What kind of dog would you like to take home this Thanksgiving?” Lucas County Canine Care & Control outreach coordinator Cassie Bloomfield asked Paula Caldwell, a Toledo-area single mom of two.
Paula’s family already had a dog, a Lab-Great Dane rescue named Moose. But when Paula saw the Facebook post from Canine Care seeking dog lovers to host a Thanksgiving sleepover for adoptable pups, her kids Maverick, 17, and Rosie,15, agreed wholeheartedly with their mom, “We should do this!”
The holidays are always a slow time for adoptions. Canine Care workers and volunteers do their best to spend extra time with the furry residents. They even offer a special holiday meal—dog-friendly servings of roast turkey, mashed potatoes and veggies. But determined to do even more, in 2022, the staff decided to foster out some of their pups for special Thanksgiving sleepovers, hoping they might just find a forever home.
But the idea came too late—only a few families volunteered. So last year, they began early, promoting the idea on Facebook, local TV and radio, and nearly two dozen families signed up.
Spreading paw-sitivity
“This is Indigo,” Cassie introduced Paula to her holiday house guest, a 3-year-old pit bull. “She’s really good with other dogs.”
Paula hoped Moose would be welcoming as she headed home with a bucket of food, treats, toys and a kennel for Indigo to snuggle in.
Meanwhile, Adrienne Schultz, her husband, Ijaz, and their three little girls, Ronni, 5, Rubbi, 4, and Izzah, 1, had just moved into their new fixer-upper home. Before that they’d lived with Adrienne’s mom, and the girls had loved her pit bull, named Nina.
Adrienne knew the kids now wanted a dog of their own but wasn’t sure this was the right time. “I’m thinking this week could be a sort of trial run,” she told the shelter volunteer, who matched her with a terrier mix named Rosie.
Rosie turned out to be a calm, gentle dog. She was a constant companion to Adrienne and the girls—especially Izzah, who has vision problems. “Sometimes she wanders off from the others, but Rosie always coaxes her back,” Adrienne said when Cassie called for a “paw-gress” report.
Cassie made sure to call every holiday host and hostess during the week. “It’s been so nice having someone to cook for,” related one elderly widow who lived alone with no family to share Thanksgiving. “We roasted a turkey and vegetables and snacked on them together all weekend long.”
Finding a fur-ever home
At the end of the week, Paula brought Indigo back to the shelter—but only so she could say goodbye to the staff and her shelter buddies. “She’s already part of our family,” Paula shared, noting that “Moose can be a bit rambunctious, but Indigo has had such a calming effect on him.”
Adrienne also returned to the shelter with Rosie. “The time isn’t right,” she sighed. But on the drive home Adrienne couldn’t stop crying. “I changed my mind,” she called the shelter. “I’m coming back for Rosie!”
In fact, this year Adrienne’s family will be celebrating Thanksgiving with two dogs. “Mom had to move and couldn’t keep Nina,” says Adrienne. “She’s with us, now, and Nina and Rosie fill our house with love.”
All in all, nine foster families turned into forever homes, and the dogs couldn’t be happier. Neither could the staff.
“Studies show the more time a dog spends out of the shelter—even for just a few hours—the lower their stress hormone levels and the more well-adjusted they are,” says community engagement manager Anna Brogan. “We’re also able to learn so much about our dogs—like how they do with kids or if they enjoy walking on a leash, invaluable information we can use to help match the right dog with the right family.”
This year, the shelter will be holding another holiday sleepover event. “Hopefully it will be bigger and better than ever, to match even more dogs with the right family!” says Anna. “That will make it a truly Happy Thanksgiving!
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