Billy the Foster Dog

We heard about a dog that was having some trouble at the same shelter in New Jersey from where we adopted Shaffron. He was overly stressed at the shelter and had to be placed in a foster home. However, his first foster home was moving and they couldn’t take him to the new location so he had to go back into the shelter. At the shelter, he was so stressed in the shelter that he drooled so much that he dehydrated himself within hours.

We decided to foster him until he can find a permanent home. His shelter petfinder page is here. The shelter is calling him Pretty Boy but we are calling him Billy (because that’s way better).

Some volunteers drove him the almost 4 hours up to our house. We took him for a walk around the pastures and while he was a bit shy at first, he really liked the quiet open spaces.

Billy looks out over the pastures.

Here is Billy walking through a puddle.

Billy walking through the water.

Click through to see more photos and videos of how Billy gets along with the farm animals. 

Here is a video of Billy first meeting the cows – he was very excited to meet them.

The cows were also very excited to meet Billy. They sometimes even follow Billy around when we walk him around the pastures.


Billy really enjoys going for walks and is always on the lookout for the cows to see if they are close to any of the fences.

He was very shy at first, but after adjusting to us, he is now much more comfortable inside the house. He mostly ignores other dogs, but has been friendly with the few that he has met up close. He likes peace and quiet and can get startled by loud noises (though he made it through 4th of July fireworks okay while wearing his thundershirt). He is very gentle and very rarely barks.

Billy gets in the holiday spirit.

He is the process of being “transferred” to the SPCA of Tompkins County in Ithaca, NY. He will stay with us in foster care, but hopefully by having his home shelter closer to our house it will increase his chances of adoption into a permanent home.

If you know of anyone with a calm, quiet house in a relatively quiet location that is looking for a nice dog, please let us know.

Billy with the cows

3 thoughts on “Billy the Foster Dog

    • Billy is doing well. He has settled in and is not anxious in the house now. We are taking him to various stores and parks on weekends to help him experience new places – he still gets nervous in new places sometimes.

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