Karen Owens, CPDT-KA®, is head trainer at Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control in Charlotte, NC. Her position is made possible through a Petfinder.com Foundation Train to Adopt grant. Today, she tells us how the program is helping make dogs more adoptable.

Killarney (pictured) is a medium-sized Boxer mix puppy that came to our shelter in late October. Her feet tell me she's going to be a big girl someday. She has a sweet, eager face, big brown eyes and a big personality, but, oh, her jumping! She can launch her muscular little 38-lb. body off me, the walls, the kennel door or anything else within reach.

When I first met Killarney she was, as they say here in the South, a "hot mess." She was beginning to display multiple signs of stress, such as excessive jumping, increasingly high arousal, barking, lunging and spinning. These behaviors were her way of showing me that she wasn't coping well with the stress of shelter life.

When stress-induced behaviors are repeated for any length of time by dogs, they become part of the dog's typical day-to-day behavior, and can continue after a dog leaves the shelter. We knew that, if not treated as an emergency, the negative effect of shelter life would have repercussions in Killarney's behavior for many years to come.

Find out how we helped Killarney and watch a video of her after the jump.

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

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

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

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

Founded in 2003, the Petfinder.com Foundation has grown significantly over the past eight years. Our first year, we awarded $43,000 in grants to shelters and rescue groups across the U.S. At the end of 2011 we will have awarded more than $10 million in grants to Petfinder.com member shelters and rescue groups.

To say that we are thrilled about this growth is an understatement. As we move forward to the end of the year, we're reviewing some of our success stories and new partnerships and relationships. Here are just a few highlights:

Rescue U
Our Rescue U program grew greatly in 2011. In it, we send student volunteers to shelters in rural areas in need of assistance. The students work with shelter volunteers and members of the community to fix up and build new kennels, cat houses and play areas, bathing areas and more. (Read stories
from past trips here.)

We're now working with universities and shelters to establish Rescue U chapters nationwide. These chapters will focus on their own communities, getting together to help their local shelters. Several times a year, the Petfinder.com Foundation will do larger trips to places that need it most, ensuring that efforts bring a positive change to shelters and homeless pets.

This year, four U.S. shelters were able to enlist licensed dog trainers to train their dogs to impress potential adopters, thanks to Train to Adopt grants from The Petfinder.com Foundation and support from The Animal Rescue Site.

Train to Adopt provides shelter dogs with training to increase their chances of being adopted -- and so far, many of the "students" are getting adopted! Meet North Carolina Train to Adopt dogs in this video.

Help us Train Even More Shelter Dogs!
Now, with your help, we can win $50,000 to expand this great program and train even more shelter dogs!

Throughout July, you can vote once a day for the Petfinder.com Foundation's idea, "Train Shelter Dogs and Provide a Better Quality of Life," in the Pepsi Refresh Project.

With $50,000, we can provide training to shelter dogs that will not only teach them impressive tricks, it will provide them with mental stimulation while they await their forever homes. Please vote today!

The Petfinder.com Foundation's new Train to Adopt program provides shelter dogs with behavioral training to increase their chances of being adopted.

Developed in partnership with The Animal Rescue Site and renowned dog-behavior expert Sue Sternberg, Train to Adopt kicked off on Feb. 1 and will run through 2011 at these four shelters:

• Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia
• Humane Society of Missouri in
  St. Louis
• Pima Animal Care Center in
  Tucson, AZ
• Charlotte Mecklenberg Animal Care and Control in Charlotte, NC

Thanks to grants totaling $176,000 awarded the organizations, all four hired a highly qualified trainer to implement the Train to Adopt program.