guilty for taking on a responsibility we couldn't handle."

And then fate stepped in. It snowed where they were to meet the rescue person, and she asked if they could wait a week. Soon, Alicia says, "we realized that Brian ... was just trying to get used to his new 'digs' ... by the end of the week, we knew Brian wasn't going anywhere."

For four days, Samantha the cat sat by the door through which her friend, Roosevelt, had departed with his new pet parent, and she cried.

The two domestic shorthairs had been nursed through an upper respiratory illness in the arms of their foster mom and had thoroughly bonded as they recovered. Now Roosevelt was gone.

Laurel Esken of Forest Hills, N.Y., had been looking for a companion for her Persian kitten, Sugar, who was overgrooming from lack of feline company, and saw Roosevelt listed on Petfinder by Posh Pets Rescue of New York City. She adopted him, but as it turned out, the now-recovered Roosevelt was too frisky for the placid Sugar, so Laurel checked back with Roosevelt's foster mom about adopting another cat.

Shortly after Colleen Vetter of Mahwah, N.J., adopted Abby Rose from Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in New Jersey, Colleen's mother became terminally ill.

It hardly seemed an auspicious time to have a new member of the family. Life was hectic. Decisions had to be made by Colleen and her siblings, who spent many hours on the phone. Abby Rose stood by as a beacon of reassurance during the crisis.

"She was a huge comfort and mental health benefit during that time and every day since," Colleen says. "She lay with me while I cried and played with me to keep my mind busy."

What if you got old and nobody wanted you? That's the question posed by Judith Flatley, who adopted eight-year-old Queenie, a Pekingese whose previous parent had a stroke and could no longer care for her. The woman turned her five dogs over to Adopt-Aluv Small Breed Rescue in Mentor, OH, before going into an assisted-living facility.

Judith had already adopted one dog from Adopt-Aluv through Petfinder, and when the five dogs arrived, the rescue person called Judith to see if she could take on another. "I hesitated," Judith says, "because our other adopted Peke was such an Alpha that I wasn't sure it would work out. Now I'm sorry I hesitated even long enough to discuss it with my husband. Queenie is the sweetest dog imaginable."

I want to thank everyone for their comments and guesses as to the breed of my dog, Alan.

Many of you were on the right track: According the the Canine Heritage breed identification, there were no clear primary breeds (neither parent was a purebred) but they did identify Greyhound as a secondary breed.

Now here's a head scratcher -- the only other breed they identified "in the mix" was English Coonhound!

Clearly he is a true mutt, and it goes to show what gorgeous and fantastic pets mixed breeds are. I tend to agree with some of of you who considered Great Dane, Rottweiler and/or Doberman in there somewhere.

I particularly like the idea of him being a "Great Bordobie" as someone suggested ("the ears of a border collie, body of a dobie and his head just screams great dane"). Perhaps more like a Great Greyeiler? I'm not sure about the rest ... but he is definitely great!

While some of the 12,500+ shelters and rescue groups that list their adoptable pets with us will only adopt locally, not all of them have that policy, and we often get Happy Tails from people who traveled huge distances to adopt the perfect pet they found on Petfinder.

But this story about British couple Rose and Chris Rasmussen takes the cake. The pair spotted Sparky on Petfinder and fell in love, despite the fact that they live in suburban London and Sparky was at the Clare County Animal Shelter in Harrison, Michigan.

(Read the full story at Central Michigan's TheMorningSun.com.)

With help from Clare County Animal Control Director Dave Gendregske, who completed piles of paperwork and made
sure Sparky was microchipped, vaccinated, quarantined and vetted, the Rasmussens were finally able to travel to Harrison to collect their new family member.

I previously posted about my dog Alan, whom I adopted almost a year ago. As he has acclimated to family life, one thing has become clear: He's a real character, with a personality as unique as his good looks.

Whenever someone meets him, the conversation inevitably turns to speculation about what breeds he is a mix of.

I have postulated that there must be a strong Rottweiler/Doberman component, since from the back end his coloration and physique are very close to those breeds. Then again, I may be reacting to the fact that somewhere along the line someone (sadly) felt compelled to crop his tail.

From the front, things are less clear. It seems like some of his unusual traits might lend a clue -- for example, he is deaf, extremely fast, has huge paws and long, awkward legs.

The Zaffiris of Mullica Hill, N.J., wanted a dog and were able to look beyond the superficial and find two diamonds in the rough.

The first, Hammer, a.k.a. Ozzie, originally came from an open-admission shelter in West Virginia. Pennsylvania-based Furry Friends Network transported
him to New Jersey where he met the Zaffiris. Despite his poor condition, they opted to adopt him.

"He had mange and was almost hairless and stunk to high heaven," Christina Zaffiri recalls. "He scratched constantly due to itching from the mange." His condition made it all the more clear to Christina that the dog needed to find a home fast or he might end up being euthanized. They adopted him, mange and all, and after a visit to the vet, medication and many, many baths, Hammy, as they call him, was like a new dog.
 

The dog's appearance was enough to make a person cry. He was starved and looked like a skeleton. Walking was hard for him, and he was riddled with scars.

Nevertheless, the good folks at Adams County Pet Rescue in Ritzville, Wash., knew he deserved a chance and took him in and placed him in a foster home.

It didn't seem likely, however, that he would be adopted. He was in bad shape and, in addition, he was a Pit Bull Terrier, a much maligned breed. Nevertheless, his photo and description were placed on Petfinder. In addition to compassion, his rescuers and foster dad had an abundance of hope.

Carrie Hawley of Coeur d'Alene was mourning over the loss of her eight-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier, Bella, who had died of lymphoma. "I had a huge hole in my heart and could not stop the tears," she says. She and her partner started looking on Petfinder at all of the Pit Bulls that needed homes, knowing many would never be adopted.

It didn't take long for Robin Cappelletti of Issaquah, Wash., to know what her new house was missing: a cat. And she knew just where to go to find one to adopt: Petfinder.com.

With more than 144,000 adoptable cats listed on Petfinder at any one time, it took Robin only 10 minutes to find the perfect one, even though she was specifically wanting a Torbie. (There are more than 800 Torbies listed on the site.)

The Torbie Robin chose was designated #5701 and had been abandoned in the winter, when "snow was all you could see," says Robin. The kitten, dirty and cold and not more than eight months old, was picked up by Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service.

The little Chihuahua's splayed paws and bowed legs remain as evidence of the worst kind of treatment. He spent his first eight years in a puppy mill, in a cage.

Demodectic mange, yeast infections of his skin and ears, a heart murmur and hypothyroidism plagued him and were left untreated. The plaque on his teeth had formed such a solid mass in his mouth that his jaw fractured multiple times.

Finally, he was released from his excruciating time in the puppy mill because his condition had deteriorated so that he was of no more use to his owners. He was surrendered to Little Angels Pet Sanctuary in Bellevue, Ohio.

Wyatt, an Airedale mix, is currently in "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis.

His pet parent, Cindy Jensen of Burnsville, MN, saw a casting call and took Wyatt in for an audition, and he was selected from among nine dogs.

Cindy adopted Wyatt after seeing him on Petfinder almost three years ago. He came from Crossroads Animal Shelter in Buffalo, MN.

The play closes March 29. You can see a video preview of his performance on Facebook. Wyatt does a great job! Who knew this former homeless pet had theater in his blood?

One adopter, Christine in West Wareham, MA, was moved by Tuesday's historic Presidential inauguration to send in this touching Happy Tail:

Today is January 20, 2009, inauguration day for Barack Obama. While a great deal of lucky folks are witnessing history in DC, I am inspired to write to you with the days events unfolding on the TV behind me.

Next to me, lounging on the queen size bed in our guest room, are my two dogs: Brewster and Nola. And although Brewster has his own story to tell, I feel compelled to share Nola's on this historic day.

In late February of 2007, my husband and I traveled with my nephew's high school Habitat for Humanity group from Albany, NY, to New Orleans. Before leaving for the long drive, I visited Petfinder to locate animal shelters in the area to visit.

(After adopting Brewster from a shelter, my husband and I now have a tradition where no matter where we are on vacation, we visit a local shelter to walk a dog and share some hugs and smiles -- because even though it's so hard to leave them behind and I know I can not save them all, I can, at least, offer them a moment of fun and hope.)

In a recent blog post, Humane Society of the United States president and CEO Wayne Pacelle writes that he has a special place in his heart for people who adopt senior pets. As the parent of several longevity-blessed pets, I couldn't agree more!

Pacelle posts a letter from blogger Mary Lattanzio about seeing an adoptable three-legged Boston terrier online. Granny Annie was estimated to be about 5 years old. Mary decided to foster her, and went to meet her at her local Florida shelter.

And there she was. Much older than five. Maybe 500. She was scarred on her flanks. Her forehead looks like it was cleaved at one time.

She trailed a long cyst sack that swung when she walked. It was heavy. She is missing a front leg. She hobbles; has lumps, bumps and warts all over. She is gray-faced. ...

In the mood for some positive thoughts? (Who isn't these days?) Then check out our Thanksgiving Happy Tail contest. We asked readers to submit stories about how their pets changed their lives. We picked our favorites, and now you can vote for yours through Dec. 19. The winner gets a BISSELL Pet Clean-Up package. You can vote once a day, every day. Spread the word (and some holiday cheer!). Cast your vote here.

Finalist #1 - Carbon
from Sharon Legrand of Silverdale, WA

I've just moved to the U.S. from India. I'm a Navy wife, and three months after my arrival, my husband was due to be deployed. I was miserable and homesick. I didn't know anyone, and I was terrified of being alone in a new country without my husband.

I visited the Kitsap Humane Society, where I met Carbon. He wasn't young, and was a stray, but I loved him. I brought him home, and my life just turned around. My husband left soon after.

Carbon has made sure that I'm never lonely. He loves me and hugs me and does all those things that just makes my life complete. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have just turned around and gone home to India. He is the first wonderful thing that has happened to me in the U.S., and I love him for it.

Carbon was adopted from Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale, WA.

Finalist #2 - Luke
from Sarah Matthews of Houston, TX

My daughter was diagnosed as being bi-polar five years ago. She hadn't smiled in a long time. Her peers made fun of her because she was socially immature when compared to other girls her age.

I promised her a long time ago that when we bought a house, we would get a pet. That finally happened. We went to the shelter right before one of her doctor's appointments and visited with a few dogs. We left to make our decision and when we returned that evening, our choices had been adopted.

I talked her into looking at the dogs again. She saw Luke, and she wanted to visit with him. We took him outside and they chased each other around. She laughed more than I could ever remember, and ever since, they have been chasing each other around our backyard with her laughing and giggling the whole time.

Luke was adopted from the Houston SPCA in Texas.

Finalist #3 - Mochaccino and Dakota
from Kimberly Mockler of Port Washington, NY

Mochaccino and Dakota are my rescue dogs. They both know American Sign Language (Dakota also knows touch signals since she is deaf and blind).

Mocha and Dakota both passed their CGCs and participate in agility, fly-ball and little rally. They have also won several Halloween costume contests.

Mocha is also a Delta therapy dog and will be working with the deaf and deaf/blind population.

Since Dakota is a special needs dog, she has inspired me to help out with rescuing other deaf and deaf/blind double merle dogs. She is an inspiration -- she can do anything except hear and see!

Rescue dogs are the BEST and Mocha and Dakota have just helped to make my life so much better and so much more FUN! :)

Mocchaccino and Dakota were adopted from Wing and A Prayer Dog Rescue And Referral Inc., in Binghamton, NY.

Finalist #4 - Carmyne
from Lonnie Gerbracht of La Center, WA

Carmyne, a little Chihuahua, belongs to my disabled daughter. He is the best thing that has happened for her. We found out that he can tell when she is about to have a seizure migraine, and he tells her to take her medication and go to bed. He also helps her overcome her social phobia. And he has had NO training for this!

Not only has he helped her emotionally, but he has exactly the same hair color that she does! When he curls up on her shoulder you can't tell the difference between her hair and his! He is as attached to her as she is to him, and he means the world to her! Thank you Second Chance Companions! You made it possible for my daughter to live on her own in spite of her disability!

Carmyne was adopted from Second Chance Companions in Battle Ground, WA.

Finalist #5 - Casey
from Jennifer Clouse of Springfield, IL

I have been recently diagnosed with bi-polar 1 mixed disorder. It's been months since being diagnosed, and I still have a hard time with my life.

I adopted Casey after being in the hospital in January. He came with medical problems, like problems with his eyes and Lyme disease, but every day we are glad that we adopted him.

He knows when I have my bad days because he will not leave my side. He is 70 pounds, but he will jump on my lap so that I can hug him until I stop crying. Even on my better days I can count on him being right next to me, looking into my eyes as if to say, "I will always be here for you."

Adopted from Menominee Animal Shelter Inc. in Menominee, MI.

Last month we told you about Montana, the puppy abandoned by the side of a road in Georgia, malnourished and suffering from mange and parvo, who was rescued by Kaci Deater of Statesboro, Ga.

You left such nice comments that we had to send them to Kaci. She sent us this letter in return, and included this heartbreaking "before" photo of Montana and an incredible "after," which you can see after the jump.

Thank you so much for putting Montana's story out there so that everyone can see. She is so special to me and I find it comforting to see all the positive feedback that it's been getting.

Editor's note: Greg Kincaid's first novel, A Dog Named Christmas, hit shelves on Tuesday. The book tells the story of a special young man who inspires his entire town to take in dogs from the local shelter.

Greg lives on a farm in East Kansas with his wife, Michale Ann. He and his family had always taken in stray dogs who "found them," but after writing the book, Greg was inspired to adopt from a shelter. He will be blogging here each week about his search (on Petfinder, of course!) for the perfect dog.

This fall, Christmas came early. On my wish list was launching my new book, A Dog Named Christmas, finding a good truck and, finally, settling on the perfect dog to go into it.  

In October, I finally found the right truck. It's a real  beauty -- a 1982 Ford  F-250 with only 80,000 miles. The search took me several months, but the book was worse: That was about nine years from start to finish. The effort that went into the truck and book were significant, but picking the right dog ... I had no idea! It was quite a journey, but I can't remember when I've had more fun.

To research A Dog Named Christmas, I had the privilege of visiting shelters and meeting some of the most amazing people -- many of whom have made it their life's task to care for creatures who want nothing more than a home, a place where they belong. Before I wrote this book, I had never been inside a shelter. In my mind, it would have been too painful. Like most of us, it was easier to pretend that the problem didn't exist and, even if it did, it wasn't really my problem. Frankly, like some of the characters in my book, I was carrying around a flawed perspective.

I learned something important in my visits.

There are more than a dozen Petfinder member organizations who specialize in rescuing and re-homing senior dogs.

Personally, I am grateful to any organization that handles senior pets of all kinds. Exactly four years ago, when I was looking for pictures to use in an Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month promotion, I came across a little senior shepherd mix. I fell in love immediately, and Dexter has been one of my best friends ever since.

He was 10 years old when I adopted him -- he's now 14. He moves pretty slowly these days, but his adorable gray face always attracts attention from passersby on our walks. Below is just a sample of Petfinder members specializing in senior dogs.

St. Louis Senior Dog Project, St. Louis, MO

Senior Dog Rescue of Oregon, Philomath, OR

Libby's Haven for Senior Canines, Canterbury, NH

Senior Dog Adoptions, Cold Brook, NY

The Senior Dog House and Rescue, Columbia Fall, MT

The Sanctuary for Senior Dogs, Cleveland, OH

In anticipation of Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month, the ASPCA asked members to send in their senior pet adoption stories, and here they are, in their gray-and-white glory, blurry-eyed and creaky, bowed but proud.

The joys of owning a senior pet are often overlooked as tiny kittens or jumping puppies usually grab everyone's attention at the shelter. As the human companion of two senior dogs, I can tell you that the companionship of a quiet, older pet can be very satisfying.

We often lie on the bed, spooned together, breathing together and being "in the now" in a way that would be impossible with a squirming youngster. These dogs know me -- and I, them -- in all my moods and states of low-energy or high. They delight simply by BEING with me. I don't need to amuse them. I just need to be me. (I have yet to meet a man who would be as happy as that, with "just me." LOL!)

Montana and her two siblings were ditched, literally, beside a road in Georgia.

The abandoned litter was taken to the Humane Society of Statesboro and Bulloch County where they were treated for mange and malnutrition. Montana was diagnosed with parvovirus as well and was placed in isolation. Fortunately, she survived.

The shelter posted her photo and description on Petfinder, but held out only moderate hope that she would be adopted. Her face was crusted over with a secondary infection from the untreated mange, and she didn't have any hair to speak of.

But some people live by the conviction that beauty is more than skin deep. Such a person is Kaci Deater of Statesboro, Ga. She was looking for a pet to adopt on Petfinder and had looked at hundreds of listings. But she kept coming back to Montana.

I have been lucky enough to have the pleasure of visiting Tabby's Place in Ringoes, NJ, in person a few times. Therefore, I can attest to the sheer beauty of it -- both in aesthetics as well as its mission. Tabby's Place opened its doors in October 2003 and is able to care for almost 100 cats.

These aren't just any felines -- they are all senior or special-needs cats. Ranging in age from 1-19 years old and having special needs from FIV to cancer, the cats get the best possible care while being housed at Tabby's Place.

According to their Web site, they provide communal living environments for cats, with plenty of horizontal and vertical space for exercise and play as well as outdoor enclosures for cats to enjoy fresh air and sunlight.

Lisa Hartman in Florida sent us this Happy Tail about the puppy she adopted from Crest-Care Inc., Chinese Crested Rescue, a rescue and foster-home network with members around the U.S. and Canada:

A few weeks ago I adopted my second dog found on Petfinder, a 7-month-old Chinese Crested I named Saffron Monsoon! I was originally interested in her brother and applied for him. But when Crest-Care heard I was a dog trainer they urged me to look at Saffy (then named Gladys). They said she was wild and could really use a trainer. I really didn't want a "project" this time around, but over time I agreed to look at her.

Five long weeks later, after a string of emails, applications, vet checks and a home visit, I had passed the adoption process. I drove 2-1/2 hours to the chosen spot to meet her and her foster mom. I decided to give her a try.

Saffy is wild, and neurotically spins, probably from over-crating. (Her original owners couldn't handle the active pups.) She was also not housetrained. But she is super cute, loyal, sweet and loves attention. Today is our three-week anniversary together, and she has only had two housetraining accidents and is a complete joy to have around! She fits in with our family perfectly.

Thank you, Petfinder for helping me find my newest best friend, and saving animals lives in the process!

Yours truly,
Lisa Hartman, Jay-J, and Saffy

Did you find your dog on Petfinder? Do you have an amazing adoption story? (Touching, tear-jerking, revealing superhuman acts of kindness, etc.)

Are you willing to tell that story on TV?

Send us your story and photo, and you and your pet may have the chance to promote pet adoption on a major national broadcast. (Sorry I can't give you more details ... yet!)

This opportunity will be a great way to tell the world why pet adoption is THE way to go, and help homeless pets everywhere as a result. Send me your info at "blog (at) Petfinder.com". Looking forward to hearing your stories!

Brenda from Gadsden, Ala., sends us this touching Happy Tail about how the dog she rescued gives comfort and companionship to her dad, who has Alzheimer's disease:

I found a picture of Zeke while looking through Petfinder for an available dog in the Gadsden area. He looked so pitiful, I wanted him immediately.

While I was at work, my parents went to the Humane Society of Etowah County to adopt him as a birthday gift for me. Poor Zeke was a basket case -- so afraid that he wouldn't even look at them and just sat in Mom's lap shaking. She wanted him on the spot!

After the paperwork was completed, he was off to the vet for his "surgery." Finally on Saturday we were able to pick him up and bring him home.

Though he was a birthday gift for me, Zeke had other ideas. He decided from day one that he was my dad's dog. He followed him everywhere!

Lisa Marie from Sarasota, FL, sends this Happy Tail:

On Thanksgiving Day 2007, my beloved 16-year-old Siamese cat Simon had to be euthanized for renal failure. This was devastating to me.

The following Monday my co-workers urged me to check Petfinder.com, not in the view of replacing Simon, but in giving another cat a much-needed home.

The very first picture I clicked onto was a wonderful fluffy white cat with a goofy crooked tail named Jack, who was residing at the Humane Society of Sarasota County.

My very understanding co-workers insisted I leave work and drive to the shelter to adopt him right after seeing him online. I fell in love with him the second they brought him out of his cage to meet me.

Here's a "spot-on" Happy Tail from Sandra in Spring Valley, CA:

We had decided that we wanted to give a loving home to an older dog as we had space and a lot of love to give. We had seen Spot on Petfinder and went to the El Cajon Animal Control to see him.

He was 11 years old, extremely overweight, arthritic, and deaf, but his personality shined through. Even though it was very hard for him to get up with the extra weight and the arthritis, he came over to greet us, wagging his tail.

We went home and discussed it, and decided we wanted to share our home with him. We went down to the shelter and adopted him the next day.

A new pet supply store called Living Ruff just opened across the street from my office in Silver Spring, MD.

Owners Jessica and Ron Simon's story reminded me  that adopting a homeless pet can very literally change your life, often in unexpected ways.

The dog, Bourbon, was a sick, emaciated Spitz mix found trapped under a couch in a house that had been marked "clear" by searchers weeks before.

Gravely ill, he was transported to Washington, D.C., where he was cared for by the Washington Animal Rescue League. Jessica and Ron learned about him and adopted him. Then they adopted another dog, Yogi. And then a cat. The "zoo" in their home helped them make some life-altering decisions.

I recently posted a Happy Tail from Christine in New Haven, CT, about Russell, the dog she'd adopted from F.O.B.A.S. in Trumbull, CT.

Russell had been rescued from an abandoned dog-fighting facility in Georgia, where he was used as a bait dog.

Then I received an email from Virginia, who had fostered Russell for F.O.B.A.S. She sent along the above photo of how Russell looked when he was seized from the dog-fighting facility. F.O.B.A.S. paid to transport Russell from Georgia to Connecticut and then posted him on Petfinder so he could find a wonderful home. After the jump, see what Russell looks like now.

Here's a fine, feathered tale from Margaret and Jeff in New York:

We found Petfinder after seeing a commercial on Animal Planet. We put in our information and selected two lovebirds that were at Companion Critters, Inc., in Clark, N.J.

We later found out that they had been rescued from a hoarder's house, and it made us even more inclined to give these birds the happy home they deserve.

Let me tell you, they are spoiled rotten now. They have a bird pool connected to their cage and all the fresh fruit and veggies they could want. We keep one of those musical birthday cards next to their cage because they just go crazy when they hear the song "The Chicken Dance" when it's opened.

Here's a heartwarming Happy Tail from Christine in New Haven, CT:

Russell is a Boxer mix. We came across him on Petfinder and instantly fell in love with him from the video that was posted. He is 3 years old and comes from a troubled past. He was rescued from an abandoned dog-fighting facility in Georgia where he was used as a bait dog.

A bait dog is tied up and used to train fighting dogs. Russell came to us in the typical condition of an abandoned bait dog: starved, badly scarred and injured. The details of his story are too disturbing to repeat. If it weren't for Virginia Marconi of F.O.B.A.S. in Trumbull, CT, he would not be with us today.

Today Russell is a healthy 64 lbs. He goes out for three walks a day and spends free time in the yard or lounging around the house. He is a perfect gentleman, and we are convinced that he belonged to a family at one point in his life because of his manners and his love of children.

We are grateful to have him in our lives and can't imagine what life was like before he joined us. He is in a loving and safe home. Russell is a true "happy tail." We love him.

Since the passing of my beloved dog Kobie late last year, I've been keeping an eye out for a suitable friend for my dog Sophie.

Sophie requires a companion of just the right temperament and understanding. Goofy, playful, funny-looking and loving were the things she adored about Kobie, and when I saw Alan, I knew she and I would like him.

A 2-year-old flat-coated retriever mix, he had been taken in by the kind folks at My Loveable Rescues in Queens, NY, more than a year ago and needed a good home. On Saturday we drove out and met him.

Alan and Sophie quickly assumed an attitude of peaceful coexistence. I knew this was a good sign, and that with a little time and opportunity, they would become tight companions. And so I returned yesterday, completed the adoption and took Alan to his new home on my horse farm in New Jersey. 

Adopter Wendy Roy writes:

I have a new love in my life. Her name is Stella.

Being a Glam-Granola girl, I have always believed in rescuing a dog as opposed to the breeder and pet store options -- the whole "Don't breed or buy while homeless animals die" philosophy. 

So when I was ready, I went straight to Petfinder and looked for dogs in my zip code that matched my criteria. Up came my "options," one being a Schnauzer mix named Stella who was 5 years old and blind.

After double checking on some logistics via a few questions to the rescue group, American Lab Rescue in Willington, CT, it was a no-brainer. She was mine to rescue, and I hers.

Here's a Happy Tail from Caroline in Deerfield Beach, Fla.:

I bought a pet-friendly condo and started looking on Petfinder for the perfect dog to adopt -- even though my move-in date was a year away!

I wanted an adult medium-to-large mixed breed and saw a picture of a beautiful Shepherd mix named Ellie. She was found abandoned at just five weeks old.

Her ear was mutilated and her foot was barely attached and needed to be amputated. When I discovered her on Petfinder, she was already about a year old and still waiting for a forever home. She was being fostered by Gulfstream Guardian Angels Rottweiler Rescue in Miami.

I mentioned in an earlier post about how wonderful adopters are. Here's a Happy Tail we received recently (it's in the Happy Tail database) that proves what I said and just makes me teary-eyed. It's from Anne at MSPCA Cape Cod.

I used to work In a small animal shelter in Massachusetts. At the height of "kitten season," a woman brought in a severely deformed kitten she had found wandering loose downtown. The kitten, whom I named Molly, had one side of her face very pushed in and was missing one eye.

Despite her ugly face, she was very sweet and outgoing, snuggling into the arms of her rescuer, happy to be inside, warm and fed. No one was sure what had caused her deformity, but the shelter vet believed it happened in utero, perhaps because the mother cat was kicked or physically abused.

We receive hundreds of adoption stories each month, and now you can read them to your heart's content by clicking on "Read More Happy Tails" on our home page. You can play around with searching -- check to see if there are any pets with the same name as your pet, for example. Or if you have submitted a story, you can find it by your name, your pet's name, your city or another keyword. Reading the stories will make you feel really good about the wonderful folks who adopt pets. And the photos are great!

Here's a touching Happy Tail we received from Kat Wamba of Federal Way, WA:

When our Chihuahua Sigurd passed away in the fall of 2007, everyone, including our remaining dog, Tika, was sad. I didn't want to rush into getting another pet, but after six months our yard seemed too big for one dog, and Tika still seemed lonely.

However, Tika was always shy with other dogs, and I knew that we would have to think carefully before adopting a new one. Enter Petfinder. We scrolled through dog after worthy dog, knowing that Tika would be terrified of most of them.

And then -- we saw Abena from The Big Dog Project in Silverdale, WA. Three years old and shy, she had been living in a park in Taiwan when she was tricked into eating a firecracker. She was found by a wonderful woman who brought her to the vet's office, where they reconstructed her muzzle and eye socket, before transporting her to the States through The Big Dog Project.

We knew, we just KNEW, that we had to meet her. She's been with us for almost two months now. Still shy with strangers, she follows me everywhere and lets my son spoil her with treats. She runs and plays shyly with Tika, and they both curl up at my feet as I work. Our yard seems less empty when Abena (which means "beautiful" in Gaelic) is in it. Tika is happy to have a friend. And we are grateful to have the opportunity to be with such a loving and forgiving soul.

 

A Happy Tail from Patti Hill of Secane, PA:

My adopted Border Collie of 14 years died in April. To say I was forlorn is an understatement. I am 49 years old, live alone with no partner or children. The empty space was devastating. After researching many avenues, I found Jess, another border collie, on your Web site.

She had been transported by seven cars, getting here from West Virginia. After being approved for the adoption, I drove three and a half hours to meet this shy but stunning girl. After committing to adopting her we are now having the time of our lives. She is happy, happy girl, which makes two of us.

Now, once again my life feels full, and I look forward to the years ahead with a new sense of purpose and joy. Petfinder is easy to use and a highly effective tool in finding the right pet that's perfect for anyone looking. All my gratitude to Petfinder, the rescues, volunteers and all the people who touch the lives of these pets getting them to safe, happy homes.

Jess was adopted from NJ Puppy Rescue.

As the marketing manager for Petfinder, I work out of the New York office of Animal Planet, where staffers volunteer every week to read with local elementary schoolers.

To celebrate the end of the school year, some of those students came to the offices on Friday, where they were treated to a presentation about pet care by Petfinder's public relations coordinator, Cary Moran.

Next, they got to met a real live Petfinder alum, Gwin. A 2-year-old corgi/sheltie mix, Gwin was adopted by Monica Hirsch and her daughter, Nora, from the Mercer County Humane Society in Princeton, WV -- and she's more than just a perfect pet, she's a certified therapy dog!

Maureen Jackson of Erie, PA, sent us this Happy Tail of her late, beloved dog, Brittle, adopted from the Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Brittle won a photo contest and had his image digitally made over (NOTE: Dogs do not really scuba dive!).

We adopted Brittle as a puppy. He was the funniest-looking little pup -- he looked like an old man, and so very sad. He grew into one handsome boy and had a great life with us.

His eyes were so blue and he was such a good-natured dog -- very good with our Yorkie puppy who came into our home when Brittle was about 6 years old.

Brittle went over the rainbow bridge last August and we still miss him every day. I have MS and he just knew when I needed some help walking, so he would stand right next to me so I could steady myself on him as we went up or down stairs.

Otherwise he would just run and be his normal self. At the end he became the care-receiver and I was the caregiver to him.

He won a photo contest last year with this photo and this is what they did with it -- it is amazing ...

I've worked as a designer for Petfinder for about a year now. I've enjoyed reading many Happy Tails, and now I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share my own adoption story.

After my dog Bandit died, I knew I would need to find a new dog, but I didn't rush it. I was looking for a new job at the time, and planning to move. I wanted to make sure I was organized before getting a new pet. Nevertheless, I missed having a four-legged companion. I would check out dogs on Petfinder and think, "He's cute" or, "She's the right size," but that's as far as I would go. Once I started working for Petfinder, my search escalated -- it couldn't help but do so. There were stories about homeless pets that passed my desk all the time. But I still didn't take the next step, contacting the shelter.

Then last week, as I was browsing the site, I saw Archie's picture. I knew immediately he was for me. Something in his face told me I would love him, and that he would want to live with me. I took the next step. I contacted the Taunton Animal Shelter and made an appointment to meet him.

The shelter staff told me Archie had been a stray, that he was very nervous around most people He would need a lot of TLC. The shelter workers had spent a lot of time with him -- you could see that they loved him and wanted to see him find a nice home. They said that others had come to see him but he hadn't reacted very well.