First things first…
THANK YOU for choosing to re-home your pet through Get Your Pet instead of dropping your dog or cat off at the local animal shelter.
Believe us when we say we know how hard parting with your beloved family pet can be. Particularly when you don’t know who will own them next, or if the new owner will treat your pet as kindly as you have. The weight of that uncertainty and worry can be heavy on our hearts.
But EVERYONE at getyourpet.com wants to help you find the right, safe, loving home for your pet. And that means giving Get Your Pet a try.
Start by setting up a pet profile…
Similar to a dating website, like Match.com, your dog or cat needs their own pet profile (listing) in our search engine. Potential Adopters can search the Get Your Pet website and find pets they are interested in meeting. But a successful hook up only comes if your pet’s profile is eye-catching and tempting! An irresistible pet profile should have cute photos of your pet as well as positive background information and their up-to-date medical history.
If interested, the potential Adopter can reach out to you and ask questions about your pet. Right through our website! Cool, right? And from there, if the Adopter and Guardian start feeling good vibes, they schedule a date to meet the pet in person. Can you feel the excitement? Let’s do this!
But let’s break down what makes for an IRRESISTIBLE pet profile, one step at a time.
Photos of your pet are NOT optional…
There is no way around it. You must have photos of your pet in their pet profile! At least one photo is required for the listing, but we STRONGLY encourage you to add up to three photos of your dog or cat. Just think of what you would want to see if you were looking to adopt a pet. The more photos the merrier, right? Here’s a couple GREAT photos that got these dogs adopted.
Talk up your pet…
We also suggest you share all the wonderful, sweet, loving, endearing things you can about your pet. Start with the positive, like how cute and funny their personality is, how affectionate and playful they are, that they love to go for runs with you, or how much fun they are with kids. Again, tell potential adopters WHY they should adopt your dog or cat. How fun they are to live with. How much a part of the family they are. From there, make sure to add any behavior concerns you have or medical issues a new owner needs to know. But again, start with the good things. Always.
Otherwise, you’ll just scare people away without them ever having the chance to meet and fall in love with your fur baby!
Share your pet’s history and daily needs…
This is one of the greatest services we offer. Information. We help you answer all kinds of background questions with easy prompts and checklists. So, in addition to posting GREAT photos of your family pet, you also need to share useful facts about your animal. We don’t need you to write a novel, just make sure to add any additional information that a potential Adopter would and SHOULD know about your pet.
Here are some suggestions on what to share in your pet’s profile:
- Your pet’s full history, including how long you’ve had your pet, how you got your pet and any previous history you may know.
- Why you need to find your pet a new home. Having this information will help Adopters decide if the pet will fit into their life.
- Who your pet has lived with before. Describe the people living in your household. Be sure to include details about any other pets they are living with or have lived with.
- Your pet’s favorite activities. Make a list so the Adopter can include these in the pet’s future.
- Anything your pet is fearful of. Many pets are frightened by thunderstorms, fireworks, loud noises, car rides, trips to the vet, people in uniforms, children or other animals. Let potential Adopters know any of these or other things that trouble your pet.
- Any allergies your pet has. Bee stings, certain types of foods, flea/tick prevention and grooming products are the most common allergies pets have.
- What type of food your pet eats. Changing a pet’s diet dramatically can cause major gastrointestinal issues. Be sure to give the brand name to the potential Adopter.
- Any behavioral issues your pet has. It is crucial to be honest about any less-than-desirable behaviors your pet may exhibit. Cover any important topic, such as aggression towards people or other animals, potty issues, and off-leash behavior.
- Any medical conditions your pet may have. Share current and past medical history and any veterinary documents you may have.
- Your pet’s spay or neuter status. Spaying or neutering is one of the most important things you can do for your pet, and is extremely desirable to potential Adopters. Get Your Pet can help you find a low cost resource for this service, but please know that this will most likely cost you something.
- Your pet’s vaccination status. Vaccinations are critical to a pet’s health. If your pet is up to date on vaccines, make sure to bring proof of this.
- Your pet’s flea/tick prevention status. If you’ve been providing flea/tick prevention regularly, make sure to tell the potential Adopter the type you have been using, so as to avoid any bad reactions.
- Whether or not your pet has been de-wormed or had a fecal test performed recently. Many intestinal parasites that dogs and cats have are zoonotic, which means they can be transmitted to humans. De-worming is relatively inexpensive and well worth it.
- Your pet’s Heartworm Prevention status. This is most applicable to dogs, but cats can get heartworm as well. Heartworm is exactly what it sounds like – a parasite that lives in the heart. It is transmitted by mosquitoes and can be fatal. If you’ve been providing heartworm prevention regularly, make sure to tell the potential Adopter the type you have been using to avoid any reactions.
- Is the pet micro-chipped? This is important because the new Adopter will need to make sure the microchip company is updated with the pet’s new address.
Did we say photos? We’ll say it again…
Nothing works faster or says so much about your pet as good photos do!
A bright, clear photo of your dog’s face looking RIGHT AT THE CAMERA tells Adopters they could be looking at that cute face every day. An up-close photo of your cat curled up in your lap tells people they could be curling up with them too. Photos are everything and should not be blurry or dark. Got that? Here are some more helpful examples of photos that got these pets adopted:
Don’t assume people know how awesome your pet is…
Show them. Tell them. Then do it again. Help your pet go from your good home to another. The other choice is to put them in a cage.
We can do better than that, don’t you think? Let’s put our best paws forward to save your pet’s life.