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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are many ways you can help homeless pets this holiday season -- some of which require only your time. Read on for easy ways you can help shelters and rescue groups through the Petfinder.com Foundation, which exists solely to support the 13,500+ organizations that post their adoptable pets on Petfinder.

• Give a Gift of Hope. When you make a donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation in the name of a loved one, he or she will receive a holiday card with an acknowledgment of your gift. And if you give a gift of $30 or more, your loved one will be acknowledged as a Supporting Member of the Petfinder.com Foundation for 2012! 


• Fill out surveys. Sign up to take surveys at SurveyMonkey.com and the Petfinder.com Foundation will receive $0.50 for every survey you complete.
  


• Buy a t-shirt. Purchase a We Add Up "Rescue" shirt for yourself -- and one for your dog! Every "Rescue" shirt purchased will trigger a $3 donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation. Every We Add Up shirt is hand-printed with a unique number -- your position in the global count of people adding up to make a better world. We Add Up is already up to 22,000 people!

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month. I share my home with a cat who is 9 and another who's 13, so seniors are close to my heart. But in a Petfinder survey, 30% of shelters and rescue groups said older pets are the hardest to find homes for. And with more than 14,700 senior pets currently listed on Petfinder, they deserve some extra attention.

So make a commitment to help: Take our Stand Up for Senior Pets Pledge and promise to tell at least one person why seniors make great pets. (Find 10 reasons senior pets rule here.)

As a bonus, by pledging you'll be entered for a chance to win a Lift-Off® Deep Cleaning System for yourself and one for the Petfinder.com shelter or rescue group of your choice, both courtesy of our partner BISSELL.

So take the pledge now, and check back here all month for senior-pet Happy Tails, tips on adopting and caring for a senior pet, ways to help seniors find homes and more!

Tell us: Why does your senior pet rule?

Every year, The Orvis Company selects nonprofit organizations to feature in its catalogs, and encourages customers to donate as part of a $30,000 matching gift campaign. Groups selected also receive free ad placement in Orvis catalogs and on Orvis.com.

Until Nov. 10, you can vote to make the Petfinder.com Foundation a 2012 Orvis charity. Not only will this opportunity raise money for homeless pets, it will allow the Petfinder.com Foundation to run adoption-themed ads in Orvis catalogs and include an adoptable-pet search on its website for all of 2012.

All money raised through our proposed Orvis campaign will go directly to programs that vaccinate, transport, spay/neuter, and promote adoption of homeless dogs.
 
How to vote:

1. "Like" the Orvis Dogs Facebook page
   
2. Select the Petfinder.com Foundation
   
3. Fill out the required fields, then click "Submit"
   
4. Invite your friends to vote.

This is a great opportunity to raise awareness for shelter dogs and money for the Petfinder.com Foundation programs that support them. Help us reach the hearts of thousands of people who don't already know what we do. Together we can show them why pet adoption should be the only option -- VOTE TODAY!

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.

Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day is March 15 -- but the impact has already been huge.

More than 60 blogs and other websites have pledged to spread the word about pet adoption on March 15, and many have already started.

Here are some of the great ways adoptable pets are taking over the web on March 15:

• Adoptable-pet photo galleries: Oprah.com (yes, that's the Oprah) and PeoplePets.com will treat their millions of visitors to galleries of Petfinder pets.


• LOL adoptable pets: We hope you've been captioning Petfinder photos at ICanHasCheezburger.com! On March 15, the site will be spotlighting the photos with the funniest captions.


• Homepage takeovers: Our friends at Dogster and Catster will be dedicating their entire homepages to pet adoption!


• Today's top story: Pet-news sites PetSugar and AOL's PawNation will be blogging about pet adoption throughout the day.


• Prizes for pledgers: BISSELL is giving away 10 Pet Hair Eraser Vacuums to people who take our pledge to tell at least one person about pet adoption on March 15.


• Adoptable pets on Facebook: You can already search Petfinder pets on IAMS's Facebook page. IAMS has also been posting pet-adoption Happy Tails on Facebook, and will change its profile photo to an Adopt the Internet Day graphic on March 15.


• Wall of Fame: Each day next week, AnimalPlanet.com will post an adorable Petfinder pet on its Wall of Fame.

Did you have a plush Pound Puppy when you were a kid, complete with his own adoption certificate? I sure did, and now the Pound Puppies are back!

The lovable pups are starring in a new animated TV series premiering on the TV channel The Hub on Oct. 10 (find out more about the Pound Puppies TV series), with a great pro-adoption, pets-are-people-too message for young viewers.

And to celebrate, we've partnered with The Hub to offer some fantastic prizes to five lucky winners and the Petfinder-member shelters or rescue groups of their choice! Enter by 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 11. Five entrants will be selected at random to win a $50 PETCO^® gift card for themselves and a 4GB Flip ultra HD video camera for their favorite shelter!

Click here to enter the Pound Puppies Petfinder Giveaway.  (Read the official sweepstakes rules here.)

Did you have a Pound Puppy or watch the 80s-era TV show as a kid? Tell us!

Last week, photographer Melissa McDaniel shared her tips for taking better photos of deaf dogs and dogs in shelters. This week, she's giving you a chance to win a signed copy of her new book, Deaf Dogs!

The book features portraits of deaf dogs -- including a number of Petfinder alumni -- along with their stories. Enter here for a chance to win a signed copy of Deaf Dogs -- just give us your name and contact info by midnight Sept. 30; one winner will be selected at random. (Official rules)

Melissa hopes Deaf Dogs will inspire more people to help these special dogs. (Read Melissa's 2009 interview with the Petfinder blog to learn more about the challenges deaf dogs face and why she got involved).

Here are a few of the pups featured in Deaf Dogs (Photos and stories © Melissa McDaniel):

On Friday we shared an excerpt from Joanne Wannan's new book, New Lives: Stories of Rescued Dogs Helping, Healing and Giving Hope. (Read about Leo, a Pit Bull once owned by Michael Vick who became a therapy dog and Canine Good Citizen.)

Joanne's book is all about the ways rescued pets give us new lives -- and she's pledged to use her book to help shelter pets find new lives, too. Joanne's donating 50% of the book's profits for the months of October and November to a Petfinder.com member shelter or rescue group. This is where you come in.