Let’s Hear It for Furry Foster Volunteers! Why a Host Pet Can Make All the Difference

Foster homes give dogs a chance to “decompress.” photo: Marin Humane

Fostering animals in a home setting has proven to be an extremely useful and rewarding tool in the pet rehoming process. A stay in a foster home provides important information that can play a significant role in a successful adoption down the road, while also offering much-needed comfort. This temporary home allows an animal to “unpack their baggage” in a safe, secure surrounding.

When a pet first arrives at a foster home, they’re often exhausted and stressed, especially if they were found as a stray. While they await adoption, they receive medical care and/or spay and neuter surgery, if needed, as well as behavioral training if their manners need improvement. During this transition, the foster  home is one of the key steps on their journey, one that helps provide reassurance and love for an animal who’s found itself in a difficult situation.

A favorite part of the job at Marin Humane is witnessing the transformation in animals as they begin to relax and trust their surroundings and temporary family members. And one of the best ways to help foster animals is to have other furry siblings in the household (we think of this as adding a bit of magic to the mix). 

Their true personalities can emerge once they're out of the shelter environment, allowing for better chances at finding their forever homes. photo: Marin Humane

When a foster animal is around another stable animal in the home, it can often provide immediate relief. The host pet shows the newcomer the ropes: where to go to the bathroom, where to find the toybox, how to get food, where to sleep. Most importantly, the resident pet often demonstrates their love of their human family, showing the newcomer that people can be trusted. This speeds up the process of relaxation and progress significantly, allowing the foster animal to receive much-needed physical touch and contact.

At Marin Humane, we sometimes refer to these rockstar host animals as
“Linus’ security blankets,” made famous by Charles Schultz’s Peanuts. Once the newcomer arrives, they’re often stuck to their new furry friend like glue. 

We’re lucky to have a number of host families with resident pets who regularly take in new fosters, and the pictures they send go straight to our hearts every time. We see foster animals building confidence, relaxing, and - best of all - having a ball with their new buddies. It’s at this point we know they’re ready to be matched with their new, adoptive forever family, getting the second chance they so greatly deserve.

Foster humans are dog angels. photo: Marin Humane

With the recent merger of Marin Humane and Hopalong Animal Rescue, today we have one of the largest foster programs in the Bay Area. Now called the Hopalong Program of Marin Humane, the program includes a growing network of foster homes in Marin, the East Bay, and San Francisco.

All of us at Hopalong/Marin Humane are so very grateful to our volunteers and foster families for their incredible work with animals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in need of a home. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t also send a big note of thanks to our furry host pets. These four-legged volunteers play a special role, giving foster animals the confidence and skills they need to begin their new lives with forever families of their very own.