If  your household — and your heart—have room for a four-legged addition, experts and advocates in North Carolina think a dog or cat might be the best way to enhance your life in 2012.

“I would really encourage people to bring a pet into their life. They’re tremendously enriching,” says Barbara Sherman, director of the Behavioral Medicine Service at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

“But find a pet that’s good for someone’s lifestyle so everyone lives compatibly together,” Sherman adds. Assessing your current lifestyle is the top consideration Sherman tells people who are considering a dog or cat. If someone has a demanding schedule, she recommends a pet that doesn’t require a lot of maintenance or exercise.

“One of the most common problems we see is pets don’t have their basic needs met in their household,” Sherman says. “They’re very much loved, but they don’t have their basic needs met in terms of exercise and social interactions and that sort of thing. They may develop some frustration behaviors.”

To avoid pitfalls, Sherman also suggests that potential adopters get as much information about the animal from the previous caretaker as possible. Furthermore, she mentioned that an appointment with a local veterinarian beforehand would be a wise move to learn more about the cost and demands of keeping the pet healthy.

And if the household already has one animal and another is coming into the situation? Especially with dogs, Sherman recommends that they be introduced in a neutral area and kept on leashes at all times.

Whether it might be a dog or cat, plenty of animals throughout North Carolina are available. For example, leaders of the Wake County SPCA helped facilitate nearly 3,600 adoptions a year ago.

“It’s very exciting. With the sharing options that Facebook and YouTube give us, our adopters are able to share their happy stories with our staff and other adopters,” says Wake County SPCA Executive Director Hope Hancock.

“It’s helpful to think of adopting a pet like entering a relationship with a good friend,” Hancock continues. “In order for that relationship to work, you need to be ready to invest the time and the emotion to making that relationship work. In addition, you should make the decision to adopt informed of the financial commitment that comes with owning a pet including veterinary care, food and possible training.”

To facilitate adoption, the Wake County SPCA follows the lead of several other organizations, creating programs to ensure the person and pet form a lifelong bond.

Hancock says her organization uses an evaluation called “Meet Your Match,” that measures an adopter’s expectations against an animal’s objectively observed behavior.
“Think of it as a sort of dating profile like you see advertised by online match sites,” Hancock says.

“Meet Your Match” summarizes the needs of the animal based on its temperament and energy level and then tries to match it with the adopter’s lifestyle and expectations of their new pet.

“There will always be those matches that are simply love at first sight, but we also offer a more methodical approach to those interested,” Hancock says.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to save an animal’s life, and that’s what adopting from a shelter does,” she adds. “That single act can form an amazing bond between pet and owner that lasts for life and is mutually rewarding.”