It's been a tough day for me. My almost 7 year old dog had to be put down and was the first pet I ever lost. My dad wasn't too keen on me getting a new puppy. We started looking at other dogs and my dad found one that he thought we should get. 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. When we entered the dog room, barking began to echo around us and excited dogs jumped on their beds to make sure we saw them. When we arrived at Mack's cage, I think his puppy dog ​​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. By adopting Mack, I was inspired to volunteer at the animal shelter as soon as I was old enough. One day I went up just to see the animals and I realized that there were many dogs that had been in 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 forward, I decided that I would find a way to get those dogs adopted, so that they had a chance to be as happy as Mack is, in a home and out of a shelter. By finding a way to positively promote breeds prone to indifference, unwanted color, and establishing positive behaviors and characters, animal shelters will be able to increase dog adoption. One of the characteristics that most significantly impact adoption success is breed preference. Since some breeds are "talked about" more than others, for example beagles over pit bulls, people would be more likely to prefer a beagle if they had to choose between these two breeds for... half of the paper. .....color and breed cannot be changed, but by changing a dog's behaviors, a shelter could increase the dog's attractiveness regardless of breed and color. Works Cited Woodward, Lucinda, Jennifer Milliken, and Sonya Humy. “Give a Dog a Bad Name and Hang Him: Evaluation of Big Black Dog Syndrome.” Society and Animals 20.3 (2012): 236-253. Premier of academic research. Network. 14 March 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): n. page. Network. 14 March 2014. .. Np. Network. March 14 2014. .