🤔 Would you foster a pet if you knew you might fall in love?

When it comes time to welcome a new pet into the family, the local shelter is where many pet parents head first.

Most shelters are bursting at the seams, with more companion animals coming in than they can get adopted.

For example, in 2024, 5.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters in the US, and 4.2 million were adopted.

But what many people don’t realize, is there’s a fairly simple way to help these pets become more adoptable: by fostering.

Kayla Powers, foster mom and rescue advocate, began her foster journey with a very special dog she personally felt connected to....

And now, knowing that research shows fostering a dog increases their chance of adoption by 14 times, she has no plans of stopping.

A compassionate heart for all animals

“Whenever it rained, I knew worms would go out in the middle of the road and they would be hit by cars. I hated that. So 6- or 7-year-old me would get all my stuff together and leave for the bus stop early, and I would pick up almost every single worm on the way from my house to the end of my cul-de-sac.”

Growing up, Kayla’s love for animals was quite evident. She was the child who was always asking for another animal… And her parents, knowing she would be responsible, let her get them.

Throughout her childhood, she ended up with a small zoo: hermit crabs, hamsters, birds, bearded dragons.

She loved them just as much as the animals that weren’t her pets–like the worms she saved on the wet pavement when it rained.

But it wasn’t until she was around 10 years old when they finally gave in and got a dog.

Their sweet dog Sammy, a black lab, became a life lesson for Kayla later on.

As an adult, she realized this dog experienced severe health issues–like hip dysplasia and a major seizure disorder–that were common among poor breeding practices and inbreeding.

“Looking back, once I was in my early 20s, I could recognize and see that it was such a huge issue. Sammy was our beloved family pet, but she offered me so much more insight.”

This realization led Kayla to volunteer at her local Humane Society, but only for a short time.

She ended up falling in love with a dog, Joey–a former bait dog who, after everything he had gone through, had nothing but love to give to his new, caring human.

“Joey changed everything, and my whole focus became Joey. He was really the gateway that opened my eyes to what's happening outside, why shelters are so important, the work that rescues do, and breaking dog fighting rings… And all of the animal welfare issues that we think of.”

Because Joey had so many needs, she took a step back from volunteering at rescues.

But it was just a matter of time before she opened her heart to another dog–one who would change her life.

“He taught me so much, and because I dedicated so much to him, I'm able to take all those lessons that I learned, and apply them to help so many other dogs.”

Saving the dog who helped heal her

“Fostering was kind of always in the back of my mind. I saw this dog named Zuzu, who was a mama dog in dire need of a foster. She was dumped in a rural county… She had just had a litter of puppies and all of them got adopted. And I identified with her so much. She was postpartum and was going through a really hard time. And I said, ‘so am I.’”

Before starting her foster journey, Kayla had been experiencing hardships in her life.

Between a big move across the country, a high-risk pregnancy, and later, postpartum depression, she felt so much of herself had been lost–and she struggled to rediscover what made her feel whole.

When she saw Zuzu, she just knew. Being postpartum and having gone through difficult moments, Kayla felt particularly connected to her.

Fostering while navigating postpartum depression and parenthood to small children (and a family pup they had gotten since, Lucky), might seem like a lot to take on from the outside…

But it ended up being just what Kayla needed to heal.

“Fostering really gave me something outside of my own head to focus on. Healing and helping dogs heal really helped me get better from the inside out. I can say without a doubt in my mind that I owe everything to homeless dogs, because they pulled me out of one of the darkest times of my life.”

After Zuzu was adopted, Kayla opened her home to another right away, Oreo.

Oreo’s owner had passed and their family didn’t have the means to care for the dog, so he ended up at the shelter.

Old and alone, Kayla knew she could keep him out of the stressful shelter setting until he could get a home. But rapidly increasing medical issues meant he took a turn for the worse.

Back at the shelter for medical care, she wasn’t able to be there for him in his last moments…

But instead of letting the sadness take over, it fueled her to continue doing more for the pups that do so much for her.

“Dogs don’t care if we have it all together. They just need consistency, safety, and love. And on days where I felt like everything was falling apart, I could still show up for a foster dog… I owe my happiness so much to shelter dogs, and I feel, like, forever indebted to them.”

The joys that come with making a difference

“When you get a dog, you are getting them on the absolute worst day of their life. They're like an onion, you have no idea what's under each layer. How they present in the shelter is never how they're going to present in their home.”

Kayla has had dogs who appear energetic and crazy in the shelter turn out to be the calmest dogs once they’re in her home.

And… She’s also had dogs who were very relaxed and chill in the shelter become active, hyper, and wild once they decompress and feel safe.

Seeing how the dogs’ true personalities come through once the stress is gone is one of the most rewarding things for her, time and time again.

Take Maverick, for example. He was so shut down when she got him, she couldn’t even get him out of his crate.

Choosing to stay in his crate for nearly 10 hours one day, it took 30 minutes to finally get him outside to go potty… And then he ran right back into the crate.

But she kept to a routine with him, so he knew what to expect. And just a week later, he was coming out of the crate on his own.

⬇️ Just look at this transformation!

“That seemed so small, but it was really so big. It was huge. I think that's 1) the greatest reward, and 2) it's been the greatest change for me. Just acknowledging those small steps in progress and knowing I can celebrate those small wins for myself, too, because those are also big for me.”

(Also, Kayla made this HUGE update about Maverick!)

Being there for the dogs has allowed her to show up in new ways for herself and her family too.

She welcomes more patience for things to happen on their own timeline–whether it’s how fast a dog feels safe or how quickly her child learns something new.

And she understands that behaviors are not inherently bad.

“If a dog is chewing or they're barking at something, I don't view that as a bad behavior, I view that as the dog is telling me something. And through fostering, it's helped me generalize that to parenting. If my child is having a meltdown, it's not a bad behavior. They just don't have the words to tell me something. It really has made me a better mom, for sure.”

Because of the dogs, she feels she can more easily let go and just enjoy life!

How does fostering actually help?

“I've seen this play out so many times that even with just a weekend away, a dog is going to have the ability to decompress, get real rest, and learn a home environment. It takes away that kennel stress that they're presenting in the shelter, so when they go back on the adoption floor, they already look more adoptable. People are more likely to give them a chance.”

When it comes to fostering, it’s easy to think of the quick wins like, a dog in a foster home opens up a space in the shelter for another dog.

But there’s a lot of other benefits the dogs (and humans!) experience when a foster system is in place.

When companion animals are in a foster home, it gets them out of the shelter setting and allows them to be themselves.

Here, the foster parent can learn more about this pet–their preferences, dislikes, favorite toys, etc. They can work on basic commands and make sure they’re potty trained too.

But they can also help them learn what it’s like to live in a home setting. They might learn how to use a doggy door, or understand that when the coffee machine kicks on, nothing bad is actually happening.

“Those are the dogs you will know the most about. You eliminate so many question marks. That foster parent will be able to tell you all of their quirks because they've seen them outside of the shelter environment.”

All of this helps make the pet more adoptable, and gives potential adopters a load of information they wouldn’t know had they stayed in a shelter the whole time.

There’s more than one way to foster

Fostering can be a bigger commitment than some people can make, but the long-term foster opportunities we typically think of aren’t always the only option!

And if you’re interested about fostering but aren’t quite sure yet, Kayla’s got some great suggestions.

Find a local shelter or rescue that does “doggie day out” or weekend fosters. It’s low-commitment and there’s less emotional attachment than what comes with long-term fosters.

Many organizations also need temporary fosters for if their established foster parents experience an emergency or need to step away for a short period of time.

“If you're taking a dog from a foster home where they’re going on vacation for 5 days, there’s a timestamp on it. You know they're going back to a foster home and not back to the shelter.”

Weekend, short-term, or temp fostering allows people to dip their toes into the fostering world and see what it’s all about… Setting them up for success should they choose to do more as well.

And in the end, the dogs will always benefit greatly.