Meet Barrett: The Playful Puppy Who's Up for Adoption at the SPCA

In my life I've only met two dogs that willingly walk away from treats or food and instead choose to get attention from the closest human. The first was Hendricks, who happens to belong to my co-host, Dana. The second I met today.

This is Barrett. She's an 8 week old puppy currently up for adoption at the SPCA of SW Michigan. Instead of a hyper focus on food (which apparently all of my animals had) Barrett is all about getting the most amount of pets as possible. She happily abandoned the treats laid out in front of her to trot along happily after Dana as he walked away. Snagging a good picture was a challenge because she was just SO happy and bouncy!

Barrett is a mixed puppy so determining how big she'll grow is difficult. However, it's suspected that she'll be a medium sized dog. And as far as her temperament goes, she's very passive. She's had no issues with dogs, both large and small, or cats. With people? Forget it. She's the sweetest thing I've ever met!

Of course, if you're considering adopting Barrett but have other animals in your home, the SPCA always recommends a meet and greet first. You can find more information here.

Unfortunately, a trend that has recently been noticed at the SPCA is the surrender of animals by their owners. It seems a lot of animals were adopted during the pandemic. Now that things are getting back to "normal" with most people returning to their offices or schools...it seems that owning an animal is no longer convenient. It's absolutely heartbreaking. But, there's a way you can help.

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It's understandable if you're not in the position to adopt a dog or cat. However, fostering is a way that you can both relieve the shelter so they have more room to take in more animals and help that animal become more social. In turn, that makes them more adoptable. As far as expenses go you're not responsible for anything. Food and medical needs are covered by the SPCA of SW Michigan. If you'd be interested in fostering, volunteering, or donating you can find all the information you need here.

As well, if you want to adopt but are looking for an older dog or cat you can find all of the animals who are waiting for their forever home here. Anything you can do to help (including sharing their stories) is GREATLY appreciated. ❤️

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To prepare yourself for a potential incident, always keep your vet's phone number handy, along with an after-hours clinic you can call in an emergency. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center also has a hotline you can call at (888) 426-4435 for advice.

Even with all of these resources, however, the best cure for food poisoning is preventing it in the first place. To give you an idea of what human foods can be dangerous, Stacker has put together a slideshow of 30 common foods to avoid. Take a look to see if there are any that surprise you.