Home for the Holidays Pet Adoptions 2009

We just noticed that the Irvine Animal Shelter is having their Home for the Holidays Pet Adoption this Sunday.  If you’re looking to adopt a pet this holiday season then we highly recommend you visit the Irvine Animal Shelter this weekend.  Here’s some more detailed information:

Home for the Holidays Pet Adoptions 2009

What: Home For The Holidays Pet Adoption 2009

When: December 6th, 2009 from 10am – 3pm

Where:
Irvine Animal Care Center
6443 Oak Canyon
Irvine, CA 92618

Go straight to the Irvine Animal Care Center Home for the Holidays website to see all of the participating rescues.  We noticed our friends at Cuddly Canines will be there and we also hope to drop by and support our local animal shelter.  By the way the Cuddly Canines website says that they will have We will have many wonderful dogs & puppies available for adoption! (Cuddly Canines will be in the back area).

We hope to see you all there.  If you do attend leave us a comment and let us know about your experience.  By the way, we attended the Irvine Animal Shelters Super Adoption last summer and they had some great raffle prizes.  Hopefully we’ll see the same at the Home for the Holidays pet adoption.

Should We Discount Price On Dog Adoptions?

Do you think our shelters should discount dog adoptions?  The question arose (in my head) when I was reading an article about Animal Shelter has dogs for half-price adoption. My initial reaction is “that’s great…hopefully we can get more dogs and cats adopted by discounting the adoption fee.”  However, on second thought I’m not so sure it is a great idea.

Discount Dog Adoptions

Image By Gore Fiendus (Jerry Frausto)

After further review of Discounting Dog Adoptions I’ve come to the conclusion that there are good and bad things that may result from discounting.  Lets start out with the good:

The Good of Discounting

• Discounting may be that final incentive someone needs to adopt a dog.
• A discount gives a person more money to spend on dog toys, veterinarian bills, etc.
• Marketing your discount program brings in more prospective adopters.

The Bad of Discounting

• If there is a discount the shelter receives less money.
• Okay, lets be honest…if you can’t afford the full adoption fee ($75 from the article) then should you really be adopting a pet. – my point being that the adoption fee should be the least of your monetary concerns when adopting a dog.

Shelter adoption fees are probably one of the smallest expenses you’ll spend on your new dog.

Here is an example of some of the fees you encounter during dog adoption: I brought Linus home from the shelter for somewhere in that price range of $35-40 adoption fee.  We then proceeded to spend approximately $200 on supplies including dog food,kennel, dog toys, treats, grooming supplies, etc.  When we got him home we noticed he was sluggish, infested with fleas (he had encrusted blood in his ears), stomach virus, worms, and was very anemic.  We took him to a self grooming shop, purchased a flea comb, medicated shampoo, and proceeded to clean him up – that was another 50 bucks.

The next day we took Linus to the veterinarian for a checkup.  He got his regular vaccinations, medication for his stomach virus and worms and we got another bill for about $200.  Finally, the shelter offered to neuter Linus at no charge…no thanks…Instead of bringing him back to the shelter we used our veterinarian.  When all was said and done another $250.  All of these fees piled up to nearly $1,000 in the first few weeks after adopting Linus.

On a positive note, Linus did receive his initial vaccinations from the shelter and they did offer to neuter him free of charge.  My fear of bringing him back for neutering was that he’d end up with fleas, worms, and another stomach virus.

Dog Adoption

A question I often get asked is what would I do today if I were to adopt a dog?  After all my experience with dog adoptions, rescues, shelters, fostering, guide dogs, puppy raising my first choice would be to establish a relationship with one of the our wonderful local dog rescues like Cuddly Canines and over time be patient and select a dog that would fit my personality and energy level.  I believe most rescues charge somewhere in the neighborhood of a $200-300 donation.  However, that usually includes spay/neuter which most rescues will do before you take home your dog, up to date vaccinations, de-flea and de-worm.  Also, dogs and puppies usually stay with a foster for at least 14 days for health and temperament evaluations.

Of course every dog rescue is different and I’d check with your favorite rescue volunteers to see exactly what their rescue has to offer before adopting.

How about you?  What kind of experience do you have with dog adoption?  Do you think discounting is a good way to “sell” adoption?

Puppy In Training Blog Carnival #5

Welcome back to another episode of the Puppy In Training Blog Carnival.  We made a few changes this week in hopes of creating more interaction and community in this edition of the blog carnival.

Two out of our four articles cover dog costs and how to save money when owning a dog.  I must say this definitely reflects the current economy and how each and everyone of us is looking for different ways to save money.

Puppy In Training Blog Carnival #5

Our first article tackles the problem of how to handle problems when a dog co-exists with a child.  The Baby-Log.com blog covers some important points in the article Kids and pets need to learn mutual respect.  The first rule mentioned in the article is probably one of the most important:  Play under supervision only. – If I can’t watch the kid and the dog every single second, they are not allowed to play.  Although I don’t have children my guide dog puppy has the same rule.  He’s only allowed to play with my other two dogs under supervision only.  Derby my guide dog puppy can often times get out of control and he must learn appropriate play with other dogs.

All of us here at Puppy In Training do our best to try and help out with dog adoptions and fostering.  Our second article from the Money Theory blog goes over the story of adopting two wonderful dogs.  If you’re interested in adopting a dog and would like to save a little money then check out our second article: Adopt a pet from your local shelter, and save money! We took that route and adopted Linus our Australian Shepherd mix from the shelter and we haven’t regretted that decision one bit!

Our third article from the Condo Blues blog tackles an issue I haven’t encountered just yet and that is trying to answer the question: Have You Ever Put An Active Dog On Complete Bed Rest? It’s Not Easy… I’ve always wondered how to put dogs on bed rest.  My friends American Staffordshire Terrier had two knee operations and had to be on bed rest.  I had another friend who’s Yellow Labrador Retriever was on bed rest for elbow dysplasia.  The list goes on and on and I’m pretty certain that my turn will come too.  This article tells you about Blitzkrieg the little Pekingese and how he was put on bed rest.

Our final article from the Lazy Man and Money covers a very important question with our current economy: How Much Does A Dog Cost? If you’re looking to get a dog this is a very important question to ask yourself because one of the top ten reasons dogs end up in shelters is that the cost of keeping the dog is two high for the owner.  This is a great article as the “Lazy Man” breaks down the initial expenses and recurring expenses a person will have when that person becomes a dog owner.  A quick not on this article: there are a ton of great comments after the article that raise some great points and offer additional information on how much a dog costs.

Thanks everyone for your submissions to the Puppy In Training Blog Carnival.  If you’re interested in submitting an article to our next blog carnival then please leave me a comment or send me a message through our contact form.

Three Out Of Four Animals Euthanized At Shelter

It’s an amazing statistic, but a common one at many shelters these days. This morning I read an article Las Cruces Sun News today about Animal Shelter Euthanasia Rates Remains High. They mention some alarming statistics including the one stated in the title of this article: “Three out of four of the roughly 1,500 animals taken in per month are killed.” That means that approximately 1,050 out of 1,500 animals are killed each month…that’s SHOCKING!!!

Animal Shelter Euthanasia Rates Remains High

Despite a goal by officials to move toward a no-kill animal shelter, the pet euthanasia rate at the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley is more than 70 percent.

I won’t pretend to know all the details going on at the Animal Services Center of th Mesilla Valley, but if 6 months ago the shelter director announced a goal of becoming a no-kill animal shelter then 70 percent euthanasia rate makes me believe that at this point the shelter is failing miserably.

The article does mention several possible issues and obstacles keeping the animal shelter from improving their numbers and moving towards the goal of a no-kill policy including:

• Lack of a full-time veterinarian
• The current directors outdated approach to tackling the euthanasia and pet overpopulation problems
• A “throw-away” mentality prevalent among county residents that places little value on pets’ lives and well-being.
• The shelter’s unfriendly atmosphere toward the public

The article brings to light some of the issues going on with one of Las Cruces’s local animal shelters and hopefully at some point in time the Animal Services Center of The Mesilla Valley does achieve its goal of becoming a no-kill shelter. However, at this point it does appear that they might be moving in the wrong direction.

Are You Ready For Pet Adoption?

If you’re interested in pet adoption do not take it lightly. As mentioned in one of the points earlier do not have the “throw away” mentality. You pets life is valuable and requires a long-term commitment.

One of the most important points I’d like to make when adopting a dog is to focus on their training. Your friends and family will enjoy your dog if he understands basic obedience. You and your dog will feel more comfortable on any outings whether it be to the dog park or to a friends home (you will be welcome to more peoples homes if your dog is well-behaved). Also, training your dog is a great bonding experience for you and your dog.

I did a little research in hopes of finding a database of animals from the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley, but was only able to come up with a link to the City of Las Cruces website with information contact information and hours of service. After a little further research I found their adoptable pet list on the Petfinder.com website. Here’s a link directly to their adoptable list: Animal Service Center of The Mesilla Valley.

The two pictures I included in this article are from the Las Cruces Sun News website. There are several other pictures at the following link: Animal Adoption Pictures.