October 16, 2009

How to Care For and Train Your Adopted Shelter or Rescue Dog

Have you recently adopted or are thinking about adopting a dog from a shelter? Saving and welcoming into your home one of the thousands of animals from the shelters is to be commended. It can be a challenge however, knowing how to care for and train an animal that may have some unique issues due to its history. Susan's guest this week, Kim Saunders , from Petfinder.com and author of The Adopted Dog Bible offers a must-have checklist for how to choose a good dog , explains what to expect from your rescued dog when you bring your new pup home, and provides suggestions about how to retrain an adult dog that may have little or no training.

Episode Segments:

Petfinder.coms Kim Saunders Kim tells us what Petfinder.com is and how it works. She then talks about the key things you need to ask yourself before adopting a shelter dog, and explains the difference between shelters and rescue organizations.
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Petfinder.coms Kim Saunders Part Two Kim explains how to find the right match for you when youre looking for a shelter dog. She also has some tips for training, behaviors to look out for, and tips to help your new pet overcome their fears & doggie baggage.
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Petfinder.coms Kim Saunders Part Three Kim talks about some of the challenges of adopting an adult dog, and the most important things you need to train your dog to do. Plus, she has some ways you can help & support Petfinders efforts without actually adopting a dog.
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Links to Related Websites:

Petfinder.com Since 1996, Petfinder.com has facilitated more than twelve million pet adoptions. What began as one couple's New Year's resolution to "do something good" by uniting homeless pets with prospective adopters has become the largest searchable database of adoptable pets on the Web.

Look While You Listen! Click here to view the photos Susan and Kim are discussing on the show.

Order The Adopted Dog Bible On Amazon.com The old rules don't always apply to adopted dogs, whose training, past behaviors and health histories may be a mystery. At last, here's the one-stop guide that acknowledges their special needs and covers every detail of daily life.

Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Kim Saunders Kim was an attorney with a passion for animal rescue. In 1998, she left her law practice after witnessing firsthand how Petfinder.com doubled the adoptions of the foster-based rescue group for which she volunteered. Petfinder.com is the first, largest and most successful homeless pet network on the Internet, offering shelters and placement groups a free website and the ability to advertise their adoptable pets in a searchable database. As director of shelter outreach and public relations at Petfinder.com, Kim has been instrumental in increasing the number of organizations benefitting from Petfinder's resources from 400 in 1998 to over 6,000 today. She continues to work to increase services to Petfinder members and to help them strengthen their adoption programs. Kim is proud to serve as vice president of the board of directors of the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey (AWFNJ), the nonprofit state organization that acts as a unifying voice for all New Jersey animal protection agencies and as an informational and educational resource for its members. Kim has been certified as a New Jersey animal control officer, but is most comfortable in her role as a top-notch foster home dedicated to those "harder to place" dogs. Her permanent family includes her dogs Kona and Mocha, and her cat Meg. Click Here for Petfinder.com