Why Fostering Is A Great Option

It's not easy being a shelter dog. You sit in a cage, watch strangers walk by and say "cute doggie". If you're lucky, they'll stop by and talk to you. Then, you know you've hit the jackpot when you are taken out of your cage to be with them. There's always a good chance you'll be adopted, but never any guarantees. Medium to large dogs are even harder to adopt because many people are intimidated by their size.

With all of the shelters becoming filled and more dogs waiting for homes, there's only so much space available for strays. One solution that helps with shelter overpopulation is fostering dogs in a home environment.

The Great Compromise

What makes fostering ideal is the fact that dogs are living in an environment that doesn't involve metal bars all of the time. They get the human affection that they don't get in a shelter. Shelter life isn't easy for a dog. It's ok for a temporary solution, but after a while, many dogs become overwhelmed and will start acting out as a result of being caged so long.

Foster families have the opportunity to have a dog in their house. There is no permanent commitment required. If the foster family is interested in having a dog long-term, this gives them the option of seeing how the foster adapts to their lifestyle.

Other benefits include:

• Giving the foster pet a calmer environment. Animals don't have to worry about being around a bunch of dogs barking constantly but rather a select few, if any at all.
• It teaches dog lovers about the differences in breeds. Every dog that enters a foster home, brings a different dynamic.
• The rewards of volunteering without leaving your home. You make a difference in a dog's life even if it is just for a few weeks. A dog can become adoptable, and more socialized as a result of its time as a foster.
• It's tax deductible. I first learned about this through my Twitter friend Nadine. Many times, people who work in animal rescue do so for the love of the animal. They really don't profit from it. Now, thanks to a landmark case, Van Dusen v. Commissioner, most fostering costs are tax deductible. However, if the costs over $250, one will need a letter from the 501c3 agency stating that the expenses have to be directly related and solely attributable to the rendition of services towards the benefits of the foster animal.

The Caveats

1. It is very hard to remain detached from a foster animal. The bond between animal and human is very strong and it's hard for many to say goodbye when the time comes. Many fosters will wind up adopting one of the animals.
2. Many cities and towns have a limit on how many animals a resident can have living in their home. One has to be careful to not exceed that limit.
3. It takes a couple of weeks to truly understand the animals behavior. The first days are an adjustment phase and the days after will determine the true nature of the animal.

The Right Decision

While fostering a pet isn't the easiest job in the world, it is one of the most rewarding. It's not for everyone, but if you've been curious, it may be something to consider.

Let's Discuss!

How do you feel about fostering an animal?

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The Bark Side: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial Teaser - YouTube

Happy Monday Folks! With the Superbowl being less than a couple weeks away, one thing is certain. Clever ads are soon to follow. This video is by Volkswagen and they do a great job where the dogs bark to the Darth Vader Theme from Star Wars.

How popular is this video? It's been view over 7.2 million times. Enjoy and please share your thoughts below.

2011 Home 4 The Holidays Wrap-Up

The Iams Home 4 the Holidays adoption campaign was a smashing success. A total of 1,267,541 animals were adopted between Oct. 1 and Jan. 3 through more than 4,000 animal organizations from around the world (that's an average of 9 adoptions per minute!). Forever homes were found for:

• 651,224 dogs
• 595,000 cats
• 21,317 other animals (including rabbits, reptiles, horses, birds and more);

On top of that, since the program began in 1999, more than 7 million families have experiences the joy of pet adoption through Iams Home 4 the Holidays! IAMS also met its goal to donate 5 million meals to pets in need through its annual Bags 4 Bowls program. This was all made possible through retail purchases and online engagement from all the animal lovers out there who participated.

If you would like to read more about this program, please visit their Facebook page.

Let's Discuss!

How did you participate in the Home 4 The Holidays program this year?

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Why Dogs Love To Chase Moving Objects

An Unexpected Attack

Last week, a 62-year-old man was running along a beach. Out of nowhere, two pitbulls chased him and nearly mauled him to death. If a neighbor hadn't intervened, by hitting the dogs with a baseball bat, he would have died. He was admitted to the hospital in a coma.

Because they attacked a human, the dogs shot on site, and the owner was cited with failure to own a proper license as well as failure to restrain each dog. How did this happen? Someone had left the gate open in their backyard.

What makes this story especially tragic was the owner, Jimmy Johnson, was forthcoming when the story broke. He was hoping that these weren't his dogs but his worst nightmare came true.

What Drives Dogs To Chase Objects In Motion

This story is terrifying for all parties involved. It's a situation where all dog owners should be proactive. I couldn't help but wonder what drives them to chase people and other moving objects. All it takes is for a dog to chase a car and get hit. There isn't just one reason but many. Here are some.

They are protecting their territory.

Many dogs feel that their job is to keep watch over their home. A home with a fenced-in yard is practically a requirement for dog owners because it's easy for a dog to take off an running. They will stop at nothing to protect their territory and one of those ways is to chase intruders away.

They are intriguing.

Joggers and bicyclists are interesting to dogs. They are naturally curious and when they see a jogger running by they want to see what's happening.

They view it as prey.

Although dogs are domesticated, many have a natural prey drive. Whether it's a squirrel, rabbit or cat, many are inclined to want to chase them down. Seeing a person or fast moving object can easily trigger the prey drive, especially if the dog is a hunting breed. Dogs don't see this as work, but more as if it's sport.

Final Thoughts

Accidents happen. Not everything can be seen in black and white when it comes to dogs. Even though they are now domesticated, it's always important to remember that they will have a strong animal instinct that comes out from time to time. It's a reminder to owners that being a dog lover comes with an even stronger ability to anticipate these moments.

Let's Discuss!

What are some things that your dog loves to chase that you wish they wouldn't?

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I know it's been awhile since I've written a post. I'm in the middle of learning a new technology (Drupal). The process has taken more of my time than usual. Balancing it out with blogging has been quite a challenge but I just wanted to let you know that I will always be writing, just not as frequently. I appreciate your patience and if anyone has any comments or questions, leave them below.

The Unusual Surprise On New Year's Eve

Yesterday in the early evening, I was taking the three dogs out for a long walk. They love the exercise and it's a great energy release for them. When I was just short of the halfway point, I heard a noise similar to a firecracker. It was this noise that stopped Homer in his tracks and made a beeline to come straight back home.

So we had walked quite a bit and were leisurely heading back. Within a block of my house, I heard a "Pop, pop, pop" sound that made Homer want to amp up the speed. One of the things I forget to do is not to coddle him. When you do that when a dog has a challenging situation, it actually reinforces the reactions as good instead of comforting him.

The Source Of The Noise

When I had explained the situation to my neighbor, he told me that the noises were gun shots. I was floored. I never really have liked guns. While they may be a necessary evil to keep things in the world running smoothly, they are not a necessity to live your everyday life.

While it's great that this country's constitution gives us the right to bear arms, I can never understand firing one's gun into the air just to do it. Too many times we hear about how a bullet ricochets and kills an innocent bystander. My neighbor also informed me that he found two bullets lodged in his roof. One he was able to remove and the other he wasn't.

I'm all for celebrating the new year to the fullest. But I think that many of use can go without the gunshots that follow. I know that Homer would agree with me.

Let's Discuss!

What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever felt that people overdo it when it comes to guns?

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2012 Calendars

Hi Everyone! It's hard to believe that this year has almost come to an end. I created a set of calendars this year and did a similar set for 2012.

Any feedback is appreciated. You can download the appropriate sizes below.

Monitors

640px X 480px
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1024px X 768px
1152px X 864px
1280px X 1024px

Widescreen Monitors

1280px X 768px
1280px X 800px
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Great Last-Minute Gifts For Your Pooch

The holidays can be hectic these days. Dogs have become more important when it comes to shopping. All of the gifts below are available at brick and mortar stores in the US. A few of the stores like PetsMart are located in Canada too. With only a few days left, here are a some ideas for the dog lover and dog in your life:

Boneheads Rain Coat, from Petco

Many raincoats cover the top of a dog but not the bottom. This coat by Boneheads has pretty good coverage by having thick velcro straps around the neck and across the chest.

Luv-A-Pet Christmas Ornaments from PetSmart

These ornaments are available for dog or cat lovers and are great stocking stuffers at only $3.00 each (on sale).

The Dog Whisperer by Paul Owens from Barnes and Noble

This is one of the best books on dog training out there. The other stresses non-violent training which focuses on using positive reinforcement. There is also a gift bundle which includes his other book, Good Habits for Great Dogs. You can find the original book for about $10 USD and the bundle for around $25 USD.

Little Gifts Luggage Tags from Petsmart

These tags are ideal for the pet-loving traveler in your life. They come in variety of tags including: Cat, Chihuahua, Daschund, Labrador, Pug, Schnauzer, Shi Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier. They sell for $7.99 USD on sale.

No Outfit Is Complete Without Doghair t-shirt from PetSmart

This is one of five t-shirts by Life is Ruff with an assortment of colors and funny statements. They cost about $18.00 USD.

This is just a short list of stuff to help you if time has crept up too fast. I wish you all much happiness this holiday season.

Let's Discuss!

Have you finished your holiday shopping this season?

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Home 4 The Holidays Tweets Results

Last month, Too Kool Doggies readers participated in Home 4 The Holiday Meal Drive. Most of the meal drive happened on Twitter and I'm happy to share the results on Twitter.

As a result there were 61 tweets shared over the holiday weekend which fed over 610 pets. To date, over 3,000,000 bowls of food have been donated to the cause, and with just under a month to go, they may reach their goal.

Below is a special widget that keeps track of Home 4 The Holidays' progress.



We all hope to reach every goal we set. If you would like to support Home 4 The Holidays, please visit the Facebook page. Every like helps to feed more pets. Also, you can view their website.

If a customer buys a specially marked bag of Iams dog food, a meal will be donated to a local dog shelter. Even better news is that if you adopted a pet during the season, you qualify for a $35 dollar rebate.

Let's Discuss!

How has the Home 4 The Holidays campaign touched your life?

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The Importance Of Good Shoes

Homer with my summer sandals.

Hello Everyone!

I know it's been awhile since my last post. This past semester was really demanding considering that I had classes that were extremely time-consuming. When you combine that with work, it makes it trickier to blog consistently. Anyhow, I'm glad to be back and have missed you much.

The Moment Of Realization

Many times, we take good shoes for granted. A few weeks ago, I had the opposite reaction when I had sharp pains after wearing the new shoes I recently bought a couple of weeks ago. They weren't anything fancy, just a decent pair of Nikes that I bought for everyday wear and walking the dogs that I do.

So what was wrong with them? They were made with no arch support. Usually, when I buy gym shoes, I've never ran into that problem, however since I was looking more at side support first, that totally evaded me.

What then happened is I found my left foot hurting, with sharp throbs of pain going through it. Since I hadn't kept the receipt long enough, I decided to pick up insoles from Target. After the first day, both my feet were sore. After a few days the pain subsided.

Facts About Foot Pain

When you're walking a dog, there's nothing like shoes with good support. Walking puts up to 1.5 times one's bodyweight on the foot. The average person will walk 1,000 miles (1,609 km)in a year's time.

What To Look For

Whenever buying shoes for lots of walking one should:

• Find a shoe built solidly with arch and side support. You can find one for a reasonable price but watch out for lower quality shoes.
• Make sure it fits your foot. Nothing should be squeezed or poked. Even in the same size, two pairs of shoes will fit differently on your foot.
• Can they be waterproofed? Some shoes are pre-treated and others will need a spray. There's nothing worse than getting wet because water soaks through your shoes.
• If you do lots of walking, look for a shoe that's lightweight. Running or walking shoes are ideal since they are made for that reason. The last thing a runner wants is a heavy shoe. Walking shoes are really popular because of walking's increased popularity as exercise.

With a little time and dedication, you're feet will stay in good condition and remain pain free.

Let's Discuss!

Do you have any stories of unfortunate shoes or what you look for in a great shoe?

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41 Beagles Saved From Spain

Photo: Andy Holzman

Yesterday, I saw a story on the news about 72 beagles being saved because an animal research lab was closing in Spain. All I could think of was there were all these dogs like my Homer out there who were suffering.

Luckily, the Beagle Freedom Project was able to bring 41 of these dogs home on Thanksgiving. Shannon Keith, the president of the organization maxed out her credit cards to make this trip possible. Currently 16 of the 41 beagles are staying temporarily at her LA home. The The other 31 dogs were adopted out in Europe.

It is believed that these dogs were being used to test for human drugs. Beagles are frequently chosen as test subjects because of their calmness and docility. The age of these beagles is between 4 to 7 years old.

The dogs have never seen anything but the inside of a crate. Now, as they wait to be fostered and/or adopted, they are in pens where they can move freely. Many got the chance to feel grace under the feet for the first time in their life.

Many of the dogs were given celebrity names like Tom Hanks and Sylvester Stallone since they were headed to LA. They seemed to have settled into their surroundings just fine.

How You Can Help

Originally, the Beagle Freedom Project started in December 2010 when a research lab from California gave Beagles their shot at freedom. It's been going strong ever since.

There are still beagles out there who are looking for a foster home or a forever home. The group also accepts donations. At the end of the year, their 2012 calendar will be coming out too.

Let's Discuss!

Have you known a dog that was rescued from a research lab?

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