Monday, July 30, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
CANIDAE DOG FOOD : MADE IN THE USA
The shelter where we got our dog was a county facility but the dogs were fed one of the finer dog foods, CANIDAE, which is made in the USA. This company did experience a recall in recent history, which is always upsetting, but it's not the whole story. Linking to their site!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
ADOPTING PETS FROM THE SHELTER
If you've been wondering where we've been, well, we adopted a rescue animal - a dog, on July 3rd!
We adopted from a local county shelter where there are usually a hundred or more adoptable "used" pets on any day of the year, many who do not make it into a new home, but are put to sleep, or put to death, because no one wanted them.
We brought our dog home, and are happy to report she made it through the Fourth of July parties and fireworks without bolting. Then began new parenting, watching her poops, learning her ways, and training her to our lifestyle.
Summer is a great time to introduce a pet into your home if you have children and they're home from school. YOU MUST, JUST AS YOU TRAIN A DOG, TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN the proper care of a pet.
There's a good way to learn this responsibility without actually adopting the animal outright, and that's by FOSTERING!
First, you can become part of a Rescue organizations program to nurture an animal ONLY UNTIL IT IS ADOPTED.
Secondly, some shelters also have a fostering program. You get to take the animal home and take care of it for 30 days and then return it to the shelter for a second go at adoption. If you decide this is the pet for you, you can complete the adoption and keep it.
Shelter dogs are often other people's pets who ran away, or worse, were put on the street rather than being turned into a shelter. Some people are too broke to take care of the animal, too broke to even pay a $20 intake fee at the shelter. They may fear, and sometimes for good reason, that the animal will be put to sleep right away. However, an animal who was a pet usually does not learn to forage out of garbage cans, kill birds, and avoid getting hit by traffic very quickly, and may be picked up by the "dog catcher" after it has become sick. A SICK ANIMAL WHO IS NOT LICENCED OR MICRO CHIPPED is very likely to be put to sleep shortly after it is picked up.
As evidence of an increasingly dire economy, the people at the shelter told me that even licenced and chipped animals are RARELY PICKED UP BY THEIR OWNERS. Now adays you can even get a pure bred dog for very little money from either a shelter or a rescue organization. People may simply not be able to afford the fees.
The initial cost of a dog is the start of a financial responsibility as well because animals need food and sometimes veterinary care. Shelter animals are often not released until they are spayed or neutered, have their shots, have been de-wormed, and are considered healthy. Sometimes you do get someone else's problem pet but sometimes reading a few books on dog training or care can make all the difference.
If you are getting a dog or cat for your children, make sure that you train them to take care of the animal and FROM THE START insist they do their part, as they promised you if you got an animal. TAKE THEM TO THE SHELTER to see the pets that have been given up or picked up. If you as a parent are concerned that you will be "Stuck" doing "All The Work," maybe it's not such a good idea to own a pet, other than, maybe a goldfish!
We adopted from a local county shelter where there are usually a hundred or more adoptable "used" pets on any day of the year, many who do not make it into a new home, but are put to sleep, or put to death, because no one wanted them.
We brought our dog home, and are happy to report she made it through the Fourth of July parties and fireworks without bolting. Then began new parenting, watching her poops, learning her ways, and training her to our lifestyle.
Summer is a great time to introduce a pet into your home if you have children and they're home from school. YOU MUST, JUST AS YOU TRAIN A DOG, TRAIN YOUR CHILDREN the proper care of a pet.
There's a good way to learn this responsibility without actually adopting the animal outright, and that's by FOSTERING!
First, you can become part of a Rescue organizations program to nurture an animal ONLY UNTIL IT IS ADOPTED.
Secondly, some shelters also have a fostering program. You get to take the animal home and take care of it for 30 days and then return it to the shelter for a second go at adoption. If you decide this is the pet for you, you can complete the adoption and keep it.
Shelter dogs are often other people's pets who ran away, or worse, were put on the street rather than being turned into a shelter. Some people are too broke to take care of the animal, too broke to even pay a $20 intake fee at the shelter. They may fear, and sometimes for good reason, that the animal will be put to sleep right away. However, an animal who was a pet usually does not learn to forage out of garbage cans, kill birds, and avoid getting hit by traffic very quickly, and may be picked up by the "dog catcher" after it has become sick. A SICK ANIMAL WHO IS NOT LICENCED OR MICRO CHIPPED is very likely to be put to sleep shortly after it is picked up.
As evidence of an increasingly dire economy, the people at the shelter told me that even licenced and chipped animals are RARELY PICKED UP BY THEIR OWNERS. Now adays you can even get a pure bred dog for very little money from either a shelter or a rescue organization. People may simply not be able to afford the fees.
The initial cost of a dog is the start of a financial responsibility as well because animals need food and sometimes veterinary care. Shelter animals are often not released until they are spayed or neutered, have their shots, have been de-wormed, and are considered healthy. Sometimes you do get someone else's problem pet but sometimes reading a few books on dog training or care can make all the difference.
If you are getting a dog or cat for your children, make sure that you train them to take care of the animal and FROM THE START insist they do their part, as they promised you if you got an animal. TAKE THEM TO THE SHELTER to see the pets that have been given up or picked up. If you as a parent are concerned that you will be "Stuck" doing "All The Work," maybe it's not such a good idea to own a pet, other than, maybe a goldfish!
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