On her first day of work at a shelter, Izzy Nidetz met a shy dog named Dictionary, and they steadily built a bond; on her last day at the job, she successfully facilitated Dictionary’s adoption. Izzy has been chasing that amazing feeling, along with better solutions for harder-to-place dogs, ever since. As the current Director of Placement at Pasadena Humane, Izzy visited the All Call to break down her team’s creative, community-centered and results-driven approach to identifying big dog solutions for big dog populations.
Izzy outlined four main initiatives that are helping decrease length of stay and increase adoptions, relieving some pressure for everyone as intake numbers tick up, including an adoption trial program with a 95% placement rate! Here’s an overview of the programming you’ll hear about in the presentation:
Izzy and her team started slow by working with existing volunteer dog walkers, then fosters. The temporary fostering concept turned out to be a big hit when they introduced it to their community via in-person public training sessions, and now field trip training is incorporated into all foster parent training. The field trip option is popular with people who may already have pets at home, Izzy said, and community members who volunteer to keep a dog overnight for a sleepover often turn into longer-term fosters. So far this year, they’ve completed 526 field trips and 80 sleepovers.
Several recent studies, including one that Pasadena Humane participated in, have shown that field trips and sleepovers reduce stress and increase dogs’ chances of adoption by 5 to 14 times! And there’s a Short-Term Foster and Field Trips course available for free at Maddie’s® University.
Adoption trials
For certain dogs who are traditionally harder to place, like German shepherds, pit bulls, and huskies, adopters are offered a 10-day trial period to test whether a dog is a good fit. The goal is to address people’s common fears—that, for whatever reason, the dog won’t work out—and give them space for decision-making, all while providing the supplies and support needed to build adopters’ comfort and confidence. It works! In 2023, 161 out of the 169 dogs who participated in trials were adopted.
Special events
Izzy and her team are constantly brainstorming new ways to bring people in and get dogs out. At their first Doggy Speed Dating event, the vibes were on point, but the timing—Mother’s Day—discouraged attendance. Still, two dogs were placed with fosters, and the next time they hosted date night ahead of an adoption event, ten dogs were placed into foster homes. They’ve also piloted public workshops, including a primer on Living With Large Dogs to dispel myths about what’s required, and Dog Fostering 101 sessions in their community classroom space. Both were a good reminder of the new fosters we can find and the deeper connections we can make when we’re all in the same room.
Foster pleas
You won’t get an answer if you don’t make the ask! Izzy and her team have fine-tuned the language they use on social posts, volunteer email blasts, and website pop-ups to make it clear why, when, and how community members can help. “If we’re not advocating for ourselves and being transparent with the community,” Izzy pointed out, “they’re not going to help us.”
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