Every great rescue story begins with someone saying yes when everyone else is saying no. Sara Yoder (@sara__yoder), lived this truth with her first foster. Stewie was a rescue Pit Bull who had no options left on a shelter euthanasia list. She hadn’t even seen him before agreeing to bring him home. And when they met, this dog was completely terrified of almost everything in his world.
This is a throwback video of one of the first few training sessions Sara had with him. Neither the dog nor the foster mom knew they were finding a forever home in each other at that time.
Foster dog and mom didn’t know they would become each other’s forever home
The footage shows an outdoor training session where Stewie is incredibly focused on his then foster mom. He sits perfectly and follows commands like ‘down’ and ‘heel’ with very little effort. It is cool how he even manages to stay steady while waiting for his high-value reward. This breed is famously loyal and very eager to please their favorite people, so training them is usually easy. Stewie clearly shows that side of his personality during the whole session.
Sara sits down at the end to give him some well-deserved head pats and extra treats. But things were not always this easy for the pair. The befuddling part is that Stewie was briefly adopted and then returned to Sara’s care shortly after. “There was no hoping the right person would come along, I needed to become the right person,” Sara shared. She realized she had to advocate for him while protecting his fragile trust.
Now that he is a permanent part of the pack, he feels very secure. “Stewie isn’t just a foster fail, he’s the dog who shaped me into the dog mom I am today,” Sara added. He also helped her grow into someone who can save even more dogs.
Hundreds of people have liked the original video of his early progress. Seeing a foster fail turn into a forever home is the best kind of upgrade. Stewie is clearly right where he belongs with a family that understands him and his unique quirks.
