Reaching & Supporting Adopters

Adopting out animals is just the first step in your ongoing relationship with adopters. Fostering an open dialogue and providing needed support in the early days of the adoption will help ensure the animal stays in the home.

This section includes resources on what to include in adoption packets, how to conduct successful pet introductions with people and resident pets, providing behavior support and more.

Useful downloads that you and adopters can both use are here as well.

a gray dog sits in the foreground in harness and leash while a small girl and a woman sit behind him smiling

Research

Doggy Day Outs, Field Trips & Short-Term Fosters: Reducing Stress in Shelter Dogs While Increasing Volunteers and Adoptions

Discover simple and effective strategies to involve your community in volunteer outings that help reduce stress for shelter dogs and increase adoptions.

A woman sits at a playground smiling with a small dog in each arm

Job Aid Downloads

Matchmaking Made Easy: Conversational, Nonjudgmental Adoption Counseling Tips & Language Guide

Download these easy conversation guides to help with nonjudgmental adoption counseling that uses positive, inclusive language to build trust and increase adoptions.

a brown dog looks afraid and uncomfortable sitting inside a well equipped kennel enclosure on an orange blanket

Examples from the Field

They Did It: Reinvented How They Talk About Behavior in Shelter Animals

Two experts provide examples and tools for messaging behavior in shelter animals that can be easily implemented into daily operations.

three gray and black striped kittens peek out from a box indoors

How-Tos

Effectively Message How to Help Found Kittens

Access effective communication tools to engage and empower your community to know what to do when they find kittens who aren’t really lost.

girl leaned over kissing white pit type dog on the head

Tips

Advocating for Meaningful Animal Welfare Policies Through Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful way to showcase your lifesaving efforts and motivate lawmakers to remove barriers to keeping pets and people together.

Webinar

Adopt All Your Kittens in a Day: How to Hold a Low-Stress Event

Prepare for kitten season with this free webinar on planning and executing a mega-adoption event that's low on stress but high on adoptions.

Watch the Webinar