By Rachael O'ConnorShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA woman was fostering a dog for the first time when, just days later, her plan backfired entirely.
Gillian, 33, lives in New York City, and while she grew up with dogs and has "always looked forward to owning my own pet" when the time was right, she wasn't sure "if full-time ownership made sense with my current lifestyle."
And so she looked into fostering with NYC-based Muddy Paws Rescue—and on Saturday, November 22, nine-year-old black mixed-breed Rook came home with her.
Gillian told Newsweek they walked home together from the rescue, and "he was so so happy and excited just to be outside and roaming around!
"I immediately felt a sense of wanting to protect him, a responsibility to take care of him and to make sure he had plenty of walks and outdoor time to explore," she said.
She bathed the pup, who had come from a shelter in Kentucky and needed some TLC to treat a skin infection, and "he quickly settled into my apartment.
"I was so surprised and happy about how quickly we developed trust and comfort around each other! He is such a sweet dog, and it made me so upset to think that someone could have lost him or given him up," she said.
But their quick bond had some downsides, as Gillian admitted: "By Monday, I was crying on the phone with my parents over the idea of someone else adopting him... Later, my parents mentioned to me that they had never seen me so painfully emotional and upset before."
In a video to her TikTok account @gillian_paige, a visibly emotional Gillian asks for advice, writing in the caption that "this whole fostering thing is backfiring hard." She wrote over the video: "What do I do??"
...She tearfully explains that just two days later after getting Rook, she learned she was supposed to take him to an adoption event the following weekend, where an adopter might choose him.
Close to tears, she admitted: "I don't want him to, because I love him already, and I feel like an absolute freak—but I think I have to keep him. I love him so much."
She then turned the camera to show Rook, who had sidled up to his foster carer curiously—and repeated again: "Oh my God, I love him."
TiKTok users quickly reassured Gillian, watching the video close to half a million times, as one user wrote: "It's OK to have a foster fail, he's already your baby."
Another suggested Gillian take him to the event, and "if he gets adopted, let him go so you can help another dog. If he doesn't [get adopted], you keep it, it's a sign."
"You can't go wrong either way," another wrote. "But I will say... once you get through the first, it gets easier."
"We cannot keep them all," another foster carer said. "But...we can foster fail just one. We've all been there."
And another pointed out: "Older black dogs are the hardest to get adopted. I say keep him."
Senior dogs are often overlooked for adoption, being chosen at a rate of 25 percent, compared to 60 percent of puppies or younger dogs, according to a report from PetMD. And while a 2015 study found that black dogs do not generally wait longer than others for adoption over their coat color alone, the idea is so prevalent that it even has a name: black dog syndrome.
In Rook's case, he won't have to find out whether the phenomenon is true, as Gillian revealed to Newsweek: "By Thursday, I had made the decision that I couldn't bear the idea of giving him up."
...She added: "A few people did mention to me that older, black dogs tend to have a harder time getting adopted, but I had a hard time believing anyone wouldn't want to take home Rook! I'm so sure he would have been adopted by another nice family, but I also know I will be able to give him the absolute best life.
"I'm so happy about my decision to adopt Rook after all, and I'm looking forward to many years of adventures with him!"
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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