Tuesday, December 16, 2014

10 Ways to Help a Shelter this #Christmas

  Christmas is quickly approaching and it is a perfect time of the year to play Santa Paws for your local no-kill pet shelter.  There are countless ways to help and not break your holiday budget.  In fact, most of the ways are completely FREE.
We volunteered at the Insane Inflatables
5K run this weekend.
    1.   Volunteer your time at the facility.  There are always things to do around the shelter such as landscaping, cleaning, interacting with the pets, and answering the phone.
    2.   Volunteer at shelter events.  This is such a fun way to meet people, talk about dogs, and help shelters.  Following the shelter of your choice on Facebook is a great way to find out about upcoming events.
    3.   Clean out the linen closet.  Winter weather is especially hard on shelters.  Pull out those old blankets, sheets, and towels to help keep a pup warm while it waits for a loving home.  *Be sure to wash them before donating.
4.   Buy a few flannel blankets.  Christmas is a great time to find the cute printed flannel blankets on sale.  Some are even as low as $2.99.  Grab some to drop off at the local shelter.  It doesn’t cost much to give a dog something to snuggle on to be off the floor.
5.   Toys  Does your house resemble a doggie daycare?  Are toys scattered
The Humane Society of NW LA. received a
portion of the entry for one race.
from one end to the other?  Is Santa bringing even MORE?  Gather all of the toys in a pile, separate the toys your dogs are no longer interested in, and bag them up for some dogs that will love them.  *Make sure all toys are clean and in good condition.
6.   Easy to Make toys  There are many types of toys that you can make while watching television.  Click here for my Pinterest DYI Dog Toys board.
7.   Donate quality treats  Most shelters welcome dog /cat treats.  Always call and ask your shelter if they prefer a particular brand or size in treats.  *Many stores offer free bags of treats in their promotions.  These make great items for donations.
8.   Gift Cards  If you are going heavy on gift cards this year; pick one up at a pet store or big box store for a shelter.
9.   Cleaning Materials  You can only imagine how many paper towels a shelter uses each day.  It is always helpful to pick up a few rolls to donate.
10.       Leashes and Collars  It you have a gazillion leashes and only use half a gazillion, donate the others.  Collars of various sizes are welcomed.

**Always check with your shelter before planning a donation.

I hate to ask but…
A few weeks back I asked that you take a moment to vote for my book covers in the AUTHORSdb semi-finals contest.  Thanks to you, both books are FINALISTS in the humor division.  You are only allowed to vote once on each cover.  Voting runs Sunday December 14, 2014 until December 21, 2014 PST.  This is the last phase of this contest where voting is allowed.  I would really appreciate it.  This link will take you to the Humorous page.  Click each book cover and give stars in each category.  Thanks again!


Bentley is featured on
Bentley is thrilled to have his story shared by Dr. Baker.  She is a veterinarian and an author.  Her book, Eighteen Months to Live is available on Amazon.  Be sure to stop by, read Bentley’s story, and say “Hello.”  Dr. Baker also wrote a lovely review of The Returns on Amazon.  We thank her very much for everything.


32 comments :

  1. Great ideas and I am sure this time of year they could do with as much help as they can get. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. I think everyone has some old blankets or towels stuffed in a closet. Shelters welcome them.

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  2. Great tips!! Saw Rachaels post already, fantastic and voted! Good Luck!

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    1. Thanks JoAnn! I was really excited that she chose Bentley to be featured. Thanks for voting.

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  3. I donated my win from the shows for a shelter, I hope they will like it, but it's made by Purine so I think it will fit for a christmas menu :o)
    Easy Rider

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    1. That is so awesome! I'm sure the dogs thanks you so very much. ☺ Congratulations on your win!

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  4. Such wonderful ideas!! We are going to plan to do at least 2 of them this year!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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    1. Yay! That's great Dory. We are sending our photo with my sweetie Emma and Pierre's friend Bailie to you. We are so excited!

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  5. we just did our donation - towels and blankets - we were lucky to get some fleece on sale and made some wonderful blankies and we had some coupons for treats so were able to get a nice box of goodies to give to the pups

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    1. I love the feel of fleece. I keep saying that I am going to make some fleece no-sew blankets. I think they are so cute! I have a pile of sheets and blankets ready to take.

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  6. Voted :)
    These are all wonderful ways to help out animals in need!!!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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    1. Thanks so much! It takes so little to make a huge difference to a shelter.

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  7. Those are all such great ideas. It's the time of year to clean out the cupboards anyway, and what better to do with the things we don't need then to share them with pets that do.
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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    1. I seem to have more old towels and blankets than I do new ones! It's a great excuse to buy me more and donate the others.

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  8. This is a very important message
    Lily & Edward

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  9. I love the ideas for helping shelters in this post, Melissa. Great job! And your Tuesday True Tails story about Bentley on my site is attracting a lot of attention - people are really enjoying it!

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    1. Thank you so much for featuring Bentley on your website. The story and photos turned out awesome. I hope your audience enjoyed it.

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  10. Voted. Great list of ideas for helping shelters.

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    1. I really appreciate your vote. This is such a great honor to be a finalists. It feels so good to help out the less fortunate pups and cats.

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  11. I had mom go over and vote for your cover. I couldn’t do it since it wasn’t featuring Bentley. Wish we had a shelter near us, but the closest one is almost 40 mins away, so we don’t do much with it.

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    1. You are such a sweetie! Actually, tell your mom to scroll down. My book cover on The Returns is one below The Showstoppers. Both of our books are finalists. I'd love for you to go back and vote on mine. I don't think you have to register again or anything. Just vote. I got your card today and it is gorgeous. ♥

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  12. Great ideas for helping shelters! I hope you had a great time at the run. Going to vote now.

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    1. Thank you Mark. We did have a very good time watching the runners climb and bounce on the obstacles. I really appreciate the votes.

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  13. We give monthly donations to different shelters here in Denmark.

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  14. A very impawtent post!! We better check out the vote thingie . . .

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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    1. Thanks Doods! It is hard to imagine that we have so much and other dogs have so little. It is important that we share our blessings. For sure check out my books and vote. I really appreciate it.

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  15. Those are terrific ways to help out your local shelter. Thank you for sharing them!

    We just voted for you. :)

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    1. That is wonderful! I know that you understand how important donations are to shelters. Thanks again!

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  16. Those are some WONDERful tips!!! We know the shelters will appreciate them!

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  17. great ways to help a shelter, thanks for sharing them. Love your DYI pet board.

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