Petfinder Blog

Rex, a German Shepherd, Labrador and Bassett Hound mix, never knew anything but shelter life. His mother was dropped off at a Tennessee facility two days before Rex came into the world.

Quickly transferred to another shelter, Rex was put on a transport for New Hampshire in an effort to get him to a part of the country where shelters weren't so overcrowded.

Eventually he came into the care of the Salem Animal Rescue League in Salem, NH, where his photo and description were put on Petfinder then jettisoned far and wide.

A year and a half earlier, the Walsh family dog, Bootsie, was killed in an accident. The whole family was devastated but Jamie, now seven, had a particularly rough time.

"She spent many nights crying for her beloved Bootsie," says Jamie's father Michael Walsh. "My wife and I really had a hard time deciding whether or not we should get another dog and possibly put her through something like that again."

Titan, a Great Dane, was recently named the World's Tallest Dog by Guinness Word Records and appeared on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. He is also special for another reason.

The Baltimore Examiner reports that Titan's mom found the blind, deaf and epileptic rescue dog on Petfinder when he was just three months old -- and already weighed 55 pounds.

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, and we'll let people who've done just that explain why seasoned companions are so special.

Read on for five senior-pet Happy Tails -- and if you can't adopt your own senior pet, you can help them find homes by adding our adoptable senior pet search widget (shown here) to your Web site.

Bunny
"We drove 800 miles to get her. It was love at first site. She happily hopped in the car and headed back to Alabama with us, where she immediately made herself at home and has stolen all of our hearts. She has filled much of the void left by my old pal Bud, and filled our home with the love of a senior dog. We tell her every day that she hit the Basset Hound lottery, but actually it was us who won."
>> Read Bunny's full Happy Tail.

Bugsy, an eight-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, was Lauren Morris's dog. He had come with her from her parents' home -- where he had plenty of playmates -- to her marital home.

Now he was depressed, missing the little pack of terriers he'd been around all his life. Lauren and her husband decided to get him a companion.

"We both agreed the route of rescue would be best," Lauren says, "giving a forever home to someone in need, rather
than supporting the breeding industry."

The couple asked their veterinarian what kind of dog would be best for Bugsy. The vet suggested that a younger female dog would probably work out well.

Lauren's husband favored German Shepherds, but they figured that was too large a breed to be a good companion for little Bugsy. So they logged on to Petfinder to see what was available and were shocked to see how many homeless pets were in their area.

"Don't buy a dog when you can adopt one from the shelter," Amanda Burke told her mother, who was tempted by Dachshund puppies for sale at a flea market. Amanda's mom was ready to bring a new pet into the family after losing her dog a month earlier.

Amanda decided to see what was available on Petfinder, so she went online, typed in Dachshund and up came Troy -- a Dachshund/Basset Hound mix -- at the Abingdon, VA, department of animal control's C.C. Porter Animal Shelter.

"I took the grandkids by to meet him since my mom had work that day," Amanda says, "and they fell in love with him." The next day, they took Mom to the shelter to meet Troy. She was quite taken with him, but a puppy had recently been brought into the facility as well, so she was torn: the cute little puppy or Troy, an adult dog.

For Amanda, the choice was clear. She
knew puppies get adopted quickly, but Troy might never find a home. Even a 1-year-old dog stands less chance of being adopted. Her mom adopted Troy.

Brody has more than 270 friends on his MySpace page and the neighbor kids come over to ask if he can come out to play. That's quite a change from the "unsociable" label he earned just a few years ago while waiting for a home.

Brody, then two years old, was spotted on Petfinder by Dale Mustard of Cannon Beach, Ore., after the Pembroke Welsh Corgi had washed out at his previous two homes: once for his high energy, once because he bullied the family's new dog.

Rescued Paws in Longview, Wash., posted Brody on Petfinder, but he "was pegged as one 'who does not get along with others,' " according to Dale. "Now he has a more active social life than his human family."

October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month and, with the ongoing economic crisis, there are more dogs in need than ever. But what if you can't adopt?

Here are some easy ways you can still help:

1. Donate your Facebook status. Just paste this message into the "What's on your mind?" box at the top of your page: "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com"


2. Tweet, retweet and repeat the following (or your own brilliant message): "October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month. Save a life: Adopt a dog! http://www.petfinder.com"

It's Deaf Dog Awareness Week and we're happy to bring you an interview with Melissa McDaniel, an avid deaf-dog advocate and blogger, as well as photographer for The Photo Book Projects, a stunning series of soon-to-be-published books calling attention to deaf and rescue dogs.

(Don't miss the great giveaway at the end of this post!)

What is the purpose of The Photo Book Projects?
I wanted to do something to raise awareness and money for deaf-dog advocacy [and rescue] groups and to show these dogs for the beautiful animals that they are. In many respects, deaf dogs are just like hearing dogs. [My deaf dog] Sadie has a great life. She has no idea she's deaf and if she does, she doesn't let it hold her back. Humans could learn a lot from deaf dogs.

What inspired you to create the books?
My dog Sadie is a deaf Border Collie mix that I adopted. Her mother was deaf and she passed this trait along to the puppies. After getting Sadie, I learned all about the issues deaf dogs face, including the horrible statistic that thousands of deaf dogs are put to sleep each year simply because they are deaf.

Why do you think deaf dogs are singled out?
There are many myths circulating about deaf dogs, including that they are untrainable, dumb, stubborn and aggressive, and these just aren't true. Many of the dogs appearing in the books are better-trained than most hearing dogs I know and some are even therapy dogs and/or compete in agility.

A Better Place, a New Boston, MI-based rescue group, produced this great video about two Springer Spaniels found living in filthy conditions who went on to thrive in foster care and at their new forever home. The story of Duke and Spike shows what's possible with a little grooming, a little affection and a lot of love.

You might also like:

Learn about English Springer Spaniels

Adoptable English Springer Spaniels listed on Petfinder now

Learn about Welsh Springer Spaniels

Adoptable Welsh Springer Spaniels listed on Petfinder now

Pets available for adoption at A Better Place

All better now: Read Grace's story in her adoptive mom's own words.

The tiny kitten had been abandoned by his mother and hand fed until he was seven weeks old. Now he was getting a second chance.

Lisa Driscoll had seen the kitten on Petfinder and contacted the rescue group, Pet Guardian, in Virginia Beach, VA, which had listed him on the site. She arranged to meet the kitty at his foster home.

"There were several kittens in foster care, but we still loved the one that we had seen online," Lisa says. "We took him home with us that night."

All the events in this kitten's short life had thus far been traumatic, but now everything seemed rosy. He had a new home and loving pet parents. Two days into his new life, however, Lisa noticed that something wasn't right. Her new kitten was sick.