Skip to main content

October 19, 2018

Foster Tails: Casper

This entry is part of a brand new series featuring some of our foster parents and their pets. If you think you are interested in becoming a foster, please visit www.spca.org/foster for more information. You can view our pets currently in need of foster homes right here!

Casper came to us back in April of 2018 through our Animal Cruelty Investigations unit. Her life before the SPCA of Texas wasn’t full of snuggles, trips to the dog park or peanut butter stuffed bones. In fact, those things scared her. She wasn’t used to any sort of affection from humans or the comfort of a soft, warm bed.

Casper was terrified here in the shelter and making no progress with humans. She generally got along with other dogs but was still unsure when making new friends. Our Behavior specialists requested that our Foster team find a quiet home for Casper where she can take her time coming out of her shell until she’s ready for adoption.


Casper was not a fan of that first ride in the car to her new foster home. Another new place? More new people and dogs? This sweet, shy pup was still very scared. But just a few days later, this happened:


That’s right. Casper was comfortable enough to start romping around with her foster sister! Her first trip to the pet store was very scary…


(Not the toys. The toys were awesome!) …but the second trip was actually kind of fun!


Casper adores snuggling with her foster sister Lorelai – it’s clear she’d prefer if her forever home had a doggie sibling for her to bond with! Shy, sweet little Casper is slowly becoming more and more brave under the watchful eye of her foster mom. She’s now house trained, leash trained and comes when called. Fostering a shy, fearful dog can be frustrating at first. You might not see progress for the first few days or even week. You start to fear that you’re doing something wrong, or that you’re not the right foster for that dog. Then, out of the blue, that fearful pup does a play bow in the living room! Perhaps they get the zoomies, chase their tail, or even come up to you for the first time and sit next to you on the couch. Whatever that first ray of light is, it’s undeniably magical. Petal by petal, this wallflower is blossoming into a great dog, thanks to the willingness of a kind human to open their heart and their home to her until she finds her forever family.

A post shared by Adoptable Casper (@jandefosters) on


If you think Casper might be the dog for you, please email foster@spca.org.
Press Releases Media Coverage Send us your news
Blog Home