Adopting a pet can be a very socially responsible, fulfilling way to add to your family. Shelters are filled beyond capacity with dogs, cats and other small animals that patiently await their forever homes. But, while doing this can be a supreme act of love, there are some rules and guidelines that you should be aware of before visiting the first shelter. Those rules are:

Before the visit:

1. Make sure that everyone is in agreement about the kind of pet that you are looking for. This should include the breed, size and sex of the pet. Discuss this thoroughly with your children and make sure that they understand that any sign of dissent will equal an end to the trip immediately.

2. Make sure that everyone in the family is aware of proper animal safety rules. Do they know how to approach an animal correctly? Is there any chance at all that anyone will be frightened? A frightened child might equal a frightened pet-which could mean trouble.

3. Finally, make sure that everyone knows what to expect- that there will be a lot of animals, and that while it is sad that they are there, you can only take one. Also, find out the shelter’s policies on the actual adoption- will you fill out forms and wait for approval, or will you be able to take your pet home that night?

While at the shelter:

1. Remind children of the rules and make sure that they are within arm’s reach of you at all times.

2. Walk through and do a quick scan, narrowing the family’s selections down to a few and then returning for a closer inspection.

3. Ask questions of the shelter staff, including known health history, behavior, and any other key facts that they might have.

4. Visit with the selected pet if that is allowed, watching the interaction between him and the family members.

After the visit:

1. Come home to allow everyone to discuss his or her feelings about the pet in question. Did they like him, or did they think that there might be a better pet out there somewhere?

2. Call the shelter staff and update them on your family’s decision. If you have decided to adopt, fill out necessary forms if you have not already, and pay any fees. If you have decided against adoption, then tell the shelter staff any reasons that you might have- so that they can keep your input in mind when showing the pet to the next family.

Adopting a pet should be rewarding, and it will be as long as everyone knows what to expect from the very start.

Go here to read the rest: The Rules of Pet Adoption

Most children love animals and will usually start asking for a pet. Allowing them to have one can depend on many factors including where you live, how much time you have to give to a pet and your child’s maturity level. Is your child ready for a pet? Does he display real interest in an animal friend, or is it just the latest whine-de-jour? How does he handle responsibilities? Does he complete his age appropriate chores or is it a constant struggle to get him to do anything? If you cannot get him to pick up his dirty drawers, will he really feed, water and clean up after a pet?

Apartment dwellers are often drawn to the exotic pets because they are small and relatively easy to care for. Before starting to look at actual animals, make sure you know your child’s temperament and level of commitment to the idea and then narrow down the search. Find the right category of animal first and then start looking. Your search should take you to a reputable pet shop where a knowledgeable salesperson should take the time to match your child to the right pet, and not just try to make a fast sale. Make sure that you know what kind of equipment your new pet will need to stay happy and healthy before even heading down to the pet shop; some pets will be far more expensive initially than others.

Understand that while the child is the one that is asking for this pet, you will ultimately be overseeing its care, and potentially taken over full time. With that in mind, you will want to consider if you will be able to tolerate the chosen pet. If you are anti-snake, and your son has refused to clean the cage, what will you do? Also, consider the pet’s diet before allowing him to become part of your family. Snakes for instance, eat rodents. Will you be able to handle that? Will it be too intense for your child?

Finally, realize that the attention span of even the most patient child can be as short lived as the toy filled commercials they are bombarded with. Today’s “hot” pet will be tomorrow’s passé reject, so be prepared to step in and adopt the cast off. Until your child is older than ten, you might want to stick with fish, or birds, both of which require minimal human contact, are pretty and rarely creep out Mom.

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Is your best friend getting older and having problems with pain or arthritis? Take a look at Pet Bounce.  Have a wonderful day!

More here: Exotic Pets and Children

The term “exotic pets” leads many people to think of expensive, hard to manage and maintain animals that try hard to escape and want only to eat your family. This is not necessarily true; the category encompasses a whole lot of much smaller, and family friendly pets. Cats and dogs are nice family pets, but are not always a real viable option. Apartment dwellers might find it easier to keep a small, exotic pet, and in fact, in some buildings certain types may be the only ones allowable.

Some of the best and most popular exotic pets for children are some of the simplest to care for. Look for the animals that are most child friendly, which would rule out any potentially poisonous, feistier than average or Houdini-esque pets. Keep to the ones that have at least a modicum of the cute factor to them, and always keep in mind that you are going to potentially be adopting this animal in a few weeks.

A great starter pet is a Guinea pig, especially for an older child, as long as the child is capable of dealing with some simple rules. A quiet, gentle child will find a guinea pig becomes fairly easy to handle with regular handling and they rarely bite unless frightened. Guinea pigs are also fairly inexpensive, needing only a basic cage, some clean fresh bedding and an easy to find diet. They do require Vitamin C because they are prone to scurvy, but can get that from the same fresh fruits and vegetables that your family is already eating.

Other rodents are fairly good choices as starter pets, but each have their own benefits and drawbacks to consider. Rats might creep out some family members, but are remarkably intelligent and have been known to bond with their human keepers with consistent, gentle handling. Some rodents are best kept in a pair, while others are better kept as single pets, so make sure you know which is which.

If buying a rodent for a pet is just more than you can really handle, there are other exotic pet options that are still small and relatively easy to care for. Smaller birds like the finch and parakeet are very good starter animals, although are a lot more fragile than the rodent groups. Birds are best left for the older child. Another option is lizards and snakes. Some are kind of hard to maintain and need a lot of work to care for. Remember, the larger the reptile or amphibian, the larger the cage and the more intensive the “zoo-keeping.” Keep in mind the snake’s diet before you allow him to slither home with you.

Finally, if you truly want a low maintenance, nearly hands off pet, consider the hermit crab or the Madagascar hissing cockroach. Neither really needs a lot of human interaction, both only need a small space and will not pout if their keepers ignore them for days on end.

Read the original here: The Most Popular Exotic Pets

Perth Pet Shops discover the Internet

With 2 new pet stores opening in 2010 this brings the total up to 8 stores across WAwe are now putting more focus on bringing our pet shops to the internet said Andrew McMullen who is responsible for the online expansion.

The aim is to have our entire pet product catalog online by June 2011 and in the meantime to build a solid supportive site for our customers. In the meantime we are adding new pet products all of the time.

Pet Popularity

Pets are more popular than ever and in fact even with the economic turmoil of the past few years new pet purchases and livestock adoptions have shown continued growth from year to year. Unfortunatly the popularity of pets and particularly the more exotic kind such as parrots and reptiles also often results in people owning pets who are not properly aware or trained being entrusted with the care of an animal which they do not entirely understand or know how to look after properly. At Pet City we feel we have an obligation to help educate our customers by providing material and resources for learning so that they are able to take the best care possible of their pets

The WWW will help us better serve our customers and offer additional services and assistance we simply cannot do without the internet. For those customers who are looking for a new pet we have email subscriptions available like our puppy notifier which will keep customers looking for their next puppy updated by email of the new puppies we have in our stores. These services are designed to help customers searching for the right puppy or other pet that suits them since they can quickly browse the animals available in stores and then visit the store where the puppy is located saving time and helping their efforts to find just the right pet for them. The subscriptions extend to more than just puppies with Newsletters catering also to kittens and those looking for particular breeds of birds, fish, reptiles and small animals.

Improved Pet Support

We also have a range of newsletters to help new pet owners get to know their pets and how to take the best care of them.Our newsletters feature articles and information on pet care, training bonding and more to help ensure our customers have all the tools and knowledge required to correctly care for their pets and provide them with long life and the loving, happy and safe environment which all pets deserve.

On top of the additional services we can offer we also hope to drive new sales from our online catalog which in theory will open us up to the rest of Australia and the world so we are looking forward and excited about the development of the upcoming new Pet City WA online shopping catalog and being able to offer our extended pet related services to new customers from all corners of the globe.

This is a new era for Pet City WA who have been a market leader in the West AustralianPet Industry and have continued to grow each year. People will always love animals and now Pet City is spreading its wings and challenging Australia and the rest of the world to be responsible for their pets and use our resources to self educate ensuring that our customers having everything at their fingertips to be the best pet owners they can be.

The new Pet City WA website can be found at http://petcitywa.com.au

Visit link: Perth Pet Stores take on the World

There’s nothing an animal lover enjoys more than getting to spend time with their favorite furry friend and with a pet franchise you can spend plenty of time with animals while making great profits for yourself. There are quite a few new and exciting business opportunities for the animal lover these days and regardless of your business experience, if you have a love of animals and the drive and desire to own your own business, then you have what it takes to startup your own pet franchise. Here’s a quick look at seven different pet franchises that not only serve to help out pets and their owners, but have also been proven to be very successful businesses.

Dogtopia

While Dogtopia is labeled as a Dog Spa, they also offer an upscale day care for your furry friend. Rather than a series of kennel runs, Dogtopia provides a supervised open environment where the dogs can play and the owners can even check in on their dogs via the live webcam. As a franchisee you’ll spend plenty of time playing with the dogs and providing a safe and stimulating environment for them through the day care, training classes, spa services and retail sales.

Kennelwood

Recognized as on of the finest pet resorts in the world, Kennelwood pet resort provides a safe and healthy “vacation” for your dog in a truly amazing environment that makes ordinary kennels and dog boarding services seem like animal cruelty. From their award winning grooming services and professional training to the doggie day camp and personalized play times, dogs love Kennelwood so much that they often pull their owners into Kennelwood on return visits.

Doo Care

Although it may not seem glamorous, the dog waste market is rapidly expanding in metropolitan markets and is a relatively untapped area of the service sector. Doo Care provides waste removal for busy families, the elderly or any of the nearly 50 million dog owners in America. With such a high demand and very few businesses stepping in, it’s easy to see how a Doo Care franchise could really clean up.

Pet Depot

With the slogan, “Where animals come first” Pet Depot is a retail pet store chain that provides customized, personal service to their customers and with nearly 60% of all households owning at least one pet, the retail pet market has never been bigger. Unlike many retail establishments which may see the average customer returning 5-6 times per year, pet owners will buy pet food along with other supplies every 2-6 weeks, and most pet owners will buy their food and supplies at the same location every time, giving you a high level of repeat business and steady income.

Wild Bird Centers

We’ve looked at quite a few franchises that cater to dogs, but if you’re a bird lover you may want to consider a pet franchise with Wild Bird Centers. With the highest average sales and lowest cost of goods in the specialty birding industry, Wild Bird Centers is by far the winning choice in this niche market. If your knowledge of birds is lacking, but you’re still interested in this unique franchise, Wild Bird Centers will provide you with comprehensive training about the ins and outs of their franchise businesses and they’ll also teach you everything you need to or ever wanted to know about birds.

Bark Busters

Bark Busters is a home-based franchise that gives you the training to be a skilled, on-site dog trainer in very little time. With Bark Busters’ proven method (which has trained over 300,000 dogs worldwide) you can tap into the $36 billion dollar pet industry with confidence knowing that Bark Busters is the #1 pet franchise (as ranked by Entrepreneur.) With many unique qualities such as a “Life of the Dog Guarantee” and the ability to change a dog’s unwanted behavior in a two to two and a half hour session, Bark Busters is a great franchise for the working mom, and a must for any pet lover.

Camp Bow Wow

For a high-class, upscale approach to doggie day care, consider a franchise with Camp Bow Wow. Camp Bow Wow’s “four-paw” service has earned them national recognition in newspapers, magazines, television shows and all over the internet, and if you think humans like Camp Bow Wow, you should see the reaction your dog will have when he’s pampered by the Camp Bow Wow staff. Camp Bow Wow is the first and largest franchise in the doggie daycare and boarding industry and offers a fun, safe environment for dogs to play while also promoting good health and socialization with every aspect of the camp tailored around what is best for the dogs. This business model attracts the more upscale, high-income clientele and makes this franchise a great moneymaker for any dog enthusiast.

If you love pets and love the idea of running your own business, you can’t go wrong with a pet franchise. Not only will you receive all of the training and materials needed to start your business from scratch, you’ll also be able to rest easy knowing that each of these pet franchises has built their business from the ground up and found the right formula to run a successful business without making any sacrifices to the well being and care of our furry friends. Even if you’ve never owned a business before, these pet franchises make it easy for anyone to start and run a successful business by providing extensive training as it relates to their business and many will offer general business and management training to prepare you to run your new business successfully and make a lot of pets and owners your satisfied customers.

If you’re looking for a little buddy to take care of and keep you company than you should immediately search for a pet store where you can choose from a large variety of species and colors of little(or big if you want) companions.

Or maybe you already have a pet that you love and you want to reward him with a special toy or its own little house. You can find many pet-related toys and products in the pet supply and pet stores everywhere.

If you don’t have time to wander around the city and visit all the pet stores that you can find in the search for the perfect animal or the perfect gift, now you have a much easier solution at your fingertips – visit the online pet & pet supply stores!

A large number of pet stores from all over the world have their own webpage where you can see all the animals and products they have for sale, and furthermore, you can order directly from the Internet, and your little buddy or the toys or whatever pet supplies that you want for him will come right at your doorstep.

Most of the pet stores, including the online ones sell all the pets that one may desire, from fish, little and big birds, dogs and cats of course, to snakes, lizards and hamsters.
The most wanted animals are the dogs and the cats, especially when they are young puppies and kittens.

Also, the pet supply stores sell a large variety of products that can make your animal happy, from aquariums and aquarium ornaments to plastic bones and toys and special bath tubs and cleaning kits. You will be surprised of the large number of toys and devices created for your own pet.

During the holidays many people buy more pets and toys so in those times of the year you will find many discounts and special offers.

But for some people the pet stores rise some questions like ‘What if I buy a dog for example and it will turn out to be disobedient destructive animal?’
Well most people buy good pets but in some cases clients may be unlucky and get the wrong pet. Usually, in this cases the pet stores should have a policy that states that the animal will be replaced if in a certain amount of time the owner complains about its behavior.

These problems come from the pet supply of the pet store, some pets are raised in bad conditions before going in the pet stores and being available for sale. Some pet supply stores are getting their dogs and cats from puppy mills which treat the young animals really bad and make them vulnerable to diseases and they are most likely to have an inappropriate behavior when they grow up because they need to socialize and receive affection in order to be ‘healed’ of their wounds from the farm. But as mentioned above in these cases the pet store will change your animal at the smallest signs of disobedience.

Overall problems are known to occur quite seldom and you will most likely be pleased of your acquisition and you will save precious time if you visit an online pet store where you can browse and buy all the animals and products available for sale without moving an inch from your house.

If you are looking for great pet supply ideas visit this links and you will find one of the best online pet store on the Internet.