With Christmas only a few weeks away, are the shelter dogs on your mind? Do you find yourself daydreaming about how wonderful it would be if every shelter dog had its forever home – with a soft spot on the couch, a warm and cozy bed, a caring human, and most of all, the feeling of love and the comfort of being part of a family? Are you wondering how you can help the dogs at your local animal shelter this holiday season and beyond? Then read on!

Below you’ll find seven ways to support the shelter dogs in your community. You’ll notice that I am including rescue organizations, not just animal shelters, in this list. That’s because an animal shelter’s rescue partners play an essential role in supporting the shelter’s mission and overall efforts. For example, when a rescue takes in a shelter dog, it frees up valuable kennel space at the shelter, making room for another dog to take its spot and, hopefully, preventing overcrowding. A rescue may also offer to sponsor a shelter dog’s medical treatment (such as for heartworms), making the dog more adoptable by taking the financial burden out of the picture, and many rescues also focus on educating their communities on responsible pet ownership to keep dogs from landing at a shelter in the first place.

Looking at the big picture, there are many ways to support shelter dogs. Some are time-consuming, others are nearly effortless, most are a lot of fun and incredibly rewarding. The point is: We can all do something to help the dogs at our local animal shelters along their journeys of finding their forever homes.

Let’s start with the obvious…

Volunteering

One way you can support shelter dogs is by signing up as a volunteer at your local animal shelter and helping with various tasks, such as walking dogs, taking photos of and promoting adoptable dogs on social media, and assisting with customer service. It really depends on what volunteer positions are available.  Your local dog rescues may also be looking for volunteers to foster dogs, participate in adoption events, and help with fundraising or social media management.

Spending time at an animal shelter can be so rewarding – the next best feeling to seeing a shelter dog find its forever family (hey there, Brazen!) is realizing you’ve found your volunteer family (I may be speaking from experience here).

Fostering

You knew this one was coming. Fostering is one of the go-to suggestions made in the context of helping shelter dogs. That’s because it is so important and can make such a big impact. Traditionally, fostering is thought of as keeping a dog for an undetermined period of time until a suitable home is found. However, with more and more rescues focusing on out-of-state transport, there is also a need for short-term fosters. Check with your local animal shelter or a reputable rescue organization near you to find out which fostering opportunities may be available.

Donating

If you have some gently used towels and blankets at home, chances are your local animal shelter would be happy to have them to keep their canine residents warm and comfy during the colder winter months.

Your shelter may even have a wish list posted on its website, social media page, or a site like Amazon, detailing which items they’d love to receive. Such a list may include food, treats, enrichment toys, and cleaning supplies. Rescues may have similar wish lists. If you don’t see one, just reach out to them directly and ask which items they are looking for.

Now on to the lesser-known ways to support your local shelter dogs…

Walking

Yes, you read that right. Thanks to the cool, innovative Walk for a Dog app, you can raise funds for your favorite animal shelter or rescue organization simply by walking. For more information about the app, visit the WoofTrax website.

Shopping

This is getting easier and easier, isn’t it? If you need another excuse to indulge in a bit of online shopping, here’s one: AmazonSmile. When you shop through AmazonSmile, Amazon donates a portion of the price of your eligible purchases to your chosen charitable organization. Just browse their list of charities and see if your favorite animal shelter or rescue is included.

If you’re already using Amazon and are planning on buying through it anyway, this seems like a great opportunity for doing some good while shopping. Decide for yourself by visiting the AmazonSmile website.

Networking

For shelter dogs to find their coveted forever homes, they need to reach prospective adopters. To help them achieve this, many animal shelters and rescues post their adoptable dogs on social media pages. The goal is to get the dogs seen by as many people as possible. You can help amplify the dogs’ reach by sharing their posts with your network and encouraging your friends to share them as well.

Educating

Many animal shelters and rescues aim at educating their communities on responsible pet ownership and alternatives to pet abandonment. They may post informational materials, for example about topics like microchipping and heartworm prevention, or they may post about other resources, such as organizations that provide dog and cat food or low-cost veterinary care, on their respective social media pages. You can support their educational efforts by sharing these posts with other dog owners in your own network.

Which are your favorite ways of helping the shelter dogs in your community? Do you have any other suggestions for supporting animal shelters and rescue organizations? Let me know in the comments below!

Supporting Shelter Dogs