The Best Christmas Gift + Adoptable Animals

Rather than giving each other the usual cologne/perfume or jewelry this year for Christmas, Jared and I decided to make our gifts more personal and meaningful.  For us, this obviously meant a lot of dog-centric items!  I loved each and every one of the presents I received, but my favorite was this:

Jared drove Riley and I to the local PetCo and told me, "Fill up the cart with whatever you'd like, and we'll donate it all to PAWS."  (PAWS Humane Society is a local shelter with amazing employees and not nearly enough financial support.)  So we had a blast loading up the cart with bags of treats, plenty of sturdy dog toys, and metal food and water bowls.  When we told the cashier what we were doing, he even gave us a special coupon booklet so we could purchase more for less!

We also picked a new toy up for Riley because, well, he's the most spoiled dog in the world.  He had it destroyed by the end of the night...sigh.  #NaughtyDogProblems

When we went to PAWS to give them our donations, of course we spent some time with the adoptable animals!  Each and every cat and dog in the shelter seemed loving and sweet, but there were two in particular that I fell in love with.

Meet Betty!

Betty is a snuggly lovebug of a kitty who is 1 1/2 years old.  Since she is so friendly and gets along with all people and animals, she is one of the "roamers" at the shelter - she gets to greet guests when they enter the lobby!  Betty is still very much a kitten, so she loves to play...but she might love cuddling even more - she snuggled right up under Jared's chin and immediately started to purr!  Sadly, this petite cat has been at PAWS for nearly a full year, so her adoption fee has been reduced to only $50.  I can't imagine who wouldn't want to adopt her - I was tempted to take her home myself!

Meet Barbie!

Barbie is a 2-year-old Italian Greyhound mix who was thought to be dumped by an owner just outside of PAWS one day.  She is well-behaved and VERY friendly, and she has the wiggliest butt/tail I've ever seen!  She is said to be a bit shy, but not so much with us - we ended up with lots of puppy drool on us from all her kisses!  Barbie loves other dogs and cats and would do well in just about any home...she isn't much of a barker, but still has a lot of puppy-like behaviors and playfulness.  Bafflingly, this beautiful and unusual gal has been at PAWS since October - I can't believe she wasn't adopted right away!

If you're interested in adopting Barbie or Betty, please contact the PAWS Humane Society.  In the meantime, share share share these sweethearts with your friends - let's find these two beautiful babies their forever homes! <3