Reasons to Adopt a Dog

Picture of the author with her rescue dog Zoey

Since October is National Adopt-a-Dog Month, I decided to share a few great reasons to adopt a dog instead of buying one. If anyone spots a reason that I missed, please add it in the comments!

• If you get a dog from the Almost Home Foundation instead of a pet store, you won't be supporting puppy mills. Puppy mills are places that breed dogs, often in unsanitary, cramped conditions. The breeding dogs spend most of their lives in a cage, with little or no freedom to run and play. Medical care is generally not provided, so it's no surprise that pets from these environments often have health or behavior problems. Unfortunately, dogs you see in pet store windows frequently come from puppy mills. By adopting from a rescue or shelter, you are disagreeing with puppy mill practices.

• At the Almost Home Foundation, you'll find dogs of various ages. Adult animals are more likely to be house trained or know a few basic commands, especially if they've had a foster mom or dad taking care of them in a home. 

• Dogs at shelters and rescues cost less than buying from a breeder. Breeders charge from the upper hundreds to thousands of dollars for their animals. If that price range is too high for you, Almost Home can still match you with a pet that will be a great fit for you and your lifestyle. (The pet will be just as loving, too)!

• Since the Almost Home Foundation has an all volunteer staff, the money you spend on the animals goes directly to their care, not to employee salaries. Some of the volunteers at AHF work so hard I'll bet you're surprised they don't get paid!

• This is my personal favorite reason for adopting--the knowledge that you made a difference in the life of an animal by giving it a forever home. In addition, you make room for the AHF volunteers to take in another animal in place of the one you adopt. Since Almost Home is a no-kill organization, you can save the lives of two animals by just adopting one!

If you haven't seen the adoptable dogs currently available at AHF, please check out the website at www.almosthomefoundation.org and click on available dogs. As mentioned above, if you've ever adopted a pet, please add your own reasons for doing so. Bloggers love comments!

Tips for Writing a Guest Blog Post

This week I'm hoping to eliminate some of the anxiety people may have about writing a blog post. I know that AHF's volunteers have some great stories and information to share, and I want to encourage all of you to share your thoughts on this blog. Here are my tips for writing a blog post:

• Choose a well-defined topic. Topics like "Saving Dogs" are a bit too general for a blog post. Pick something unique to you or something you want readers to know about. For example, if you volunteered at this year's annual run/walk, you could write about that experience. Alternatively, stories from long-time foster moms/dads would make interesting posts. Please don't feel limited by my examples--just have a specific topic in mind for your post before you start writing.

• Choose a title. Your title should be simple and reflect the topic of your blog post. For example, my title for this post promises to deliver tips on how to write a blog post. This advice isn't meant to squash your creativity. Be as creative as you want in the post itself, but search engines simply don't know what a title such as "Dog Gone It" is about, and neither will readers.  

• Blog post length. Your readers are looking for information and/or an interesting tale about your volunteer work, not the next Great American Novel. Try to sum up your story or information in a few paragraphs. If the post must be longer, please use subheadings, numbers, or bullet points to help break up the text and make it easier to read. Keep your paragraphs to a few sentences each.

• Spelling and grammar. A quick spelling and grammar check makes your post look more professional, but please don't obsess about this. I promise that readers will not criticize you for ending a sentence with a preposition. 

• Use of images. If they're relevant to your post, go ahead and use images. Just be sure that you explain to readers what the image depicts. For example, in a post about the run/walk you could include a photo of yourself at the event.

• Have fun sharing what you know with readers. Please don't be shy about posting or commenting on the blog. As everyone knows, the animals need all the help they can get, and a busy blog will show off Almost Home's great work!

AHF 5k and 3k Run/Walk is Almost Here!

Hi, I'm Franklin, one of the dogs up for adoption at the Almost Home Foundation. It's been "ruff" not having a forever home, but YOU can help make the work that the wonderful volunteers do for us animals a little easier. Come on out Sunday, September 23 for AHF's 2nd Annual Running for Rescue 5k and 3k Dog Run/Walk at Hamilton Lakes Park. It won't cost much to sign up--just $40 for adults--and the dogs and humans who went last year told me that they had a great time.

In addition to the adult 5k run and and 3k family dog walk, there'll be a kids' fun run, awesome games, and music, too! You can even shop at the Bark Bazaar for pet products and pet-themed gifts for you and your pet.

ALL of the money collected from the race goes to the care and feeding of the animals. (We promise to share with the cats, too). There are over 100 dogs and cats at Almost Home right now, which adds up to a lot of kibble! Sometimes we need shots and need other medical attention, but Almost Home's volunteers always look out for us.

You should also know that AHF is a no-kill animal shelter with an all volunteer staff. I just love no-kill shelters, don't you?  

To participate in the run/walk event, please visit www.running4rescue.org and click on the register button. Registration will remain open until September 22. The website also has information for people who want to volunteer during the event as well as for vendors. I wish you could see my tail wagging at the thought of all the humans and their dogs coming out to help us!

February is Spay and Neuter month.

How does spaying and neutering our cats and dogs save the animals? According to the ASPCA, approximately 5 to 7 million animals enter animal shelters/rescues nationwide every year. Of these animals, approximately 3 to 4 million are euthanized. Most of the animals euthanized had their lives ended because there was no room left for them in the shelters and no one to adopt them. So you ask, why spay or neuter your pet? Isn’t that enough reason? Well, we know by past experience that it is not enough reason for many pet owners. So let us give you a few more reasons that can affect each and every cat or dog you own in your lifetime.

One obvious health benefit is to our female pets, preventing them from having to go through pregnancy and all the potential pregnancy complications. The incredible physical stress that our female pets go through during pregnancy and birth is eliminated. Spaying female pets also eliminates the following: spotting during heat period; false pregnancies; mammary tumors; uterine infections; tumors of the ovaries or uterus; and stress, leading to increased susceptibility to disease.

In female dogs, heat periods occur twice a year and last about 3 weeks each time. Female cats may come into heat every 2-3 weeks. During heat, both dogs and cats will be more irritable and nervous than usual, and may even become aggressive and damage furniture or attack strangers. Female cats may howl and rub excessively.

Male dogs being neutered will benefit even more than females. It is true; less testosterone does equal less trouble. An unneutered male can detect a female in heat even miles away. Neutering decreases roaming by 90%. Responding to the overwhelming urge to reproduce, he may often become nervous and irritable, perhaps picking fights with other dogs or become lethargic, less responsive to his owner, stop eating or act ill or depressed. Neutering male pets may reduce or eliminate the following behaviors: territoriality and aggression, including urinating to mark territory and fighting to defend it; wandering, escaping and automobile injuries; humping behavior; prostate enlargement; prostrate tumors and infections; tumors of the testicles, penis and anal area; hernia; and stress leading to increased susceptibility to disease.

So, besides the health of your animals, the saving of millions of animals, the improvement to our community as a whole, please also remember that neutered cats and dogs focus their attention on their human companions/families. Isn’t that one of the main reason we all love our cats and dogs? We love them and we love that they love us back!

(Credit to the ASPCA and Pawprints & Purrs for some of the information provided for this article.)

Love is in the air!

Love is in the air! Don't have a date for Valentine's Day? Let Almost Home be your matchmaker this weekend at our Adopt-A-Thon! We'll find you the perfect match - a true love that will last a lifetime! There's no love quite like that of an animal - truly unconditional and everlasting. So come on out and spend this Valentine's Day covered in oh so sweet kisses! Adoption shows will be held on Friday from 6-9pm at the Bloomingdale Petsmart on Gary Ave. as well as on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-3pm at the Bloomingdale (Gary Ave.), Schaumburg (Golf & Meacham) and Schaumburg (Barrington & Schaumburg Rd) Petmarts.