afFURmation

Do you know it doesn’t take much to make a difference for dogs looking for a home? Often people think that if they can’t do the more important things- like fostering, cleaning kennels or even donate money- that there isn’t anything they can do to help. But there are a lot of  small things that you can volunteer to do and help make a big difference in the work a rescue does.

What are some of those small things you can do? The suggestion list below has been around the Internet. I even posted it before, but it has so many good suggestions it’s worth sharing again.

100 Things You Can Do for Rescue

• Transport a dog?
• Donate a dog bed or towels or other bedding type items?
• Donate money?
• Donate a Kong? A Nylabone? A Hercules?
• Donate a crate?
• Donate an x-pen or baby gates?
• Donate a food dish or a stainless bucket for a crate?
• Donate a leash?
• Donate a collar?
• Donate some treats or a bag of food?
• Donate a halti or promise collar or a gentle leader?
• Walk a dog?
• Groom a dog?
• Donate some grooming supplies (shampoos, combs, brushes, etc.)?
• Go to the local shelter and see if that dog is the breed the shelter says it is or go with rescue to be a second opinion on the dog?
• Make a few phone calls?
• Mail out applications to people who’ve requested them?
• Provide local vet clinics with contact information for educational materials on responsible pet ownership?
• Drive a dog to and from vet appointments?
• Donate long distance calling cards?
• Donate the use of your scanner or digital camera?
• Donate the use of a photocopier?
• Attend public education days and try to educate people on responsible pet ownership?
• Donate a gift certificate to a pet store?
• Donate a raffle item if your local rescue group is holding a fundraiser?
• Donate flea preventative (Frontline, Advantage, etc.)?
• Donate heartworm pills?
• Donate a canine first aid kit?
• Provide a shoulder to cry on when the rescue person is overwhelmed?
• Pay the boarding fees to board a dog for a week? Two weeks?
• Be a Santi-paws foster to give the foster a break for a few hours or days?
• Clip coupons for dog food or treats?
• Bake some homemade doggie biscuits?
• Make book purchases through Amazon via a web site that contributes commissions earned to a rescue group?
• Host rescue photos with an information link on your website?
• Donate time to take good photos of foster dogs for adoption flyers, etc.?
• Conduct a home visit or accompany a rescue person on the home visit?
• Go with rescue person to the vet to help if there is more than one dog?
• Have a yard sale and donate the money to rescue?
• Be a volunteer to do rescue in your area?
• Take advantage of a promotion on the web or store offering a free ID tag and instead of getting it for your own dog, have the tag inscribed with your rescue’s name and phone # to contact?
• Talk to all your friends about adopting and fostering rescue dogs?
• Donate vet services or can you help by donating a spay or neuter each year or some vaccinations?
• Interview vets to encourage them to offer discounts to rescues?
• Write a column for your local newspaper or club newsletter on dogs currently looking for homes or ways to help rescue?
• Take photos of dogs available for adoption for use by the Club?
• Maintain web sites listing/showing dogs available?
• Help organize and run fundraising events?
• Help maintain the paperwork files associated with each dog or enter the information into a database?
• Tattoo a rescued dog?
• Microchip a rescued dog?
• Loan your carpet steam-cleaner to someone who has fostered a dog that was sick or marked in the house?
• Donate a bottle of bleach or other cleaning products?
• Donate or loan a portable dog run to someone who doesn’t have a quarantine area for quarantining a dog that has an unknown vaccination history and has been in a shelter?
• Drive the fosters’ children to an activity so that the foster can take the dog to obedience class?
• Use your video camera to film a rescue dog in action?
• Pay the cost of taking a dog to obedience class?
• Be the one to take the dog to its obedience class?
• Go to the foster home once a week with your children and dogs to help socialize the dog?
• Help the foster clean up the yard (yes, we also have to scoop what those foster dogs poop)
• Offer to test the foster dog with cats?
• Pay for the dog to be groomed or take the dog to a *Do It Yourself* Grooming Place?
• Bring the foster take out so the foster doesn’t have to cook dinner?
• Pay a house-cleaning service to do the spring cleaning for someone who fosters dogs all the time?
• Lend your artistic talents to your club’s newsletter, fundraising ideas, and t-shirt designs?
• Donate printer paper, envelopes and stamps to your club?
• Go with a rescue person to the vet if a foster dog needs to be euthanized?
• Go to local shelters and meet with shelter staff about how to identify your breed or provide photos and breed information showing the different types of that breed may come in and the different color combinations (i.e. that biscuit is an acceptable color in Sams)?
• Go to local businesses and solicit donations for a club’s fundraising event?
• Offer to try and help owners be better pet owners by holding a grooming seminar?
• Help pet owners be better pet owners by being available to answer training questions?
• Loan a crate if a dog needs to travel by air?
• Put together an *Owner’s Manual* for those who adopt rescued dogs of your breed?
• Provide post-adoption follow up or support?
• Donate a coupon for a free car wash or gas or inside cleaning of a vehicle?
• Pay for an ad in your local/metropolitan paper to help place rescue dogs?
• Volunteer to screen calls for that ad?
• Get some friends together to build/repair pens for a foster home?
• Microchip your own pups if you are a breeder, and register the chips so if your dogs ever come into rescue, you can be contacted to take responsibility for your pup?
• Donate a small percentage of the sale of each pup to rescue if you are a breeder?
• Buy two of those really neat dog-items you “have to have” and donate one to Rescue?
• Make financial arrangements in your will to cover the cost of caring for your dogs after you are gone – so Rescue won’t have to?
• Make a bequest in your will to your local or national Rescue?
• Donate your professional services as an accountant or lawyer?
• Donate other services if you run your own business?
• Donate the use of a vehicle if you own a car dealership?
• Loan your cell phone (and cover costs for any calls) to someone driving a rescued dog?
• Donate your *used* dog dryer when you get a new one?
• Let rescue know when you’ll be flying and that you’d be willing to be a rescued dog’s escort?
• Donate a doggy seatbelt?
• Donate a grid for a van or other vehicle?
• Organize a rescued dog picnic or other event to reunite the rescued dogs that have been placed?
• Donate other types of doggy toys that might be safe for rescued dogs?
• Donate a roll-a-treat or Buster cube?
• Donate clickers or a video on clicker training?
• Donate materials for a quarantine area at a foster’s home?
• Donate sheets of linoleum or other flooring material to put under crates to protect the foster’s floor?
• Donate an engraving tool to make ID tags for each of the rescued dogs?
• Remember that rescuing a dog involves the effort and time of many people and make yourself available on an emergency basis to do *whatever* is needed?
• Do something not listed above to help rescue?

What other ideas can you add?

I am joining in with other bloggers for Bloggers Unite for Dog Rescue. Please visit some of the blogs below who have also joined in.