It was a tough day for me. My almost 7 year old dog had to be put down and it was the first animal I lost. My father wasn't very enthusiastic about me getting a new puppy. We started looking for other dogs and my dad found one he thought we should have. My parents decided to take me on a surprise trip to the animal shelter to get a better look at the dogs we wanted to adopt. As we entered the dog room, barking began to echo around us and excited dogs jumped on their kennels to make sure we saw them. When we arrived at Mack's cage, I think his puppy face must have melted my dad's heart because he agreed to adopt him and bring him home. Today, years later, I still believe that adopting Mack was one of the best decisions I could have made. Adopting Mack made me want to volunteer at the animal shelter as soon as I was old enough. One day I went up just to look at the animals and realized there were a lot of dogs that had been at the shelter for a long time. No one was interested in adopting them because they weren't a popular breed or they weren't the right color. From that day on, I decided that I was going to find a way to get these dogs adopted, so that they would have the chance to be as happy as Mack, in a home and out of a shelter. By finding a way to positively promote breeds prone to indifference and undesirable colors and establishing positive behaviors and character, animal shelters will be able to increase canine adoption. One of the characteristics with the greatest impact on adoption success is breed preference. Because some breeds are more "spoken" than others, for example beagles versus pit bulls, people would be more likely to go for a beagle if they had to choose between these two breeds for...... middle of paper. .....color and breed cannot be changed, but by changing a dog's behaviors, a shelter could increase the attractiveness of dogs, regardless of breed and color. Works Cited Woodward, Lucinda, Jennifer Milliken and Sonya Humy. “Give a Dog a Bad Name and Hang It: Assessment of Big Black Dog Syndrome.” Society and Animals 20.3 (2012): 236-253. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 14, 2014. Siettou, Christina, Iain Fraser and Rob Fraser. University of Kent. 2012. PowerPoint. secure.fera.defra.gov.ukWeb. March 14, 2014. .DeLeeuw, Jamie L. Animal Shelter Dogs: Factors Predicting Adoption Versus Euthanasia. (2010): no. page. Internet. March 14, 2014. .. Np. Internet. March 14 2014. .