Dog Adoption Centers: the best choice to adopt a pooch

Roxana, from Wet Nose Guide, wrote a great article on adopting a dog. Check it out below. If you're looking to add a new four-legged family member, check out our adoption page or head over to Petfinder to find a rescue or shelter close to you.

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Dog Adoption Centers: the best choice to adopt a pooch

When looking for a dog, dog adoption centers should be your first choice. Millions of dogs are placed in adoption centers, animal shelters, and rescue groups every year, and adopting a dog--as opposed to purchasing one from a breeder or pet store--will help to reduce the number of dogs who aren't able to find a family. But adopting a dog is a serious decision and not one to be taken lightly. When visiting a dog adoption center, the following considerations should be made.

Before you adopt a dog, it's vital to take a realistic look at whether you can handle the responsibilities associated with owning a dog. Dog ownership requires time, money, space, and attention--not to mention love. Before adopting a dog, make sure you have the necessary resources to give your new pet the life it deserves. Can you afford the food, medicine, and veterinary care that a dog requires? Do you have the free time necessary to give your dog the proper care and attention? Is your house big enough to accommodate an active dog? If you have children, are they mature and responsible enough to co-exist? These questions must be considered before you make the decision to adopt a dog.

Once you've determined that you can handle owning a dog, there are numerous options for adopting. Dog adoption centers and shelters are plentiful, and the ASPCA website maintains a database of the reputable adoption centers in your area. You can even find breed-specific dog rescue groups if you have an exact breed in mind to adopt. When visiting the shelter, talk to the staff about just what kind of dog you want to adopt. Besides breed, you want to make sure the dog's temperament is in line with what you're looking for. Many shelter dogs have been abused by prior owners, and they unfortunately may not be manageable in your home, especially if you have children. Make sure to ask the dog adoption center staff lots of questions, and don't be afraid to take your time with your decision.

Once you've found the dog that's right for you, it's time to adopt. Before you bring your new friend home, make sure to arrange the supplies you'll need for your dog's arrival. Set up food, water and food bowls, and bedding, and be sure to "dog-proof" your home against anything that might pose a danger to your new dog. Now, you can bring your adopted dog home and into your family.

Adopt Cody!

Cody is a handsome and sweet Labrador Retriever mix looking for his forever home. This sweetie came to us back in January, when we pulled him from the shelter, because he was scheduled to be euthanized. He is so sweet, we have no idea how he ended up there in first place.

Cody enjoys playing with his foster siblings, both cats and dogs alike. He's never met a stranger and loves meeting new people, always looking for a new friend to love on him. He gets along great with children. This funny boy thinks he's lap dog and loves to be near you.

He is a large boy, weighing in at about 65 pounds and he a has beautiful, glossy coat. Cody is about 1-2 years old.

In addition to being handsome, Cody is a smart boy and knows "sit" and "down". He would be a lot of fun to work with teaching crazy tricks to! He has the intelligence and drive to learn almost anything.

This playful boy loves toys, going for swims and car rides. His foster mom says that he is a sweet boy that would be great for a family.

We're waiting for the perfect family to come along and adopt this special boy. If you'd like more information about Cody, ARC or our adoption process, please check out our website at AdoptBay.com or give us a call at 850-387-0224. Please spread the word about him, and help Cody find his forever home. Every animal we adopt is another that we can save from being euthanized.

Free Cat Adoption Event!

Help save a life, become a foster today!

Going to the shelter is the best and worst part of rescue, I think.  It's really great being able to pull animals from death row into a foster home, where they will be safe and happy and go to a great forever home.  I LOVE being able to pull several dogs and cats at a time!

It's also incredibly sad, because we leave so many behind to face an uncertain fate.

This past Saturday, it was especially difficult.  Seeing kittens and puppies in the shelter always breaks my heart.  At the beginning of their life, they've already been abandoned, neglected or worse, mistreated.  There were SO many puppies and kittens there.  And we had to leave them behind, because there are never enough foster homes.

Even worse, at the moment, we don't have any foster homes that will take on puppies.

Fostering is so very rewarding.  Yes, it's hard when they are adopted.  But you know when they're adopted, that ARC has done everything in their power to make sure they're going to a great forever home.  When you become a foster for ARC, we pay for all of the medical procedures, and provide you monthly flea and heartworm preventative.  We provide collars and leashes for the dogs, and toys for the dogs and cats.  All we ask if that you provide a safe and loving home and food for your foster.

Won't you consider fostering?  Please contact us at Info@AdoptBay.com or 850-387-0224 if you live in the Bay County, Florida area and would like to foster.  Help us save more lives.

The puppies pictured here are all at Bay County Animal Control, waiting for an adopter or rescue to save them.  If you're interested in adopting them, please do.  BCAC is located at 6401 Bayline Drive, Panama City, FL.  Or give them a call at 850-767-3333.  The staff there is amazing and they work tirelessly to find these guys new homes or rescues.

I hope to hear from you soon.

~Stacey

Cool off this weekend!

Don't forget to drop by the Tropical Smoothie in Lynn Haven to cool off and help animals at the same time! A portion of all sales tomorrow from 2-9pm will be donated to ARC! We'll be there from 3-6pm with some of our amazing and adoptable dogs, like Cody and Skittles.

And don't forget our other great events this month, like the CATapalooza on the 24th, a cats-only adoption event! On the 31st, we'll be back at Tropical Smoothie for another Tropical Paws event.

If you'd like to get emails about our upcoming events and what's going on with ARC, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here!

See you Saturday!

Yappy Hour at Salty Sue's!

Come join us at Salty Sue's for a night of howling good fun (sorry, I couldn't resist)!! Dogs are welcome at this fabulous restaurant, the first in Panama City Beach to get it's "Doggie Dining" permit. We'll have prizes and proceeds will benefit the fabulous animals at ARC. There's a fenced in dog area, and The DogSmith will be there doing an Agility Clinic. We're planning on a raffle with some great prizes, including free petsitting or a free bath and nail trim from Lucky Paws Petsitting, gift certificates from Exotic Exposure Tanning, and a fabulous gift basket with a dog bed, toys, treats, collar, leash and so much more! Have fun with our doggy trivia contest and win some goodies. Enjoy the fabulous food and kick back with us...there's even a doggy menu! We hope to see you guys there :)

Scout is on the lookout for his forever home!

This fabulous boy came to us after the shelter contacted us a few weeks ago. His human companion passed away and they needed a place for him to go. Julie offered to foster him and she has nursed him back to health (he had a nasty cold).

Scout is such a great dog and will make a great addition to someone's family. He has an awesome personality. He's incredibly sweet and loving. Scout is about 2 years old and he gets along great with cats. As a matter of fact, it's not unusual to find him curled up with his feline buddy, both sound asleep.

In addition to being housetrained, Scout also knows "sit", "down", "shake" and "crawl". He loves to play, but is a great couch buddy, loving to snuggle up and watch television at night.

While we haven't had him around children or other dogs yet, we suspect that he would do great with both. Smaller children might be intimitated by his size and exuberance while playing. He would be a great companion for a family with older children looking for someone to run and play with.

If you'd like to see more pictures and information about Scout and how to adopt him, head over to our Adoption Page and click on his picture. If you can't adopt at this time, consider donating to help Scout and other animals like him. Don't forget to click on the "share" button to spread the word about this great dog!

Kittens!

These kittens came into ARC when they were only 3 days old! They're now 3 weeks old and doing great. Aren't they adorable?

At 3 weeks, their ears and eyes are open and they're toddling around pretty good.  They love people and start meowing whenever they hear their foster mom nearby.

They're just starting to play and learning the fine art of tackling :o)  Just in time for football season!

It's hard to tell if they're boys or girls when they're this young, but right now, we think we have 3 girls and 1 boy.  Both of the greys are little girls.  One of them is a bobtail.  One of the tabbies is a little girl and one is a little boy.  They both have bobbed tails.

We'd like to say a special thank you to Christine, who has been fostering these babies.  She's a real trooper, making sure that they're fed every 4 hours, keeping them clean (wow, what a mess kittens can make with kitten formula!!) and sending updates.  You're amazing, Christine!

We'll keep you updated as they grow!  We have video that we'll be posting soon, too.  Head over to our Facebook page for more updates and pictures at http://facebook.com/adoptbay or our check out our Twitter Feed at http://twitter.com/adoptbay. 

1st Edition of Paw Prints!

Hey everyone!

Check out the first edition of our newsletter, Paw Prints! We're very excited about it and hope that you'll enjoy it. We'll be expanding it as we continue to work on future editions. A very special thank you to Cameron, our newsletter designer and editor. You did a fantastic job!

We hope that you'll forward the newsletter on to your friends and family, and help spread the work about ARC. Consider posting a link in your Facebook, MySpace or blog.

Click here to see the 1st edition of Paw Prints!

Buster Brown!

Buster is an adorable Yorkie/Cairn Terrier mix who is happy and loving. He adores water and loves to jump in the shower with you...no worrying about this little guy staying dirty!

Find out more about Buster, see pictures and get information on adopting by clicking this link!

Adopt a Pet: Maria

Maria is a very sweet girl. She loves affection and is very content to sit on your lap for love and attention. She's very much a people cat. This little beauty is about 3 years old, and has a lovely personality to go with her gorgeous coloring.

Meet Mason!

Meet Mason! Mason is a handsome, joyful and sweet Treeing Walker Coonhound mix and he needs our help to get home. He's been in one rescue or another for 2 years now. Please watch the slideshow and consider forwarding this to your friends, family and coworkers. Post it on your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blog, anywhere you can think of. You might make a world of difference to Mason.

Meet Bella the Beautiful!

Meet Bella the Beautiful! This cute 4 month old kitten has confidence, personality and looks...what more could you ask for? To find out more about Bella and how you can adopt her, go to her Petfinder page.

L.A. for Adoption!

L.A. is a cute and happy Lhaso Apso mix who will make someone a wonderful friend and companion! He's a little shadow, always making sure that he is not far from his foster mom, making her laugh with antics. He's been groomed since this picture, so stay tuned for trimmed version!

Meet Salty!

Meet Salty, the newest ARC dog. This guy is gorgeous! From his foster mom, Diana:

Salty is completely house trained! He is very smart and inquisitive and wants to stick his nose into everything. He is good with other dogs, not sure about cats! He is super playful and even wants to bring back the ball when you play with him. He stays very close and got attached to me very fast. He loves to cuddle and just needs a home where someone can give him a lot of attention. He seems like a very happy dog, all he needs is a little bit of trust...and he will love anybody!!

We believe that Salty is a miniature Australian Shepherd mix, and he's between 6 months and a year old. Right now, he's about 21 pounds and we don't expect him to grow much more, so he will stay small.

Check out Salty on Adopt-A-Pet and Petfinder.

We've been busy!

We've been busy here at ARC for the last few days!

To start with, Charlie and I went off to the shelter on Friday to see about saving some animals from deathrow. I always say that this is one of the best AND the worst parts of rescue. It's great to be able to go in and pull animals that would have otherwise been euthanized. But it's terrible walking out of there, knowing that some of the ones you left behind won't make it out.

Friday, we were able to pull 3 dogs into the rescue, so it was a good day. The first is Molly, a Schnauzer/Poodle (or Schnoodle, just because it's fun saying it) mix. Molly is about 2 years old and while she danced and jumped in her cage, when Charlie walked in, she settled right down. You can tell that she has a lot of energy, but she keeps it contained. She's an adorable little dog with a huge personality. She rode great in the car, walks great on a leash and is the perfect size for a lap dog. Unfortunately, the only camera that I had with me was my cell phone camera. Add to that fact that it was getting to be twilight (not a good time for a mediocre camera) and that she is a dark color and you end up with enclosed picture...it does not do her justice at all.

The other two dogs that we pulled are awaiting pickup by their fosters. Once their fosters get them, send pictures and name them, I'll write all about them. They're great little dogs, too!

The weekend ended on a great note...Chloe, the senior Himalayan cat, was adopted! Chloe was the only cat that wasn't adopted at our CATapalooza event last month and I was saddened by the fact that we couldn't find someone to overlook her age. It turns out, we did...her adopter saw her at the CATapalooza event and couldn't get her out of his head.

All-in-all, it was a great weekend! We have three great new dogs (don't forget to check back for more information on the other two, a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua mix) and we should be getting in a couple of cute kittens, as well!

And then there was one...

Today was ARC's CATapalooza event and I have to say it was a smashing success...for all of the kitties except one.

Yes, all but one. Every cat was adopted today, except for one. Gizmo, after 9 months, was officially adopted. Noah, the owner surrender who took losing his home so hard, found a home that didn't mind his shy ways. Tater, the cat who was abandoned to live a hard life outside when his owners moved without him, found someone who loved his affectionate and demanding ways. Thomas, the large Tom cat, who only wants to petted and loved, found a wonderful family.

So who was left behind? Chloe, our beautiful Himalayan diva, who loves to be brushed, petted and adored. And why was Chloe left behind? Chloe is 10 years old and that seems to be a major strike against her. Add to that the infection that she recently got over that caused her to lose weight, and you have a cat that everyone oohed and ahhed over, but at the end of the day, no one adopted.

Our happiness at all of the adoptions and wonderful families that we met today, was tempered by the sadness that we felt when we had to take darling Chloe back to her foster home.

But that's okay. Chloe is safe and loved in her foster home. And she will stay safe and loved in her foster home until we find the perfect home that she deserves to live out her golden years in.

Please consider being Chloe's forever home. Or, help spread the word about a deserving and loving cat, who wants nothing more than a place to call her own. Check her out on Petfinder, email us at Info@ARCofBayCounty.org or call us at 850-387-0224 for more information.

Step to the Rescue Video

Our Step to the Rescue dance even brought the media. Check out the video below to see the piece that WMBB did on our dance Saturday night.

Step to the Rescue Success!

Thank you to everyone who helped with, supported and came to our Step to the Rescue Dance last night. It was a definite success, bringing in about $2700 to help the animals! Stay tuned for pictures and more details!