With the Holiday season upon us it’s important that we give back to the community and provide some holiday cheer to the people around us. That goes for our four-legged friends as well.

This winter why don’t you adopt a dog or cat from one of our local shelters? These dogs and cats desperately need a loving and responsible home to care for them.

It’s a big decision to adopt a pet, you shouldn’t just get a dog or cat on a whim. You need to really consider if you can provide a safe home environment for a shelter animal.

Can you feed it? Can you spend time with it? Can you give it a roof over it’s head? These are all thing you need to take into account before you decide to adopt.

If you’re absolutely sure that you want to adopt a dog you need to check with the shelter that you’re adopting from about the animal and it’s past.

These are animals that have probably been abandoned or abused. It’ll take a lot of love and care to help these animals rehabilitate from their troubled pasts. Each animal is different and you’ll have to take into account what it’s been through to provide proper care for it.

Getting your new pet to trust you is a big first step. You need to take care to not startle your new pet, take things slow and easy.

Introduce your new pet to their new home gradually, you don’t want to overload their senses. The same applies to meeting new people, you don’t want to scare them by having them meet a huge group of people.

If you have another pet already you have to be careful when you bring this new shelter animal home. Your old pet can have a variety of reactions, but it is important that your old pet and new pet end up as best friends instead of uneasy housemates.

One of your top priorities should be to make sure that your new pet feels safe in its new home. Loud noises need to be kept to a minimum and objects that can be broken need to be put away. Think of it as baby proofing your house, except it’s for your dog.

This all will pay off in the end though as these rescued animals can be some of the most loving pets if you treat them right. If you gain their trust and show them enough love and support then you will have one happy pet on your hands.