Philadoptables

Dog eating too fast? Challenge them with an interactive dog bowl!

kyjen-dog-games-slo-bowl-slow-feeder-flower-purple-8Does your dog eat all their food in record time? Looking for a way to slow them down? Try an interactive dog bowl! Interactive bowls challenge your dog to use their mind and nose to get the food out of hidden places.  Hopefully, this will slow down those fast eaters. Check out these benefits.

-Less digestion issues
-Prevent weight problems
-Challenges their brain
-Reduce anxiety through play

 

For under $20 you can challenge your dog in no time! Here are some of our favorites!

Northmate Interactive Feeder
Kyjen Slow Feeder
Dogit go Slow

 

Here is a link if you would like to purchase one: Click Here

Please let us know how they work for you!

Give Philly Shelter Dogs A Place To Play

play yardPeople who want to adopt a dog don’t always see everything an animal shelter does to get the dog from a shelter cage to a new owner’s arms. Most shelters don’t have enough funds to keep dogs happy and sane while in their care. When prospective owners visit, they don’t realize the dog will become a playful, happy pet in a home. They just see a depressed dog, or even a dog who’s sick.

Philadoptables was founded to fill the gaps between shelter funds and the animal’s needs. The volunteers realized that dogs needed a safe, comfortable place where they could play in all kinds of weather.

Play is essential to the dog’s physical and mental health. A dog who plays will sleep better in the shelter because he’s tired. He’ll bark less and will learn tricks more quickly. He’ll be happier and probably won’t be as jumpy or nervous.

Additionally, ACCT volunteers work with dogs to train them in new behaviors. Some dogs know the basics and just need to maintain them. Some were never taught anything beyond “sit,” and sometimes nothing all. Training gives the dogs some stimulation so they’re better adjusted. As a result, each dog will be more likely to get adopted and will be a better pet once he’s adopted.

During rain and snow days, and in the heat of summer, dogs can’t stay out more than a few minutes. The volunteers can’t be outdoors in bad weather and some dogs like bad weather either.

Enter Philadoptables with …

An All-Weather Play Area For Philly’s animal control shelter

Last year Philadoptables arranged for architectural drawings for a new play area cover that will let animals play and exercise in any type of weather. We set funds aside to build the structure but now they have learned they need considerably more.

The city’s building department requires expensive ground drilling and soil testing to be completed, and they require fire rated materials to be used for the project. These requirements increased the original costs of $17,000 to $28,000.

Raising $11,000 For The Dogs

A general contractor, Puro-Tec LTD generously donated their general contracting time to oversee this project. The new budget reflects labor, materials and related costs to comply with the city requirements.

Michelle Helms, President of Philadoptables, says, “This is a project we are very passionate about completing even with the increased budget. No matter what the weather, the pups still need to get outside. Having a play yard with a roof is going to help them stay dry and safe during inclement weather.”

Therefore we need to raise $11,000. It’s a daunting task: Philadoptables has no paid staff. All funds raised go directly to support the animals.

We need your help! To donate, use the link below. Your contribution is tax-deductible. Every dollar goes directly to the project and you’ll be helping to improve the lives of shelter dogs. http://www.gofundme.com/purotecgivesback

Get A KitNipBox And Help Rescue Animals At Philadoptables

kitnipKitNipBox is a cat’s best friend!  Each month, the team scours the world for the most amazing cat toys, treats, accessories, and other goodies.

The CMO (Chief Meow Officer), Sylvester, the black cat, and his team of kitty product connoisseurs personally try the items to ensure their absolute purr-fection for kitties everywhere.

KitNip Box then creates a box of unique items and ship it to your cat. Purrs all around!
All boxes contain high-quality cat toys, all-natural treats, and other fun, healthy cat products. Have a kitty with allergies or sensitive tummy? No worries! The boxes can be customized to skip the treats and include extra toys
To order, just head over to https://www.kitnipbox.com and choose whether you want just a one time delivery or a repeat one for maximum fun!
At the checkout, make sure to include the code PHILADOPTABLES – with the code you will get 15% off your first box, plus an additional 5% of each order will be donated directly to Philadoptables and a portion of the proceeds will go to Philadoptables!

Your 2014 Support Made All This Possible …

philadoptables20142014 was a fantastic year- lots of good work and lots of fun!

Philadoptables was busy with a multitude of things like:

– Purchasing much needed items for the shelter residents such as: cautery pens, cat traps, penicillin, wildlife gloves, eye ointment, heating pads, lots and lots of pate cat food, cat dens, 4 picnic tables, lots of KMR to feed the baby kitties, baby bottles, microchip scanners, clippers and blades for surgery, wood’s lamp, snuggle discs, Pedialite, puppy milk, Kongs, rolling shelves for the surgical suite, anesthesia machine, cool backdrops for indoor promotions photos, and 6 pulse oximeters.

– Filling the pet food pantry for Philly residents in need- by soliciting and transporting donations as well has holding a week long pet food drive

– Holding volunteer breakfasts

– Fundraising through retail sales, fun events, flapjack breakfast, and the Walk for a Dog app

– Promoting adoptions at the North East Hot Rod & Custom Car Show

– Throwing a Sneezy Cat Challenge to get sick cats into foster care

-Promoting adoptables on TV and radio

– Contributing to the Stella Fund which pays for urgently needed medical care

– Developing a bimonthly newsletter

-Throwing a Kitten Baby Show to get the babies into foster care

– Holding adoption events at off-site locations

– Producing a calendar as a fundraiser Hunks for Hounds 2015

– Updating our website to a responsive site– aka you can view it on your cell phone!

– Increased Philadoptables city-wide awareness by handling the American Flag in the July 4th parade and Clifford balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade

We would never have been able to do these things without YOU- our family, friends, and supporters.Thanks for another GREAT year!Much love!Christa, Diana, Jeanie, John, Marta, & Michelle

Dog Treat Recipe: Holiday Dog Candy Canes

dogcandycanesYour adopted dog deserves a holiday treat and we’ve got the perfect recipe from Dogtreatkitchen.com: a fun dog treat recipe to make. Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps needed to make this homemade dog treat. They are all easy steps, in fact you could make it even more enjoyable by having your kids or other family members help you roll out “worm” shapes for your dog.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup nonfat powdered milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 large eggs
2 tsp red food coloring(see tips)
1/2 tsp peppermint oil flavoring (optional)
1 large egg (for an egg wash)
Additional flour for kneading

Instructions:

  1. Whisk together the flour, powdered milk and baking powder.
  2. In a small bowl, pour the warm water over the chicken bouillon, stir until dissolved.
  3. Whisk the eggs into the chicken water.
  4. Form a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients.
  5. Stir until thorougly combined.
  6. Knead the dough for about two minutes.
  7. Add more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
  8. Separate the dough in half.
  9. Form a well in one of the balls of dough.
  10. Add the food coloring and peppermint flavoring.
  11. Wearing food safe gloves, knead the coloring and flavoring throughout the dough.
  12. Cool the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  13. Preheat the oven to 350° F
  14. Divide each ball of dough into tablespoon sized balls.
  15. Gently roll each ball into a “worm” shape, letting the dough rest when needed. Each strip should be about 5 inches long.
  16. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
  17. Twist one plain strip with a red strip, and curl the end to shape a candy cane.
  18. Place on the baking sheet.
  19. Whisk the extra egg in a small bowl.
  20. Using a pastry brush, thoroughly coat each candy cane with the egg wash.
  21. Bake for 10 minutes.
  22. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Storage – Our free dog treat recipes do not contain preservatives, so they will need to be refrigerated. These dog candy canes will keep fresh for two or more weeks in the refrigerator. They also freeze beautifully. Keep them in the freezer for up to 6 months

Yield – If you roll out 5 inch strips of dough, and twist them together, you should yield at least 20 sugar free dog treats.

Tips & Techniques

Parchment Paper – Lay out a long piece of parchment or wax paper to use as your work surface. Otherwise each little ball, or “worm”, will stick to the clean counter.

Patience – You must practice patience with this, and other, sugar free dog treat recipes that require shaping. The dough wants to contract to it original size. But, you can coax it into the shape you want gradually. Do each step to the entire batch of dough. This will allow the dough to rest in between being shaped. First, break apart the dough into tablespoon sized balls. Next, slightly roll each ball into a “worm” shape in your hands (it will be too thick and about 3 inches long). Then, roll each “worm” on the parchment paper to the desired thickness and at least 5 inches long. Gently pull on either end of the strip to help it lengthen. If the dough is not cooperating, let it rest, and start rolling another piece of dough.

Gloves – Wearing food safe gloves is essential when kneading in the red food coloring and peppermint. Otherwise the red dye will temporarily stain your hands red, I know from experience! 🙂 If you need to remove red dye from your hands, make a paste with cornstarch and water. Rub your hands together, rinse and repeat if needed.

Red Coloring – I found red food coloring worked much better than red food paste or gel. However, you can also try natural red food coloring, like beet powder.

Peppermint – The flavoring is an optional step that helps give this sugar freedog treat recipe more flavor. Not to mention mint smells great baking, and it makes these homemade dog treats the real deal. However, if you do not have it on hand, or would rather not add it, the end dog treat will come out the same to your dog, simply scrumptious.

Twist – Maybe I’m not very coordinated, but I found it difficult to twist the two strips together while on the baking sheet. What worked best for me, was to hold a strip in each hand and then twist them together in the air. Gravity seems to help lengthen the “worms” and I got more twists per cookie. Then lay your twisted cookie on the prepared baking sheet and curve the top to create the “crook” part of the candy cane.

These candy cane dog treats make the perfect gift. Lay them on top of each other and tie with ribbon. Place a tag on the cookies to show that they’re for your four legged recipient. Then package it with a coffee mug & hot chocolate for your human friend. Or, better yet, make them to show your dog just how much you care.