Everyone Wins With a Foster Fail Adoption

“I first found out about fostering when I stumbled upon a rescue event at Boris & Horton, my go-to coffee shop when I lived in the East Village,” says Lindsay, a onetime dog foster parent based out of New York City. “It felt like the right thing to do, as I was new to the city and feeling lonely. But I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to a dog forever.”

Happy beginnings, presented by Zoetis

In addition to being a critical support system for animal shelters and rescues, foster parents can dip their toes into the world of raising a pup. Perhaps you’re curious or intimidated or unsure — fostering is a smart way to explore your own boundaries as you ease an animal into domestic life. There, they can fulfill their pet potential while looking for their forever home, as you get a quick, low-stakes lesson in pet parenting 101. Meanwhile, you’re also freeing up shelters and rescues to accommodate and attend to more pups in need. Everybody wins.

According to one study, fostering makes dogs 14 times more likely to be adopted and drastically reduces the likelihood of being returned to shelters and rescues (where they may risk euthanasia). This is because foster parents play an important part in helping organizations gain valuable understandings of how their pets behave in real-life environments, away from the palpable stress of shelter environments. The results are often stunningly transformational, revealing dogs’ true personalities. With this insight, shelters and rescues can better match place pups with suitable pet parents, such that they will complement each other in lifestyle, personality, and outlook.

Giving every pet the care they deserve.

Our partner Zoetis is building a stronger, more sustainable foundation for adoptions, with over $2M in pet care products sent to shelters.

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Finding your first foster pet

“I joined the foster network and quickly saw Roberta’s photo in the group and claimed her almost immediately,” Lindsay continues. (The rescue saved Roberta, a stray with big, innocent brown eyes, roaming around in a Kenova, West Virginia, parking lot.) “When I picked her up in January of 2022, she was skinny and afraid of her own shadow.” And yet the moment Lindsay opened her apartment to Roberta, that fear simply evaporated. “She jumped on my couch and immediately fell asleep as if she’d been there a million times. She knew she was home, despite being scared of all the noises and people of the city.”

The two quickly and serendipitously developed a connection, with Lindsay ultimately realizing she couldn’t bring herself to adopt out Roberta to other pet parents. She just knew she was meant to be Roberta’s dog mom.

So, how much of a failure is a foster fail? Fostering is meant to be a temporary arrangement, giving a dog a taste of home life, so their shelter anxiety melts away, making them more adoptable. The more fosters whom shelters and rescues can lean on, the more dogs they can save. But sometimes a powerful, mutually beneficial bond between a pup and their human results in a foster fail, and it’s safe to say that finding a forever home for even one pup can be considered anything but a failure.

Fostering failing is a win

“Foster failing was inevitable with Bertie, and it wasn’t even a decision I had to make because she made it for me,” Lindsay says. Roberta (or Bertie, her nickname) is such an uplifting part of daily life that Lindsay couldn’t imagine traversing the city without her best buddy. “She makes a best friend in everyone she meets, whether it’s coffee shop baristas, delivery drivers, or anyone who makes eye contact with her. She lies down when she sees dogs a block away so she can say ‘hi,’ and she loves running around off-leash whenever she can. I learn new things about her every day, including her newfound hobby of howling at sirens. She’s the most outgoing dog with a larger-than-life personality, and I’m so lucky we found each other.”