Petfinder Blog

It's official: We're kicking off our new What's That Mutt? feature today, and I'm thrilled it's with a dog so close to my heart.

Haley is a 38-lb., 3-year-old bundle of love whom I often take on long walks and romp in the park and play tug-of-war with. Her dad, Eric, is my longtime friend and has had Haley since she was a puppy.

Haley's parents are mixed-breed dogs who live with a friend of Eric's. "Haley's mom is small, 30-35 lbs., with German Shepherd coloring and blue Husky eyes. My friend thinks she's so small because she might have Border Collie in her. Haley's dad is pretty big, more than 80lbs., and looks like a Yellow Lab/Pit Bull mix," Eric says.

Don't miss the adorable puppy picture of Haley after the jump!

This past weekend I attended Blog Paws, a first-of-its-kind conference for pet bloggers. Not only were there tons of wonderful, inspiring pet lovers there, I was lucky enough to moderate a panel about helping homeless pets called "Be the Change You Want to See."

The panel included Lynn Haigh, creator of PawPawty on Twitter; veterinarian Jessica "Dr. V" Vogelsang, owner of Pawcurious, and Dorian Wagner of Your Daily Cute. Collectively they've raised nearly $40,000 in the last year for various shelters and rescues, initiated toy drives and much more and they shared their experiences with the audience.

The point of the panel was that anyone can make a difference and save lives.

To prove it, Dorian, Dr. V and Lynn announced the "Be the Change Challenge," a virtual fundraiser on April 21 to raise $500 for homeless pets. An audience member was randomly selected and asked to name their pet charity of choice to receive the funds. Pets without Parents in Columbus, OH was named. Each member of the audience was asked to take part by blogging, donating, or tweeting in the "BlogPawty" fundraiser on Twitter. (Read more about the Be the Change Challenge and how you can participate here.)

This got me thinking: What else can bloggers do to help homeless pets? Are there any small, simple things that each of us can do to collectively make a big impact?

YES! Here are some things you can do:

A few months ago we did a giveaway with Melissa McDaniel, photographer and author of The Photo Book Projects. (Read about how Melissa is helping homeless pets.) Winners Judy and Mark got a personal photo shoot with Melissa and their adopted dog Henry.

Well, the pictures are fantastic, and so is Henry's story! Judy shared Henry's history with us:

Henry is a Yellow Lab/mutt we adopted from Animal Connections, a rescue group based in Troy, VA. I was a volunteer for Animal Connections for a year or so before we met Henry and decided to adopt him.

Lucky for us, Henry's foster dad agreed to hold Henry until we were in a position to bring him home. My husband was preparing for his comprehensive exams for his Ph D and we couldn't handle the stress of bringing a dog home until the exams ended. We like to joke that we put Henry on layaway for six weeks!

Anyone who's experienced, or even thought about, the death of a pet has wondered: What happens after my pet passes away? Do pets have souls?

In a new story, "Do Pets Go to Heaven?" Discovery News surveyed major religions' stances on the issue. Here's some of what they found (read the full story here):

Christianity holds that every living being, from the tiniest insect to the largest whale, has a chance at entering the pearly gates. Psalm 145:-9-10,13,15-21 reads, "God loves all His creation and has made plans for all His children and the lesser creatures to enjoy His eternal Kingdom." ...

We're giving away four copies of the new book, Every Dog Has a Gift: True Stories of Dogs Who Bring Hope and Healing into Our Lives.

By Rachel McPherson, founder of the therapy-dog organization The Good Dog Foundation, Every Dog Has a Gift is about dogs who help people in incredible ways. Whether by lending an ear to a traumatized young girl, providing peaceful companionship during the final stages of life, or being an audience to a child as he practices reading, the dogs highlighted in this book are heroes to the lives they touch.

Want to win a copy? Leave a comment below and tell us what gift your pet has brought to YOUR life. Comments can be as long or as short as you like, just include the hashtag "#PFgiveaway," use a valid Facebook account or give us your email and post your comment before 11:59 pm April 17.

Four commenters will be randomly selected to receive a copy of Every Dog Has a Gift. (Terms & Conditions)

I look forward to hearing from you!

WomansDay.com recently asked Petfinder co-founder Betsy Saul for advice on adopting the perfect pet. We liked the resulting article so much, we're sharing a few of our favorite tips (read the original story here):

1. Get to know your shelter. "Check out the policies, fees and attitude of the place you're going to before you make a commitment -- because sometimes, it's almost like you're adopting the shelter, too," Betsy says.
   
   
2. Consider an older pet. "They've seen a lot, and when you spring them from a shelter, they love you because you're the person who got them out of there. And they're often already house-trained," says Betsy.

People who rescue pets often say the pet rescued them in return. But sometimes that's literally true!

The Humane Society of the United States' Dogs of Valor awards honor heroic dogs who really did save humans' lives. (Read HSUS president Wayne Pacelle's blog post about the awards.)

Here are just a few of the finalists:

• Calamity Jane of Aledo, TX, charged a neighbor's yard and scared off armed robbers.


• Jackson of Rahway, NJ, alerted his owner that a 90-year-old neighbor was trapped under a fallen door.


• Prozac of Sanford, NC, not only saved a member of the family when they couldn't breathe, but awoke everyone two months later when the house was on fire.

So head over to the HSUS, read these amazing stories and place your vote for your favorite Dog of Valor. Then come back and find your own heroic canine among the 156,841 adoptable dogs on Petfinder.

Who will you vote for? Here's a hint at my vote -- we Janes have to stick together.

Petfinder has helped pets find homes since 1995 -- and now we're launching FurKeeps, a new campaign designed to help KEEP pets in homes.

At Petfinder.com/FurKeeps, you'll find links to a New Adopters Checklist and First 30 Days tips for both cats and dogs -- as well as resources for handling the problems most likely to cause a pet to be surrendered to a shelter:

• Moving
• Behavioral issues
• Cost
• Pet health problems
• Pet aggression

We're so excited about FurKeeps, we're throwing a week-long kick-off from March 8-14:

• A Twitter scavenger hunt with fun prizes at 11am and 4pm Monday-Saturday! #FurKeeps
• A live Facebook chat with some of our FurKeeps experts, including:
• Liz Marsden, C.P.D.T. Monday, March 8, 12-2pm EST
• Dr. Grant Gugisberg D.V.M. Tuesday, March 9, 12-2pm EST
• Pia Silvani, C.P.D.T. Wednesday, March 10, 12-2pm EST
• Jacque Schultz, MA C.P.D.T. Thursday, March 11, 12-2pm EST
• Elise "Ledy" Van Kavage, Esq. Friday, March 12, 12-2pm EST
• A week-long Ask the Experts forum with our experts, including dog and cat behaviorists, veterinarians, a small-animal expert and others where your questions will be answered within 24 hours. (Meet all our experts here.)

Want to take part? Become a Petfinder fan on Facebook and keep an eye out for updates. See you there!

We've launched the Petfinder iPhone app! It's a great way to find adoptable pets on the go -- and best of all, it's free!

With the app, you can:

• Browse adoptable pets near you or nationwide
  
• View full-screen pet photos
• Get pet info and additional pet photos with a single tap
  
• Share pets via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail
• Bookmark your "favorite" adoptable pets and come back later
  
• Add notes and comments to your "favorites"
  
• Call, e-mail or get directions to an adoption group with one tap
  
• Read adoption-story Happy Tails
  

After the jump, read comments from users who have already found pets using the Petfinder iPhone app.

I can't pretend I'm an avid sports fan, but there's one game that I'm sure to watch.

As the New Orleans Saints make their Super Bowl debut against the Indianapolis Colts, 20 puppies will steal my attention in Animal Planet's 6th annual Puppy Bowl this Sunday, 3 p.m. E/P.

Not only are the puppies irresistibly adorable, they're all Petfinder alumni, making Petfinder the temporary "home team" for all the players. (See a full list of the participating shelters.)

Of course, it's Petfinder tradition to recognize the many adoptable namesakes of this year's Super Bowl stars. Take a look at some of these adorable adoptables as you get yourself hyped up for the game:

In the Indianapolis Area:

• 27 dogs named "Indy"
• Six dogs named "Colt"
• 39 dogs named "Austin" (perhaps after wide receiver Austin Collie)
• 38 dogs named "Dallas" (perhaps after tight end Dallas Clark)
• 38 dogs named "Reggie" (perhaps after receiver Reggie Wayne)
• 12 dogs named "Pierre" (perhaps after wide receiver Pierre Garcon)