Writing A Great Pet Adoption Profile: First, Create An Avatar

Do you struggle with writing a great pet adoption profile for your foster dog?

Do you wonder what to say, or how to choose words that are going to attract the right family for your foster dog?

Or would you just rather someone else do all the writing and picture taking and social media promoting and leave you alone to just.foster.the.dogs?

I get it! Writing a great pet adoption profile is hard.

Trying to tell the world in a few sentences about why they should adopt your awesome foster dog is overwhelming. I’ve been there!

There is a lot of conflicting advice on how to write attention-getting great pet adoption profiles.

Some say you should write cute, funny dog adoption bios

Certainly, writing cute or funny dog bios will help a foster dog’s adoption profile stand out from the sea of sameness.

Here’s an example of the common pet adoption profile:

“Meet Spot! Spot is a 3-year-old, 45 lb mixed breed dog that is fully vetted, house-trained, crate-trained and is still working on his leash-walking skills. Spot loves all dogs, does well with cats, and is good with children, although supervision is advised when Spot is around small children as he could accidentally knock them down. Put in your application to adopt Spot today!”

I don’t know much about Spot except he sounds healthy and friendly.

Many would argue that healthy and friendly is what most families want in a pet. But what in this bio would make me want Spot instead of another dog? What makes Spot special? What might make a family say, “Spot is the dog for us!” and drop everything to immediately submit an application for adoption?

Here’s one way the bio could be easily re-written to add humor or creativity:

“This is one spot you are going to want to keep! This Spot will surely make a spot on your heart and won’t leave potty spots on your floor! He most certainly will claim a spot on the sofa and may take your spot in the bed, but the warm snuggles are a perfect trade-off. Spot loves to run and will help you find that sweet spot on your daily jog. He can spot a treat (or a squirrel) a hundred yards out. His friendly play makes him a canine favorite. Adopt Spot for a spot-on perfect pet!”

My critical self says I could have written this better but hopefully, you get the idea. While this write-up excluded the facts of age, weight, and health, these details can make up a second paragraph if space allows.

Some say you should lead your adoption profile description with clever, catchy dog adoption phrases

“Looking for that sweet spot? Well, here I am! I’m Spot! 45 lbs of pure sugar. I give wet kisses, warm snuggles, and I’ll help you gain your next personal best on your daily walks! I get along with everyone – humans and canines and I don’t mind cats one bit. I love wide-open spaces where I can run and play. I’m a healthy and energetic 3-year-old so use care when I’m around the little ones.”

A way people find their creativity with clever, catchy dog adoption phrases is to use themes – maybe movie lines, song titles, or a play on words with popular quotes. Another idea is to write for the primary photo you will use for the adoption profile listing.

Some say you should keep it factual and to the point.

Some people say that adopters aren’t looking for creativity and fluff, they want the facts: age, weight, breed. Then they will ask for additional information if the facts match up with what they are looking for. d

In fact, once I talked with a man who only wanted an adult Boston terrier who weighed less than 15 lbs and he required that the dog have a classic Boston screw-tail. He was looking for specific criteria rarely seen in rescued Boston terriers.

Others say that when we write for facts, we limit the eyes on the adoption bio.

For example, if a person has it in their head that they want a 3-year-old dog (with their presumptions of a 3-year-old dog’s characteristics) that they will breeze past dogs that are 4 or 5 years old who actually meet all of the qualifications they seek in a dog.

How Long Should A Dog Adoption Profile Be?

I’ve seen some ridiculously long dog adoption profiles. And I do commend those who are wanting to be totally transparent about a rescue dog’s journey and placement needs.

Platforms like Petfinder have a lot of room allocated to long bios. Rescue agency or shelter websites may have space limitations and require a brief bio.

As a general rule, my advice is to use concise language to convey the fit of the dog for the right family. That can be one paragraph or 2-3 short paragraphs.

How Soon Should I Write an Adoption Profile For My New Foster Dog?

Look to your agency for guidance on their time requirements for writing an adoption profile. Many shelters and some rescue agencies post dogs available pretty quickly, even within a few days of the dog’s arrival.

Other agencies wait a couple of weeks to allow a foster dog to settle into the foster home. Waiting a couple of weeks allows the dog to decompress, which allows more of the dog’s personality to emerge.

Some agencies don’t have a hard and fast timeline but rely on the foster dog parents to weigh in on when they believe their foster dog is ready for adoption and only then is the dog’s adoption profile written and posted on adoption sites.

What If I Need To Update The Pet Adoption Profile for My Foster Dog?

Update it! There are many reasons to update a profile – the dog’s long-term health status changes, the dog displays a new behavior trait that is important and/or endearing. I updated Emmy Lou’s adoption profile when I determined that she had less separation anxiety than previously thought.

Sometimes, I update pet adoption profiles to give a fresh read. It is a good idea to also provide fresh photos for dogs who’ve been listed for a while.

When You Are Struggling To Write Great Pet Adoption Profiles

I used to struggle to write great pet adoption profiles, but it is a little easier now. I find that when I create an Avatar, I help my foster dog find the right family sooner rather than later. I want to find THAT family that is the best fit for my foster dog. I have better luck when I create that family in my head. I’m going to show you how I do that!

Create An Avatar Before Writing A Great Pet Adoption Profile

If your only goal is to find a home for your foster dog, you may not find this article particularly useful.

If your mission is to find your foster dog a great new life, read on. I’m going to show you how creating an avatar for your foster dog can help you write a compelling adoption bio and find your foster dog a great new home.

Creating an Avatar Helps Target a Perfect Match

Here is my point of view: Good placement of your foster dog is super important. Ultimately, your job as a dog foster home is to place your dog in the right home. And, it’s hard work. You will miss, and that’s OK, too.

I’ve turned down many great applicants who were great pet owners because they were not the right home for my foster dog.

On those occasions when my foster dog is returned, seeing the dog’s confused, sad eyes hits me in all my feels. And I feel totally rotten. I feel like I failed them.

update: it is not the end of the world if a placement doesn’t work out. It isn’t the time to place blame or find fault. It isn’t the time to say “they didn’t try hard enough” or “they didn’t listen to my instructions” or “they were not patient enough.” If you realize you didn’t ask a particular question or didn’t follow your gut instinct and placed a dog anyway, there’s nothing you can do but chalk it up to experience.

It is really, really hard for a family to return a dog. Like, really hard.

What Do Adopters Want? 2 Reasons Families Choose Rescue For Adoption

I believe wholeheartedly that most families seek adoption from a rescue agency because they want to do their part to help the overwhelming problem of pet overpopulation and homeless animals. They believe that purchasing from a breeder is not always necessary when seeking a new family member.

I also believe most families wanting to adopt a dog want a dog that fits in well with their family.

Truth Bomb: People do not want to adopt a dog. They want to adopt a new member of the family. They want a new companion.
They trust a shelter, rescue agency, and the foster home, to help make that match.

Businesses Create An Avatar Of Their Perfect Customer

Business marketers and entrepreneurs also use avatars. How?

They create an avatar of their perfect customer.

Not a demographic group of people with similar age interests, goals, and needs. But a single person. ONE PERFECT CUSTOMER.

Instead of, “Our customers are retired from a career and are looking for their next venture.”

A marketing avatar might look like this:

“Maggie is 58 years old, recently retired from a corporate management position is now pursuing her love of gardening. She wants to grow organic heirloom tomatoes to sell at her local farmer’s market and area restaurants. She does not know where to begin.

In the past, she’s grown tomatoes for her personal use but is unsure of which varieties she should grow to sell. While she’s never grown tomatoes using organic methods, she’s committed to learning all about organic gardening.

“Maggie lives with her husband who still works a full-time job and she has young grandchildren who live in the same town and visit often. Family is important to her.”

You kinda know Maggie, don’t you? You may even have a vision of what 58-year-old Maggie looks like!

How I Create an Avatar for My Foster Dogs

Even before I learned about how to create an avatar, I always used the practice of imagining who my foster dog’s best family would be. It started with my foster dog and her need for a very specific forever home. With each foster dog that followed, I struggled when writing a great pet adoption profile about my foster dog. It can cause anxiety, at first!

Here’s the thing: of the tens of thousands of adoptable dogs posted on the internet, the vast majority share a lot of the same qualities:

spayed or neutered
up to date on shots
house trained
crate trained
tested around kids, cats, other dogs, and even farm animals.

I wanted my foster dog to stand out, to speak to that one person who would read my foster dog’s adoption bio and say, “That’s the one!”

So. How do we create an avatar of our foster dog’s best match?

Create An Avatar One Step At A Time

Think about the foster dog

First, I think about my foster dog when I create an avatar. What brings my foster dog joy and what person could best provide my dog that joy?
a quiet home.
a person that loves walks or jogs
a family with children
a dog enthusiast (likes training, dog sports, etc)
a stay-at-home person
a person with access to water, hiking, etc.

What does my foster dog need? What skills are required to help my foster dog get what they need?

daily exercise
opportunities for training
help with socialization
careful introductions
safety because of deafness or blindness or both.
specialized medical care
help with fears or phobias
acceptance of fears/phobias (fear of a particular gender, for example)

As you are thinking, put those thoughts to pen and paper. There are many ways to organize your thoughts:

likes vs doesn’t like
strengths vs needs help with
knows how to vs working on learning how to
needs vs flexibility

creating these lists will help you identify key phrases you can use to help you write great pet adoption profiles, make social media posts, and talk about your foster dog with others.

2. Think about the people

Think about that one person or family and how could my foster dog best bring them joy? Who are they?

What are they like? Male? Female? Quiet? Outgoing? Active? Introverted?
Where do they live? city? a farm? an apartment? Would my foster dog like living there?
What do they do? What is their lifestyle?
What are their leisure interests? What is their career?
How would my foster dog be included in their life?

I think about:

Age – not to discriminate, but is my foster dog better with an older person, or a person that maybe moving frequently or getting married and starting a family. Some dogs are super flexible. Some are not.
Relationship status, for reasons I just mentioned.
Is this their first pet? Some dogs are easy first pets. Some are not.
Are they dog enthusiasts? Is there a trainer nearby? Have they ever taken a training class before?
Do they have a busy social life, or are they homebodies? Do they travel often? Can the dogs travel with them? Are there lots of friends who come to visit? Do they entertain at home? How?
What is their work day like? What will my dog do while they are at work? How long will they be alone?
How do they approach medical and behavioral issues?

3. Think about the community.

Where would this dog thrive? In an urban area, a rural area, a suburban neighborhood?
If your foster dog has certain characteristics that require management of the environment, use that information when envisioning your dog’s adoption avatar.

I Created an Avatar for Carter, My Foster Dog

Carter’s Avatar:

A work-at-home female, empty nester who loves to tend her garden in her fenced back yard and read books or maybe knit, outdoors when the weather is nice and wants her pet dog with her. Knowledgeable about fear issues, she understands how to manage introductions, aware that some dogs are slow to relax when meeting new people. She’s soft-spoken, not loud. She enjoys the constant companionship of a single canine.

(Update: Carter has been adopted. Here is his new family: Two men who work outside the home but who are quiet at home during the evenings and on weekends. One is a chef and enjoys cooking. They socialize with small groups entertaining outdoors. They have a large, privacy-fenced back yard for Carter to explore and chase squirrels. They have experience with dogs who are fearful and need help meeting strangers. They were seeking to have only one pet.)

Not too far off the mark!

Use The Avatar You Created To Write A Great Pet Adoption Profile

Once I create the avatar, I write the bio to that avatar, the person or family I’ve created in my imagination. I want my avatar to connect with my dog as they read the bio.

It’s easier to write to one person than write to the world. Once I “know” that person, I imagine they are face to face with me, or maybe I’m writing a brief note in the spirit of “hey, I have this awesome foster dog and I think you are his perfect match” and proceed to write about why.

I haven’t done this, yet, but I am going to: after I create the avatar for my foster dog, I will select an image I think looks like the avatar I just imagined. I can take that image and post it near where I’ll see it every day. Maybe it is at my desk. Maybe it is at the food station where I prepare my foster dog’s meals. Maybe it’s beside the leashes hanging at the backdoor.

I want to look at that image every day and give that avatar some thought and energy. I may look at that image when writing the pet adoption profile to see if it helps me. It sounds corny, but entrepreneurial coaches encourage this practice with their clients and I hear it works for them.

I never upload the avatar to the public, it is only for my private use.

Choose Photos That Match Your Foster Dog And Align With The Avatar You Created

If your Avatar is active, take photos of your foster dog being active. If your Avatar is into training or dog sports, take photos of your dog practicing the skills you’ve taught. If your Avatar lives on the coast, take photos of your water-loving foster dog at the water’s edge.

You want your foster dog’s adoption Avatar to see your dog in their life.

Images I would choose for Carter are ones that show him outside exploring, sunning himself, and snuggling on the sofa. (which I’ve yet to take the sofa one) Since he does play with toys, I’d include those, too. I want the photos I upload to sites such as Petfinder to match the bio I write.

That’s it! Now YOU Create an Avatar!

That’s it! That’s how I create an avatar for my foster dogs. Try it for your next foster dog and let me know how it goes! Did it help you write the bio and select images? Did your foster dog find their perfect match?

For help preparing for your foster dog’s adoption day, click here

Extra Reading

How To Write The Perfect Pet Adoption Profile