Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/foster-dog-afraid-of-house/

There are so many animals in need of homes. Shelters and rescues are overwhelmed by the number of homeless and helpless pets. Thank goodness for fosters!

People who foster animals are an important part of the rescue world, as it helps to alleviate the pressure on shelters while also providing animals an outlet to get properly socialized before going off to find their forever homes.

As someone who has previously fostered cats, it really is amazing to see the transformations that can occur in animals when you give them a safe home and unconditional love.

But when some of these animals first come into your care, it is so heartbreaking to see how lacking in love their lives have been. For one foster mom, Susan, it wasn’t long before she to figured out that her foster pooch, Hope, had never been in a real home before. When she took the dog into her care, she was saddened when the dog refused to set foot in the home – the dog didn’t know what a house was!

Poor Hope had never been inside a house before, and she was quite skittish about the new experience. In fact, it took a lot of coaxing to get her through the door. Then once she was inside, she wasn’t very adventurous, refusing to walk around the home.

It was clear to Susan that Hope wanted to embrace her new foster life with her family, but she wasn’t quite sure what was holding the pup back. Looking for answers, someone suggested that perhaps the dog was fearful of the hardwood floors – and it turned out to be the case!

Like any good foster mom, Susan knew she had her work cut out for her to try and acclimate Hope to the flooring of her new home. Not only did Hope need to get past her fear in order to comfortably integrate into Susan’s family, but she also needed to get used to the floor type in order to be ready for her potential forever home.

In order to help Hope get past her fears, Susan put out towels and mats to cover up the hardwood floors. This allowed the canine to learn to walk around a home without being scared of the floor.

Slowly, Susan helped her to overcome her fears.

Watch the video below:

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You can keep up with Hope on Instagram, @shicks403.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog