We Foster a Dog!

We fostered a dog as part of LA Animal Services’ “Five to Thrive” initiative.

We foster a dog!

here is what it’s like to foster a dog for five days.

My fiancé, Mike, and I are dog people. The kind of dog people that communicate during the day by DM-ing each other dog-memes. We roll our eyes when babies sit next to us on a flight, but instantly love a passenger who brings on an emotional support dog to our row. Yes, those kind of dog people.

So this year, our New Years Resolution as a couple, was to try fostering a dog. The last time we discussed fostering (during Southern California’s Woolsey Fire) we ended up adopting Arthur H. Woolsey. So we’ve been hesitant about trying it again - because we are total suckers to be part of the “foster failure” phenomenon.

Watch our video blog!

But through my work at NBC 4 - which as extremely pet-friendly station with tons of pet-adoption-initiatives - I started learning so much about the need for fosters in our community.

Little dogs in shelters get adopted pretty fast, but big dogs will stay in cages for months - sometimes years. If the shelter is a high-kill shelter, so many otherwise incredible dogs don’t ever get a chance at a fair life.

Here’s the thing about dogs in shelter cages: They don’t act like themselves. I mean, would you?!! So it’s often hard for potential adopters to imagine themselves taking home a dog when they see a potential pup behind a cage barking, jumping, crying, or spinning in circles. When that same dog - once brought home and given time to adjust - might be the most incredible family pet.

Pistachio (now Sarah) in her cage at the West LA Animal Shelter, after she was taken out of a high-kill shelter in LA.

But - like Mike & I - many couples can’t commit to foster long term. So when LA Animal Services announced, in January 2020, that they would start a short-term program called ‘Five to Thrive’ I jumped at the chance to try it out.

The idea is that you give a big dog a short break from the shelter.

What’s the benefit for the dog? A good night sleep, a mental break from the sounds and the same 4 walls, smells and sights and sounds, happiness, exposure to potential adopters (we got stopped by a ton of people when we were walking our foster around the neighborhood) and fosters also take notes about the dog’s behavior that the shelter may not be able to see when the dog is in the cage. For example, our foster was great with other dogs, she loves to cuddle, and was fully house trained.

Here is a dog who has been in the shelter for TWO years!

Additionally, a volunteer at the shelter told us that due to a shortage of volunteers, many dogs stuck in their cells end up going “kennel crazy” where they just spin in circles losing their minds. They can’t be snapped out of it, and have to get euthanized.

For more information about our foster experience, watch our IGTV video of the process here.

For more information about how to adopt Pistachio / Sarah you can find her on Wags & Walks Rescue’s website here.

For more information about LA Animal Services ‘Five to Thrive’ foster program, click here.

And to gain more general knowledge on the benefits of fostering click here.

The foster dog spent most of her first two day out of the shelter just staring outside, listening to birds chirp, lying in the sunshine.