Filed under: animal rescue, events | Tags: animal rescue, companion animals, dogs, homeless animals, mayzie, mayziegal, pit bulls, pitbulls, rescue me
Want to know a secret? Mom used to be scared of pit bulls. Even after all her years in rescue, she was afraid they were a little too big and a little too much “dog” for her to handle. She never spent any one on one time with pit bulls at adoption events or the shelters. That is until recently…
In our NJ town, the homeless pit bulls are well represented and watched over, so her lack of involvement with the breed never came up. Mom has seen and learned enough to know the stereotypes were not all true but even so, she tended toward the old Labradors like me for fostering and walking. Two weeks ago she applied her knowledge and overcame her hesitation to interact with pits when she was lucky enough to meet and visit a young pit bull named Smokey!
Click this image to find Smokey on Petfinder
Smokey was an owner surrender. His past reads like the story of many surrendered pets of all breeds and types. His family simply did not know what they were getting into by adopting a dog. It wasn’t a good fit and Smokey spent the first few years of his life paying for it with isolation and mistreatment.
Our town is very fortunate to have an experienced, compassionate, fearless and very wise ACO/Shelter manager named Heather, who saw the potential in Smokey. Mom used to volunteer with her back in the days when there was no shelter and she trusts her judgment without question. Mom knew Heather gave him a chance, so she did too. She spent some time with him at an event and is pleased to report Smokey has really blossomed thanks to the devotion of the volunteers there. Heather and her group have a lot of pit experience and they have done the most difficult part; they taught Smokey what it feels liked to be loved and to trust. All he needs now is the right home and someone to believe in him. Are you his new family?
Check out Smokey on Petfinder to read how far he has come or go ahead and call Heather for an update to learn more:
Smokey is a 2-3 year old pit bull who has certainly grown near and dear to our hearts. He came to us as a surrender who purchased him as a puppy just because she thought it was cool to have a pit bull. She did not socialize, train, exercise, or expose him to the outside world during his formative puppy stages and as he began to get older, larger, and stronger he became anxious. Her response to this was to keep him in a crate for the majority of the time and physically abuse him when he was out of the crate…more
Contact Info:
WOODBRIDGE TOWNSHIP ANIMAL CONTROL, Woodbridge, NJ
732-855-0600 X 5007
animal.control@twp.woodbridge.nj.us
RE: Petfinder.com Pet Inquiry: Smokey PFId
Guess what? This is my 100th post! I could not think of a better way to commemorate that than by trying to help a homeless animal stuck in a shelter. This post is part of a contest our friend Mayzie is running called “ Rescue Me Week” and we are not only helping Smokey but hoping to win a donation to the shelter too. Get all the details here: http://mayziegal.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/big-announcement-2/
THANK YOU Grampa J, Mayzie and Mayzie's Mom for sponsoring this contest!
Filed under: animal rescue | Tags: animal rescue, companion animals, getting lucky, homeless animals, labrador, Lucky, pet adoption, shady, shadytales, this good that bad
And now, without further ado, Mom and I would like to formally introduce you to our newest family member Lucky. Lucky is a 5 year old Labrador, adopted from our local shelter after spending 5 long months there. See, that’s her over there with Mom…
Lucky in a rare shot with Mom, the first ever of her to be seen on this blog.
Mom says Lucky was an owner surrender and she didn’t take to well to life behind bars. Mom went to see her a lot at the shelter as a volunteer and each time Lucky completely destroyed something right before her eyes….her leash, a dog bed, a few toys and even Mom’s shoes while she was still wearing them. Then Mom started walking her and it got worse. Lucky didn’t seem to like other dogs at all and she was pretty indifferent to people. Mom sat in on classes with her when the shelter’s trainer would visit and that didn’t go much better. Still, Mom kept saying she saw something in her. Whatever the something was, it probably showed in her eyes. Even I have to admit her eyes are gorgeous. You can see them better there in her closeup, below.
Mom knew a foster home would be Lucky’s only chance to show her true colors but no one had room for an 80 lb dog that couldn’t get along with other dogs. All she could do was walk her as often as possible and try to exercise her enough so maybe she’d settle down and stop lunging at everyone who approached her. One day Mom took her for a short ride over to the local dog park in an effort to tire her out. Once Lucky was off leash, something very strange happened. Lucky sat. She sat very close to Mom and very still. So Mom started petting her and rubbing her ears and Lucky leaned in even closer.
See her pretty golden eyes?
After a very long sit, Mom realized it was the first time Lucky really noticed her at all. She’d always been so focused on an object or pulling her along on a leash before she never really looked up at her. She seemed to be waiting for Mom to tell her what to do next. So Mom got up and Lucky followed. Then Mom stopped walking and Lucky sat, waiting for the next direction. Before long it was pretty clear Lucky did indeed have manners. She stuck to her person like glue with no leash and knew the basics of fetch (something I have yet to master). She also showed the first signs of knowing her name and coming when called. Off leash and out of a cage, she did not come at you like a ton of bricks and knock you over, either.
Then some other dogs came into the park and Mom figured she’d have to leave. With no leash and a person she probably trusted a little by now, it turned out Lucky got along just fine with the other dogs. So after a few more successful visits to the dog park I think you can guess what happened…Mom brought Lucky home.
When she got here, it seemed like she forgot how to live with people. She had the crate and housetraining stuff down pat (thankfully) but other than that her manners were completely gone. At first we thought maybe she never had any to begin with! She jumped on counters, knocked people over at random, tore at couch cushions, ruined every dog bed and was always looking for something to steal and destroy no matter how much walking and playing we did with her. Mom stared to think the dog park behavior was a fluke.
She also did not like me much. She would not play with me or lay with me and got so mad at mealtimes we had to eat separately. Even with her in another room I was so stressed I could barely eat and started throwing up all the time. Her life here became crate, walk, crate, eat, crate, yard time and then repeat. She was quiet in the crate and good on the walks and in the yard but as soon as she came indoors she turned on us all. It broke Mom’s heart to admit it but looked like we would not be able to keep her very long at all and she’d go back behind bars. It was too much for me and not much of a life for Lucky.
In the middle of all this the shelter flooded (as did our house) after Hurricane Irene and Lucky’s return date kept getting pushed off. In that time Mom really focused on making it so we could eat together because it was taking way too much time to do it separately. After some research, Mom didn’t think Lucky had any real food aggression so she very gradually brought us closer at mealtimes. It worked! Now we can eat in the same room and at the same time as long as we aren’t too close and I get my bowl first. We both finish up pretty fast and wait politely in a sit for the other to finish before exchanging places and bowls for a thorough “hey, did you get what I got” sniffing and licking.
As you may recall I am not “too big” on the outdoors. Lucky however, is much more comfortable there. Trying to recapture the dog she knew Lucky could be (like at the park), Mom started spending hours on the deck with Lucky, just reading and letting Lucky explore or nap. As the weather cooled, I started joining them. Mom was always careful to cater to me and try to convey that I was top dog while we were together. I guess that was the information Lucky was waiting for because soon we were playing tug and wrestling for fun and not position. I can hold my own in tug, keep up with her when she runs around and knock that big girl down with one swipe and she lets me spin her on the deck like a top. Our tails are wagging the whole time. It’s fun!
Oh, she is still stealing stuff and destroying stuff, but she has earned more time out of the crate and into our regular routine now. As
This is me, toughing it out OUTSIDE and approaching with caution...
long as someone is going to be able to keep a close eye on her she can stay out with us. She responds to “no’ quickly but that does not stop her from trying stuff. When Mom isn’t home she definitely has to go in the crate. I stay nearby on my bed which is right next to her. I used to enjoy the breaks from her when she was being all mean and stupid. Now I wish Lucky could stay out with me all the time. She just isn’t ready yet. She is quiet as a mouse in the crate but knocks Mom over EVERY time Mom opens to door to release her. She gets really upset when anyone leaves the house. Since she is more at ease outside than indoors we all spend more time than we used to outside and it does seem to help.
It has been 2 months since she came to live with us. I am trying to set a good example Lucky can learn from so she can get out of that crate once and for all. For now, this will do; she won’t have to go back to the shelter and I have a friend again.
Thanks Mom….
Filed under: Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, pet adoption, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, Tuesday Larken
We have been so busy at home these days, we almost missed Tuesday Larken’s post this week! When we caught up with her we found that pets are bringing people together in her life as only us well seasoned animals know how to do.
Now, the stuff that is keeping busy is going to be interesting to you too but we are not quite ready for the big reveal. It came on kinda sudden, so we are being extra-specially careful about it. I’ll give you a hint; have any of you ever failed (dog) fostering 101 with your dog? We have. But what about foster 102?
Okay, that’s all the hints for today! We promise not to make you wait too long, but in the meantime please enjoy Tuesday’s post here with us, as she has generously shared yet again.
Sixth Sense (originally posted “One woman’s journal. Every woman’s journey.” 8/16/2011(
I had no idea Adam was such an animal lover. Before we partnered on this marketing and design venture (Polar Design, derived from a combination of our last names), our relationship was that of client and vendor. He is tough on his vendors and I was one of them. We have worked well together for years but we don’t actually know much about each other outside of work ethics and shared client references. He never mentioned his dogs before today.
“Oh yea, I have 3 Labradors.” he says enthusiastically over sushi after I mention my plans to volunteer at the local animal shelter. “They all came from the shelter. There is a special kind of gratitude and devotion you get from the rescues. They know a good family is hard to find, the competition is pretty stiff.” His voice softens as he details their names, ages and back stories. It occurs to me this is the most personal conversation we have ever had. I never would have pegged him for a pet owner at all, let alone such a devoted one.
Adam brings the dogs to his office regularly. Before the check arrives, we decide I should stop in once or twice a week with Bella, my border collie mix. He is working on socializing his youngest pup and it will be good for her to meet a new friend. Bella could use the company too. Since we lost our golden Duke she seems okay, but I don’t want her to get too used to being an only dog. You know, just in case….
I figure Bella sensed Duke’s time was coming and was better prepared than all of us to lose him. I think that makes her lucky. How easy it must be to be so practical like animals are. If I were more practical, I’d understand that I am in danger of overdoing things. This business with Adam is barely off the ground and I have signed on to help my friend Joy write motivational speeches, volunteer at the animal shelter and mentor Adam’s wayward pooch on top of the Polar launch. These additional tasks are purely emotional and if I am not careful, they’ll cost me the business that is supposed to pay the bills. My severance pay will not last forever.
A moment later I understand that some people can sense things just as well as animals. Maybe living with 3 dogs rubs off on you. I have never mentioned my time management challenges to Adam, but he seems to sense he can help with whatever has made my mind wander away from the conversation and knows just what to say. “You know, I have plenty of space. Why don’t you bring Bella and your laptop in for the day twice a week? If the dogs hit it off, you’ll have a quiet place to work and we can plan anything we have to discuss around the times we’ll see each other anyway.”
I politely resist at first. He pays a decent rent and manages his freelance clients there. I’ve never really thought about why he doesn’t do the “work from home” thing before. Could it be that I am not alone in my realization is not all it is cracked up to be? He finally convinces me we’ll try if for a few months and if we like sharing space I can kick in for the rent and officially claim some of the space. Then I can work on whatever I please, whenever I please, in my corner. I already know his hours are erratic. I can easily manage time there alone and when I want company I can have that too. He has a parade of characters and art clients moving through on a regular basis. I bet that will do wonders for my creativity.
As we pay for lunch with our shiny new corporate American Express card and part ways, I find myself looking forward to stopping at the luggage store and getting a nice new laptop case to celebrate. I finally begin to feel a little less like an employee and more like a business owner. A business owner with a partner that has a sixth sense, a big heart and extra office space. That combination just might translate into what I’ll need to accomplish everything I want to do.
Note from Shady: Are any of you working at home or in a dog friendly office?Hey Tuesday…we live nearby so let us know when you are over there with the doggies so I can come by and play too!
Filed under: Guest Posts, pet loss | Tags: animal rescue, good samaritan, homeless animals, pet loss, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, Tuesday Larken
Guest post by Tuesday Larken, originally posted 8/9/2011 at
“One woman’s journal. Every woman’s journey.”
Good Samaritan
Why am I still holding her? This is not the dog I want. I want my Duke back. It has been only about a month since my golden retriever passed away and nothing I’ve tried can fill his absence. So why am I holding a shy little black Labrador/terrier mix with two broken legs?
I’ll tell you why…it’s because there is far too much absence to fill. No dog can replace Duke but a new one in my arms, just for a moment, begins to even out the sudden imbalance I am feeling. My job as I knew it is gone. My kids are grown. My husband has a new job that has him out of the house over 12 hours a day. Me and Bella (my Border collie mix) are feeling more than a little left behind.
I have never actually been in an animal shelter. Duke came from a rescue group and they brought him to me. Bella was a stray we took in. When Melissa (you might know her as MelissaBelle) asked me to run this errand for her and drop off some donations, I made it a point to peek in some of the cages. I thought I might meet a dog to take care of me like Duke did. Instead, I met this little midget dog who may need more care than I have left in me to give.
Melissa’s blog posts on pet loss (among other things) have helped me deal with the loss of Duke. I met her on the Fabulously40.com site and we soon realized we lived just a few miles apart. Despite her counsel and that of many other women in the site, I am not over it yet. Just like this little Labrador mix isn’t recovered from her injuries yet. She isn’t up for adoption. There is no hard sell for me to take her home. I was simply asked to go see her because she is shy and they are trying to help her get used to strangers. She has months to go before she’d be ready to go to a new home.
The skittish little dog (I didn’t ask her name -I suspect they are still choosing one for her) was found on the side of the road with 2 broken legs. A Good Samaritan paid for her surgery. They have no idea if she’ll walk again. She probably won’t trust again too readily either. Bella would absolutely hate her, what with her whining and shaking and clinginess and all. Or maybe she wouldn’t; having been on the street herself maybe Bella would be able to ease her fears and let her know there is such a thing as a happy ending. Crap. I cannot believe I fell for this. Is this why Melissa sent me here?
Okay, enough. No no no. I cannot take in another dog now. I cannot take in a second dog in a few months either. That’s just ridiculous. This dog can’t bring Duke back. Or my kids. Or my job. Or my marriage as it once was. So then, as little no-name curls deeper into the hook of my arm, why am I still holding her?
The little black dog in this post is fiction, but she was inspired by Abby who is very real and needs a home. Abby is healed, walking and ready to start a new life with the right family. Click on this image to learn more about her and how you can help. via petswithdisabilities.com
As Shady and I mentioned last week, Tuesday is helping us pick up the slack around here and get our TGTB efforts back on track. Her blog is not just about pets, but family and life after 40. Learn more about her here: it all started when her dog died…
Filed under: dogs | Tags: animal rescue, companion animals, homeless animals, LoJack, Nikki, Tuesday Larken
We recently marked two years since we lost my dog brother, LoJack. Since then, we lost my dog sister Nikki too. Mom always remembers the exact day we lost LoJack because she made the appointment and was so hopeful it would bring him relief in his last days. It was supposed to be an oral exam, but LoJack never woke up from the sedation.
Mom was pretty sad as this grim “anniversary” passed last week but she kept it to herself…no post and no mention to friends or family about it. I was the only one she confided in. She was feeling like after all this time maybe we were the only ones that cared anymore.
Mom should know better. Everyone here misses LoJack. We have met, comforted and been comforted by a lot of our blog readers in the last 2 years too. Lots of people still care and lots of people need still help dealing with pet loss.
As if to prove this point precisely, we made a new friend today. This new friend, Tuesday Larken, has suffered a recent pet loss and when she contacted us the timing was just so perfect that we felt there might be a bigger a reason we met at this time.
Miss Larken has a blog too. She wrote about looking for help with the loss of her dog Duke online and how she found our blog and what it meant to her. If you’d like to read it, and we recommend you do, you can find her post mentioning us here.
Tuesday is going to be helping me and Mom out with our efforts for homeless animals. This is great because we could really use someone to keep us focused these days. She needs something to take her mind off Duke, so you can see the timing of this new friendship is going to be good for Mom and Tuesday. More on how that will work later. In the meantime…
Tuesday has added our Dog Eared Tales blog to her “Pet loss resource” page and she is happy to add any other resources you know of if you tell her about them. She is much more diligent with her blog than we are as she posts a weekly journal. Dealing with the loss of her dog, just as she lost her job and her youngest prepares to go off to college, is a big part of her life now.
We think you’ll like her so if you want to learn more about her and enjoy a regular weekly “read” as well, please visit her site and catch up on her journal entries here. She’ll be making the rounds on your pet blogs soon too!
TuesdayLarken.com
Filed under: dog training, dogs | Tags: animal rescue, fireworks, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, thunder, thunder shirt, thundershirt
OK, may I get straight to the point here? What the heck is up with you people and all the FIREWORKS?! There have been almost two weeks now of seemingly non-stop booms, bangs and whistle-y noises in our neighborhood. Enough already!
Thank you to all who have been checking in on my progress during these trying times. At your suggestion, I added a Thunder Shirt to my arsenal of vet prescribed doggie relaxation pills, secret hideouts and distraction techniques to get me through this heinous season.
Me and my Thunder Shirt. Get more info at www.thundershirt.com. No, we didn't get paid to say that, either!
Overall, I give the Thunder Shirt 3 out of 4 paws up (sorry, I don’t have thumbs). It is light weight and comfortable for sure, but I am still a little edgy even with it on during fireworks. It did seem to curb my tendency to shake and chatter, but I was still plenty whiney during most of the “festivities”. For a regular old thunderstorm, when there is no time to prime me with pills, it helped for sure.
Mom says it may begin to work even better the more I use it. She also said it may work better for a dog that tends to want to be held when they are afraid. Me? I am a digger. I will tunnel through the rug, the floor, the door, the closet, looking for the lowest safest place to be. So far nothing works to kill that urge when I am afraid.
If you think this might help your dog, please give it a try. It costs 36 dollars they have a money back guarantee. I may not be cured yet, but I feel a little better with it and every little bit helps.
Hey you know what else works for dogs that are afraid of fireworks? STOP SHOOTING FIREWORKS. Leave it to the Grucci Brothers and don’t have them at your party in your own yard. Seriously. Knock it off.
Filed under: animal rescue | Tags: fireworks, homeless animals, pet adoption, pet grief, pet loss, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad, thunder shirt, thundershirt
As we approach the long holiday weekend, Mom is making the realization that she is grounded for the next four days. The 4th of July is all fun and games for you people, but I am scared of fireworks. Despite my vet prescribed natural calming pills and my newly purchased Thundershirt device, I will need constant supervision and that’s that. Suck it up, Ma.
It’s all for the best really, Mom has a ton of stuff to catch up on at home anyway.
Happy Fourth of July!
Not the least of which is getting back to the straight up adoption stories! As you may have noticed, our writing has been derailed a few times since our return in May.
First, our friends needed help with some tough pet decisions so we used our experiences and your input to oblige in a few posts like “How Do You Know?” Then when the worst outcome actually happened, we offered condolences the only way we know how in “I Will Love Him Forever.”
Then Mom got sidetracked by some upsetting pet adoption statistics in “The 8 Second Rule” and spent the next few follow ups trying to break that rule (again, with your help).
All that “out of the box” talk sparked an idea that now has Mom pretty darn busy. She has found a way to do what she challenges everyone else to do on those posts; think outside the box to promote pet adoption. She will be tying in our core message with one of her other marketing projects very closely and long term. We can’t go too much into detail, but it all starts with her new friend, Tuesday Larken. Stop by her blog site and read along to find out as we go how it will all tie in.
Mom and I would like to thank you for all your support and feedback on all our posts and projects. We really appreciate and know from our inbox that collectively, we do indeed make a difference for pets and their owners. We wish you a safe, happy and QUIET holiday weekend.
Filed under: animal rescue | Tags: animal rescue, companion animals, groupon, homeless animals, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad
As part of our Break the 8 Second Rule effort, We have been exploring ways to increase animal adoptions and reduce pet surrenders outside of traditional volunteering, fostering or adopting. It has been pointed out to us that Groupon recently had one of those ideas—and they blew it.
The discount coupon giant prides itself on its unique writing style and sense of humor. If they had taken the time to learn anything about the intended audience they would have seen the trouble coming a mile away…then they could have either dropped the idea of an animal rescue themed campaign or curbed their usual sharp edges a bit.
Instead they figured they knew best, even in this arena so far outside what they usually do, and ran with an insensitive campaign that accomplished 2 things; it stirred a lot of anger among animal rights people because it made light of a very real problem and it made a lot of people laugh. I have nothing against laughter of course, but the whole thing lacked any call to action to adopt or otherwise do something about the aforementioned very real problem. So why did they bother?
Groupon Takes Dig at Animal Adoptions and Fails
Well, we have no idea why they bothered. That doesn’t mean it was a bad idea. It was just poorly executed Groupon had the right idea and a huge audience to play to and please. Learn from their mistakes and find another way to get adoptable animals in from of larger captive audiences outside of your group’s usual reach. Maybe something like these:
1. Approach your local “Val Pak” coupon vendor about a reduced rate or donated spot to feature homeless animals.
2. Make your own place mat advertising: ask local restaurants to use your and get current adoptable animals in front of diners. Be sure to keep them current and not too “sad.” Maybe partner with a groomer or other pet related business to sponsor or share cost?
3. Ask any vendor with an email newsletter or list to feature one of your adoptable pets in each issue. Good candidates for this are civic groups, school organizations and restaurants.
The list goes on and on, depending on your community and the wherewithal of you volunteers. Don’t give up on “out of the box” just because Groupon or any other large entity failed. What they have in resource they can lack in flexibility, and if you can flip that balance you can make things happen.
Filed under: animal rescue, pets | Tags: animal rescue, HSUS, landlords, moving with your pet, pet adoption, pet friendly aprtments, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad
It was brought to our attention that Mom and I were not doing so well on the “brevity” thing, as advised in our last post. We’re still working on that but what can we say? Some of the ideas we got were too good not to expand on!
Today we have another thought starter for those of you who are looking to break the 8 second rule that started this series. Here is another approach for those who want to get out there and start doing something new to reduce animal surrenders.
Landlord Intervention. When people relocate, their pets often suffer. Changing landlords or giving up your home can mean that you have no choice but to move to a place that does not welcome pets. This is a top reason in most shelters for animal surrenders.
What if you tried to improve the percentage of pet friendly rentals in your area? Start with landlords in your area that have had long term vacancies and see of they are open to cracking open the door even a little for pets. They will likely have a long list of reasons and concerns. Start by simply researching the policies and listen carefully. Resist the urge to argue every one right away.
Set out to overcome as many of their concerns in an organized fashion that continually highlights the benefit to them. Start small and see how far you can get. They may insist on breed or size restrictions at first but if you allow the deal to collapse over that then all dogs pay the price. Any progress is good progress and it can ease the landlord into bigger changes later.
Here are some things you can put into your arsenal to start changing their minds and building your reputation as a reliable source they can trust as they begin reexamining their policies:
- Pet owners on the whole are pretty responsible. Dig up what you can on stats for pet owners personalities to get the ball rolling—make a profile that explains why a pet owner is an ideal tenant. Things like; more likely to renew if pet is welcome, more likely to keep regular hours or be kind neighbors and so on.
- Recruit landlords that do allow pets to help (preferable those in another area, so there is no direct competition for tenants). Interview them, host a meeting or compile a top ten list of the benefits they found from allowing pets. Ideally these benefits include less vacant rentals and solid referrals (and free listings in pet friendly directories) from the very loyal pet community.
- If they are already somewhat sympathetic to the cause, highlight the benefits to the community as well. Allowing pets could ultimately relieve some burden on the local animal shelter.
- Draft a sample agreement that would be an addendum to a pet owner’s lease. Customize it to their specific concerns which may include:
- Increased security deposit for cleaning costs.
- Ability to meet and assess animal’s personality prior to move in date. For breeds they are wary of, maybe a professional assessment is in order, at tenants’ cost (you can probably recruit these gratis if you begin to make real progress).
- Tenant agrees to pay for professional floor cleaning X times a year.
- Tenant agrees to allow a quarterly inspection (with owner present) for pet damage and compliance with population limits and pay/neuter clauses etc.
- Tenant reveals/commits to number of hours pet will be alone on average, plans for pet sitting for vacations and so on.
- Tenant agrees to leash rules and/or walk dogs off private premises (no doggy mess or ruined lawns).
- No new pets once lease is signed, exiting pets only.
- Establish quiet hours—limit barking, loud play and no noisy ins and outs for walks in that time frame or lease is void.
- Landlord reserves the right to assess pet, leash or muzzle policy on a case by case basis.
- If you are able, offer yourself or other volunteers (perhaps from the shelter) to assist them with an additional screening process for potential tenants who have pets.
Some of this may sound excessive to pet owners and lovers but think of it from a business owner’s prospective; he has property to protect and the well being of other tenants to consider. This is not a personal decision for them, it is business and as we stated a few posts ago, it is time to start thinking like a business owner.
You may not convert landlords to the level of openness you’d like at first. Instead focus on building credibility with the landlords. Once you have some success under your belt you will be able to persuade them to do more.
If you have been looking for a way to help homeless animals outside of traditional volunteering, fostering or adopting, this may be the approach custom-made for you! Please share this post so others who may be looking for ideas can find it. What are landlords like in your area? Is this a major concern?
When every pet has a home, maybe then we can relax 
Filed under: animal rescue, Guest Posts | Tags: animal rescue, cats, companion animals, dogs, homeless animals, HSUS, shady, shadytales, TGTB, this good that bad
Our last post was a cry for help. A plea to end the 8 second cycle. It started like this:
“HSUS estimates that a cat or dog is put down in a shelter in the U.S. every 8 seconds. Do you think it is mere coincidence that marketing experts like SilverPop and Wikipedia alike report that the average continuous attention span for literate humans is also 8 seconds? (read entire post here)”
In the middle was a bunch of stuff about how we don’t want over 10,000 animals a day to die. And it ended sorta like this:
“…forget the animals for a moment and think like a business owner whose business is failing. You have a surplus and you need to move inventory or else your business is going to die.
What is the best (tried or untried) idea or advice you have to find more buyers?”
450 an hour. 10,000 a day.
Want to know what we came up with? We’ll tell you but not all at once, because that was idea #1.
Keep is Short, Socially. Social media is a boon to animal rescue. It makes sharing and spreading news fast and updates easy. Be sure to speak to your crowd there even when you do not have news though. They come to their PC for entertainment too, and it doesn’t take much. That is an ideal way to attract more people to your network.
Give them something to remind them about you and your cause very often and in small, entertaining doses. Questions of the day, cute status updates, caption this photo exercises, or trivia can work if not overdone. Talk more often, but not always at full length. Talk to them like it is person to person, not always just organization to large group.
End with a question whenever you can to give them a reason to interact and check back. “Has your dog ever done anything like this.” or “Who is braving the weather for a dog walk today?” Every post does not need a photo or a link. Let them know you enjoy their company and conversation, and schedule it regularly. Stockpile the cool, pithy filler stuff so you don’t lapse.
When it comes to blogging, shorter is always better. Break things into a series of several posts, always ending with a teaser of what is to come. Tighten sentences and paragraphs and drop unnecessary adjectives to make text look less time-consuming to a reader. We have been trying this here, even if it does not look it to you sometimes this is one where we really are trying…
Idea #2 gets down to the business of the MORE buyers thing, but still focuses on social media.
Make finding more followers/fans/friends to read your cool new pithy marketing stuff more of a priority. In the online world, followers in the 4 and 5 digit range is a lot smaller than it sounds. People come and go and their attention wanders.
Remember to ASK people often to share your page, retweet your tweet, share your post etc. Even your staunchest advocates may not think of this or remember it often enough. Somewhere in THEIR friend list is your next buyer…umm I mean adopter. Ask and you shall receive.
Ask them collectively every day, several times a day even, to do at least one thing. It may feel like overkill but most of us only check in once in a while so we only see it now and then. Flatter them, thank them and then ask them very specifically to help you recruit and tell them how (Please hit the “suggest to friends” button, please retweet, please forward this email to at least 5 people and so on)
If you are lucky enough to a person dedicated to your online presence, get a second person JUST to build the audience. These are 2 separate missions. Have them find similar Facebook Twitter accounts pages (or whatever you are doing online). Compose and send personal messages inviting people following them to follow you too. Learn the ins and outs of Facebook online events, Follow Fridays, PawPawties and hashtags and all the silliness that is out there to participate in.
This can be tough; you have to do this slowly so FB and Twitter won’t think you are a spam bot! Make the message personal enough so the reader knows you are not spamming either…”Hey I love the photo you posted on XYZ. Maybe you’d like to post to over with us too?”
Contests (with even the smallest prizes or other incentives like “we will name your pet dog of the day”), trivia questions, teasers and so on go a long way with a lot of people and will increase your visibility. Direct a few around building numbers: person who refers the most people to our site wins, person with the most followers to retweet our tweet gets naming rights on the newest batch of shelter kitties. People will do more than you think for very little incentive.
To sum up these two ideas I think it goes like this: for actual content, less will get you more. In terms of frequency more is what you need to get! That’s all for the social media ideas. So as not to violate these principles, we will save the rest of the ideas for another post next week. The rest of them are a little more “step away from the computer and get out there” types.
So please check back with us then. And if you know anyone shaking things up in the animal rescue world, ask them their secret and share it with us. If you don’t, help us find someone like that by hitting one of the share keys to share this post.
WOW- this less and more thing is delicate balance isn’t it? How do you think we did?
Note from Shady: This is a guest post by my people Mom. Mom already has a few ideas to share on this topic. Marketing is her “day job.” She would never pose questions like these without being willing to answer them herself and she will do just that as well as sharing the ideas you have sent. No suggestion is too run of the mill or too outlandish for this excercise…please send us your opinions.
