Places to Advertise a Dog (Other Than Pet Stores)

Most of what I am seeing is done via the web these days. FB and Petfinder mostly. I suppose if one ONLY wants local adopters the paper would be good. In any case you'd have to screen folks so HOW you get to that point really doesn't much matter, IMO.

Sometimes I give a dog from the shelter a cage break and take it to a busy park with an bright yellow "adopt me" vest on.  When people ask about the dog I tell them about the organization and the dogs we have, just make conversation and answer question.

The SPCA shelter I volunteer at has had a lot of pitty's come in the last 6 months. How is he when he's out with you? We have a nice colored handkerchief that says adopt me that we put around their neck. Some rescue groups will also let you do a courtesy posting with a picture and description.  The more people that can see him online the greater his chances for adoption are.

 The local shelter here just started a hiking program where volunteers take an available dog out for a hike at a local city/county or state park, both for the exercise and increased visibility.

The shelters around here will bring the adoptable dogs to the 3K Pet Walks/Fundraisers/etc to get the dog advertised.

I have also seen a bunch of them in front of pet stores like Petsmart, Petco etc with their banners and adoptable dogs.

A few groups here bring adoptable dogs to various Farmer's Markets. 

I'm on an e-mail contact list for a local grooming/daycare facility and they sometimes "spam" us with dogs that are available.

I work for a small college and if I'm helping a rescue I post ads on the college's online forum (like a Craigslist for the college).

The idea of taking the dogs for walks in places frequented, while the dogs are wearing brightly colored hankerchiefs or something that say Adopt Me with the rescue website, sound like a good idea.

Also, some businesses like coffee shops, bookstores, etc. have bulletin boards for people and businesses to post stuff. I've seen pictures of adoptable animals from the Humane Society on one such bulletin board.

I'd call a couple local television stations. One of ours, WBAL, has a pet segment every Sunday morning. They have various local animal groups come in with pets that need to be adopted, and they tell people about the pet, i.e., This is Fido, he likes walks because he gets attention from kids. Maybe you could try doing something similar.