This week’s dog is Brandy – a beautiful, smart, and playful brunette pit bull mix.

Brandy has the kinds of things that you want in a dog, the complete package! She has a huge, beautiful smile that she’ll show you just about any time you pet her, and her pen pal at the shelter has been teaching her some commands.

She already knows “sit” and “down,” and she’s even learning “roll over.” Basically, she’ll learn pretty much anything if there are treats involved!

It doesn’t take much to keep this dog happy. She has a lot of energy since she’s still in her prime, so she loves to play and run, but once she’s worn out she is content to plop down next to you (or on your lap if you’re okay with that) and relax. Brandy also loves belly rubs.

Please come and meet this dog and take her home with you. She wants a new home with people who will love her as much as she’ll love them (a lot!). If you have any other dogs (or cats) in your home, bring them with you to meet Brandy to see if they’d get along.

Please email Brandy’s pen pal Sarah for more information or if you want to meet Brandy: cortes.sarah [at] gmail.com

This week’s dog is Shelly, a sweet adult pit bull/bulldog mix with some superpowers that have gotten her into a bit of a sticky situation at the shelter where’s she currently residing.

For example, Shelly can scale kennel walls in a single bound, which is fascinating to watch, but not so much if you’re looking for a nice, well behaved doggie to take home with you. Some of Shelly’s friends at the shelter have tried to explain to her that if an adopter wants a pet that can climb walls, they’d adopt a cat, not a dog – unfortunately, Shelly still thinks her kennel hijinks are entertaining. What this means for Shelly is that she needs to leave the shelter as soon as possible, so read on to find out more about what makes Shelly so special and worth saving today!

Shelly was found running loose in a junkyard, and the junkyard owner was nice enough to take care of her for a few days, in the hopes that her owners would come looking for her. Unfortunately, Shelly’s owners never came, and he was forced to bring Shelly to the shelter. At the shelter, Shelly is a staff and volunteer favorite because she is “near perfect”: friendly, gentle, and eager to please, knows “sit”, “down”, “paw” and “no”, walks GREAT on the leash, is crate trained and loves to just snuggle up next to you to escape the loud shelter for a bit. Being that she is very eager to please, it is very easy to train her and makes her simply a joy to be around.

She seems to like being around other dogs, and when she met another female dog that made it very clear she was not interested in playing with her, Shelly backed off appropriately and left the other dog alone. As far as our feline friends, Shelly did show some interest in cats during her cat test, so she would need to be retested with cats before she can go home with one.

Unfortunately, while Shelly’s an absolute doll once she’s outside, she does not like living in her kennel, and she’s becoming sad and stressed, and expresses her frustration in her kennel by jumping and barking. Shelly’s behavior in her kennel causes adopters to pass her by, and because she is less adoptable as a result of her kennel behavior, Shelly’s time is limited.

Now it is time for her to find her home for the holidays. Shelly’s adoption fee right now is only $20, and that includes her spay surgery, microchipping, and vaccinations – small price to pay for years of unconditional love! This is a wonderful opportunity to change an animal’s whole world for the better – please email Shelly’s pen pal at: lulu_todorov@hotmail.com to learn more about her, or stop by the shelter to meet Super Shelly today! The shelter is located at 111 W. Hunting Park Avenue. Phone: 267-385-3800.

This week’s featured dog is Dede, a petite pit bull mix. She looks to be part hound and is just a baby still at six-twelve months old. She has the most endearing face and sad eyes, but honestly she is a happy, social girl.

Little Dede was found running loose on the streets all by herself and was brought into the ACCT shelter on October 13, 2011. When she came in, she was totally emaciated and weighed only 20 pounds! She also had a horrible case of fleas, which caused some hair loss on her back. Since she’s been at the shelter, Dede looks so much better. She has put on a few pounds and her fur is coming back in.

Despite having a rough start in life, Dede is a happy, friendly girl. Rather than getting depressed at the shelter, she has actually brightened over time. It’s so sad to know that the shelter is probably the best ‘home’ she’s ever had. But now she has a chance to start over.

Dede adores people and although she’s a bit submissive, she gets very excited to have people’s company. She approaches you with her head timidly low and her tail wagging like crazy! When you sit with her, she will try to snuggle up against you as close as she can get or climb into your lap for love and warmth. Even though Dede was pretty much starving when she came to the shelter, she takes food very gently and has no food aggression at all. She is a pleasant mannerly girl who never barks, whines, or growls.

Dede seems to be good with other dogs too. She was introduced to one of her shelter mates and she was very social and appropriate with him. She also has met other dogs while outside with her volunteer friends and she approaches them the same way she does people – timid yet very excited to say hello and interact.

If you would like to meet Dede and you have small children or other dogs, please bring them with you so they can meet Dede too. If you have cats, the shelter staff will test her to see how she reacts to them as well. You can’t help but love this dog and want to take care of her. For more information please email: Help4PhillysHomelessAnimals[at]gmail.com or stop by the shelter (111 W. Hunting Park Avenue, tel.: 267-385-3800).

This week’s featured dog is Violet, a 6-12-month old female American Pit Bull terrier mix with a gorgeous black coat.

Violet ended up at the shelter after wandering the streets of Philadelphia for a while. She was picked up by a nice police officer who was hoping she’d find her family again. No such luck! But surely there is someone out there who would love to bring her home with them.

Violet loves the staff and volunteers at the shelter because they give her attention and treats! She’s relatively easy to walk on the leash and quickly learning new tricks. She did well in her behavior evaluation, but didn’t show much interest in toys or food, she just wanted to explore and get head scratches. She showed a little too much interest in cats so she probably shouldn’t live with them in her new foster or forever home. She did well in her dog meets, they said ‘hi’ and sniffed appropriately. If you have any dogs at home, please bring them in to meet Violet to make sure it’s a good match.

Unfortunately, Violet is currently on treatment for ringworm. Ringworm is a contagious fungal condition that is easily treatable with topical medication, but it can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months for a dog with ringworm to fully recover. Ringworm thrives on animals with suppressed immune systems (which can be caused by stress from being in the shelter), and heals more quickly on healthy, non-stressed dogs in home environments.

Violet is currently located at the ACCT shelter at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. Adoption hours are 1 – 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekends. If you are interested in fostering, please contact nsmith[at]pspca.org or jsweeney[at]pspca.org.

This week’s featured dog is Sandy, a one-to-two-year-old pit bull terrier mix.

She is pretty much the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. And she’s not too shabby in the looks department either! She has a brindle coat, white markings on her face, and adorable little spots that her Pen Pal (that’s her special friend at the shelter who comes to hang out with her) refers to as her freckles. She has lively, bright eyes and a really friendly smile.

She already knows “sit,” and her Pen Pal is teaching her “down,” “stay,” and “give paw.” She’s a really smart girl and very treat-motivated, so she should learn those commands in no time! Besides, she really wants to make her people happy.

Sandy would love a nice, warm home where she can sit with you on the couch and give you gentle kisses! If you have a dog, that’s no problem — Sandy is not very picky about her friends. But you should probably bring them down to the shelter to meet her just in case to make sure that they get along. Sandy also loves kids and all people. She just needs someone to love her back.

A few days ago Sandy was featured on NBC 10’s Dog Day Saturday.

Sandy is available for foster or adoption at the Philadelphia Animal Control shelter (ACCT) at 111 W. Hunting Park Ave. For more information email her Pen Pal at: meredithkleiber [at] gmail.com

This week’s featured dog is Tulip O’Hare.

Tulip is currently living in the ACCT shelter. She desperately needs out of the shelter, as soon as possible. She is a full-grown, adult Pitbull mix (with a sweet baby face!) and was found wandering Philadelphia, but was probably owned before since she was obviously well-fed. However, days went by and no-one came to claim her. And now she is waiting in the shelter and is beginning to get very depressed and sad – she won’t look you in the eye and shakes when she comes out.

Tulip needs some extra TLC to help her rebuild her confidence. While Tulip would prefer a home without cats, she passed her food tests beautifully, and has met some other scared dogs in the shelter, and seems interested, but not overly social.

With Tulip’s adoption fee ($50), she will be spayed, vaccinated and microchipped. This dog is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. Adoption hours are 1-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends. If you are interested in adopting or fostering her, please contact nsmith@pspca.org or jsweeney@pspca.org.