“When Danielle began fostering with us a little under a year ago, she dove in head first.
Her first foster, Will, became a DPA! favorite largely because of the amount of time and effort Danielle put into making him the best pup for his FURever. Danielle keeps up to date with marketing material – she doesn’t shy away from dressing up her fosters for holiday promos, uses her own network to spread the word about her fosters, and even created an Instagram for them!
Since Will, Danielle has fostered other dogs through DPA!, some with behavioral needs. Jamby was completely closed down and shy but that did not stop Danielle from working through her fear with patience and trust (Jamby quickly became a FURever part of the Flowers family!). She was told that Rocko would never do well with other dogs, a challenge she gladly accepted. She took the advice of professional trainers, focused on decompression and reading dogs’ body language and Rocko quickly fit in with her pack of 5.
We are so lucky to have Danielle not only as a foster with DPA! but also as a foster rep who can provide real-life application and advice to other fosters within our organization.” — Stefanie Steiner, DPA! Foster Director
That’s why Danielle Flowers is one of DPA!’s Pawsome People!
How did you get involved with fostering with DPA!?
It’s all because of Will 🙂 I’ve always wanted to get involved with a rescue but when I saw Will’s urgent need for a foster, I dove right in, sent in my application Sunday morning, and was approved a couple hours later. I’ve been involved with DPA! for about 6 months now. I do foster but currently, do not have any fosters, I am also a foster rep, a member of our internal newsletter team, and a virtual PASS-line volunteer and I plan on getting more involved, as much as DPA! will let me 🙂
Tell us about a few of your fosters.
Well, I have only had four full-time fosters to date. Will was my first foster and one I will always remember, he was my longest foster stay so far but his personality I will always remember along with the 1000 pictures I have of him. Dakota was my 2nd foster and she was adopted within 3 weeks, such a cutie and my shadow while I had her. Jamby originally was only going to be a temp foster but once she went to her perm foster, I missed her and she had made so much progress I hated thinking she had to start all over, so long story short, Jamby’s my first foster fail 🙂 I mention 1st because I know there will be many more down the road. My last foster was Rocky, he was so smart and it was a lot of fun having him, playing, and showing off his tricks, he also was adopted within a week of me having him.
What is your favorite animal adoption story?
That’s a hard question, there are so many great stories but of course, mine are my favorite stories (J/K). I guess I would have to say one that actually was pretty recent. Nellie Bly’s adoption was pretty cool. One of our fosters had been talking about Nellie to a co-worker in NYC and Nellie was set to be transported to one of our rescue partners, and sure enough, his co-worker adopted Nellie and I thought that was such a sweet and remarkable story with the distance but was a great beginning for Nellie.
What do you love most about fostering with Dallas Pets Alive!?
I don’t have any other foster experience through other rescues, DPA! is my first but so far I love it. The entire rescue is so helpful and always has your back, and if you come on hard times, the group will get together to help donate food and other needs to help each other out in every way possible.
What would be some words of wisdom to new DPA! Fosters?
Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions. We have all been in your shoes so almost all of us can provide helpful advice. Another important thing about being a first-time foster is to follow through with your commitment, we strive to save lives and when fosters get in over their heads, this causes a trickling effect and keeps us from being able to focus on new fosters to pull because we are trying to place current fosters. Please read your foster agreement, know your limits but also know that we don’t know their past so you have to expect the unexpected and remember, you are saving 2 lives every time we pull a new foster from the shelter.
Give us a fun fact about you!
I have 4 dogs which are rescues and owner surrendered. They can be crazy at times but I couldn’t see my life without them. I also taught one of my pups to fetch a ball from the bottom of the pool, he loves the water!
Be like Danielle. Become a DPA! Foster today!
