Give a dog a home for the holiday - just don't give a dog!

It's the holidays! And, honestly, who can resist the idea of a cute puppy in a little red ribbon?

Let me make one request, don't make the dog "surprise" a surprise. It may seem like you're taking some of the fun away, but trust me it will have a much happier ending if you include the future pet owner in the search!

There are so many animals behind cages at shelters waiting to rescued, and you can have the pick of so many wonderful new additions to the family. Still, just as people's interests are very diverse, don't pretend that you can pick the perfect animal for someone in your life, regardless of how well you know them.

You never know what is most important to them - should the dog be calm or playful, big or small, young or old, do they want to save one that has struggled to get get adopted in the past? Most importantly, how will they (and anyone else in their life) interact with the animal? Even if you ask the right questions, you won't find out how they feel about the animal until "game day."

Some shelters won't allow pets to be adopted and given as gifts, and for good reason, it's almost inevitable that the animal will come back to a shelter. If the person keeping the animal and caring for them day in and day out, isn't the person deciding on the animal, dozens of things can go wrong.

Perhaps the person thought a dog would be great, but didn't really think about how it might impact their travel schedule, or they figured it would be easier to have their cat get along with a dog, but it isn't happening. Regardless of the reason they might not be the right fit for that household, it's pretty common that pets given as gifts aren't the perfect fit for the person receiving the gift.

So rather than put the person you love through having to live with a pet that isn't a good fit for their family, or even worse having to make the decision to bring the pet to a shelter - just invite them into the rewarding experience of adopting a shelter pet.

Tell them you'll cover the costs and then enjoy a little time searching for their perfect fit with them.

You know that feeling you get when you know you've found the "it" gift for someone - something they will love beyond measure and you found it for them? Well, this will feel even better!

Enjoy and happy rescuing!

Lessons from a Pound Pup

I met Elliott when he had been in a cage for six months, give or take a few days.

A beautiful bronze-colored Chihuahua mix with huge ears that stuck straight up, people came in to the shelter and awed at how cute he was, but everyone ended up walking past him in the end.

Maybe it was the fact he had been returned to the shelter twice: once by a young woman who realized a dog was too much responsibility for her, and another time by a guy who tried to grab him too roughly and got a caution bite. Maybe it was because he didn't like big dogs. Maybe because he was five years old. Regardless, it was starting to look like Elliott's home might always be the shelter.

I started taking Elliott home a couple nights a month just to get him out of the shelter. Each time he became a little more at home and from the very first moment, he would snuggle in tightly at night, staying warm under the covers.

He loved being out of the shelter - he'd sprint across the lawn, play fetch endlessly and sit in our laps every spare second; he met big dogs and he liked them, and he never stopped wagging his tail - he took it all in.

Brandon and I eventually decided to foster Elliott. At this exact moment he's at home, proudly carrying around a pink boa constrictor stuffed animal - throwing it in the air every few seconds to entertain himself while I type.

After almost a year in a shelter, he has been in our home for two weeks and you would never know that he had lost 1/5 of his life to a cage.

In the first day as our foster, he learned to sit, lay down and roll over. He greets us excitedly when we get home, he never stops playing, he empties the toy box like it is his job, and he still never stops wagging his tail.

My message isn't only that shelter dogs are the best dogs - that you can save a life and find an incredible, loyal, amazing dog ... but also that perhaps we as people, should learn a thing or two from these incredible animals.

I can't help but think that if I were under those same conditions and stresses of shelter life that Elliott faced for a year, I wouldn't have recovered so quickly. I would be resentful to the family that dropped me off at the shelter, I would feel entitled to something incredible for the pain I endured.

Not Elliott. 

Elliott is like many shelter pups I've seen and holds a strength in his soul that I hope to some day gain the wisdom to have.

He is grateful for every second he has.
He loves the good people in his life.
He forgives and and forgets the bad people who were in his life.
He takes time to play, to snuggle, and to run around like a crazy man.
He empties the toy box, but then figures out what he wants.
He lives for the moment.

Mostly, for everything he has been through, he just loves his life.