Santa Cruz Dogs

So you can't adopt a pet right now but still want to help homeless shelter animals? There are so many things you can do that benefit animal shelters and rescues, for free!  FOSTER It's temporary! If you're not ready for a life-long commitment, fostering may be for you! Ideally, you keep the pet until they're adopted. Most animal shelters and rescues can provide food and some supplies for fostering their animals.  Learn more about fostering and what it takes:    https://petsandpeopletogether.org/foster-a-cat-or-dog Why is it important?    Fostering helps animal shelters to free up space in their open-door facility. Fosters are crucial for non-profit animal rescues that don't have a facility to operate out of. An animal in a foster home that's quiet greatly reduces the animals stress. They also learn house-manners and maybe even some basic obedience! You'll get to know the pets personality well and this can help them find great adopters. 

Photo credit: Dayton Daily News Yesterday on Twitter, there was a post about an adoptable dog and someone had replied with "well their adoption fees are more expensive than some papered purebreds. People would adopt more if it was more affordable!" My first thought was: That's exactly why animals are in shelters; For YOUR affordability. (Ironically, this person calls themselves a "Pit Bull advocate." See: Abuse of the term "advocate.") This brings up many points: "Papered" means nothing. It's literally a piece of paper with no value. Any so-called "breeder" can register anything, even mutts. And I'll tell you right now, if you paid $100 for a dog with "papers" those don't even prove the dog is of pure bred lineage. There are pure bred dogs in shelters. Most shelters have fees under $200. So think about what you're actually getting if you're purchasing a dog for this little with "papers

I wanted to share with you my goals for Santa Cruz Dogs in the near future. SCD was sprouted from a love for Bully breeds, and a need for local outreach. My main goal for SCD is to be able to provide free services to local dog owners, such as: Spay and Neuter, vaccinations, microchipping, food and general supplies. To do this, a fund and/or Amazon Wishlist needs to be created, and supported by public donations. Because it is difficult (and very costly!) to become a Nonprofit Organization, we are still working on that. I'm hoping to find someone who can help me through this process, as that hasn't been too easy either. My very first, and most important goal is to make Spay and Neuter FREE specifically to bully breed owners residing in Santa Cruz County. Once we're more established and have the funds for it, I'd like to offer it for ALL dogs within the county. To accomplish these goals, we need your help! Volunteers, donors, or anyone who has some advice! Plea

"Low cost" is great, but "free" is better. Especially when it comes to animal care. Many people love their pets, have good intentions, but can't always afford the necessities. That doesn't mean someone who has trouble affording regular pet care costs shouldn't own an animal. Lack of affordability can lead to more animals in shelters; Because the owner couldn't afford proper identification, spay/neuter, or vaccinations for example. We want to keep these pets in their home, while making sure they get what they need.  Santa Cruz County has a mandatory Spay/Neuter ordinance, but no longer have a clinic for county residents.  If you're going to require a procedure, doesn't it make sense to make it free? The resources are there, yet it still isn't free. If spay and neuter is free, there's no reason NOT to do it! Your pet benefits, animals in shelters benefit, and it will save your wallet in the long run!  The same goes fo

These cards are meant for the outside of kennels at animal shelters to give visitors some insight as to the personality of the individual animal. So often animals at shelters don’t have a bio, or are judged purely on breed, stereotypes or first impressions. It’s helpful for visitors to know that a dog knows some basic commands, or likes to play or run, or is good with kids/other small animals, etc. Also available in kitties! These cards will advertise kitties as independent, a lap kitty, a playful kitty, etc.  The Kennel Card Packs are about 3” x 4” and laminated. Hole punch is optional. The graphics are hand-drawn digitally and feature bright, fun text to grab adopters attention! Work at a shelter and are interested in these cards? Email us !  We're still working on the logistics and order form, so please bear with us! We recently worked with HEAL Animal Rescue in Pennsylvania! Here are the Kennel Personality Cards in action:

Animals in shelters aren't seen if they don't have a photo. Animals aren't shown at their best with a crummy photo. Great photos get animals noticed! It gives potential adopters, and rescuers, an idea of what breed the dog may be, or its size. A friendly photo makes an animal look more adoptable, look happy, and friendly. A great photo makes a huge difference in the visual adoptability of an animal. Clear, bright pictures of the animals make the best impressions. Head shots are great, but people actually want to get an idea of the size of the dog. I try to take "body shots" of the dogs, to sort of get an idea of their size, like their height for example. Sometimes, a head shot of a Chihuahua can be deceiving; dogs that are labeled Chihuahua's are often much larger than the true standard Chi. An accurate photo helps when one is looking for the right dog who might not be local, and aren't able to show up at any shelter. Photos of dogs in training are a

Nowadays,  super-marketing is more important than ever in the animal shelter industry. Getting the word out about adoptable animals means saving lives. There are some shelters that people don't know exist, but find adoptable animals from social media. Many animals wouldn't make it out if it weren't for social media and networking.  Take my Chihuahua adoption special flyer, for example. This is an easily shared/networked web version of a flier. I also make them with tear-offs that are printable, so you can post them around town; at stores, coffee shops, community boards, etc.  I use bright colors, and fun, eye-catching fonts. The goal is to make the animal the main focus of the ad.  Just sharing and networking animals saves lives ! Tweeting, sharing on Facebook, Pinning, posting on Instagram/stories and on local sites like Nextdoor all make a huge difference. On Pet Harbor and PetFinder.com, you have many 'share' options which include three of t

Over the weekend, I asked my dad to help me make some treat dispensing toys out of PVC pipe. I got the idea from the Animal Farm Foundation's Kennel Enrichment program . I'm a big believer in shelter enrichment, and part of that, as I've discussed in previous posts, is treat dispensing toys. Below is a video of a shelter dog, adopted from  Salinas Animal Services using the PVC toys I made. I'd say it was a success! I got a KONG drive started by posting online, and having a donation bin at my local pet store! I started on Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist by posting an ad requesting donations. My local feed store, Aptos Feed and Pet Supply , generously agreed to let me have a donation bin set up at the store. I already had a cute bucket, made a flier, and put it up! It's easy to get a KONG drive started for your local shelter! My donation bin at Aptos Feed & Pet Supply You can also sign up for " KONG Seconds " which is a program wh

Kennel Enrichment (KE) includes a variety of things, including stimulating toys (such as treat dispensing toys), training or exercise activities, in-kennel activities, music, scents, social needs, etc. The first step in KE in an animal shelter, is keeping the dogs calm, and focused while in their kennel. A quiet, distracted dog shows much better when visitors are walking by the kennels. Photo courtesy of Center for Shelter Dogs KONGs are great, durable, treat dispensing toys. There are plenty of other brands of treat dispensing toys that are equally as challenging, and durable.  You can use a variety of dog treats and peanut butter. You can put most anything in them including regular kibble, bananas and yogurt. You can also freeze them! They last longer, and are great on hot days when frozen.

Flirt Poles are an excellent way to exercise your dog and dogs waiting for their forever homes in shelters.  Flirt Poles are like large cat wand toys, for dogs. The idea is, the dog chases the lure back and forth, wearing themselves out trying to catch the lure. It's important first, to teach the dog to "take" and "leave" the lure. That is, the dog needs to wait until it's given a cue to begin to chase the lure.  The lure can be most anything. In the picture at left, there's a fleece lure that is washable and pretty durable. This is great for shelters, as it's important to frequently wash toys after each use.  You can make Flirt Poles yourself, or purchase them online.  This Flirt Pole is made by Squishy Face Studio How to make a Flirt Pole: ( via BADRAP ) Materials: 1. Five or Six foot long PVC pipe 2. 3/4” diameter PVC is best for long poles 3. Approximately 15 feet of rope 4. A stuffed animal o