Shelter Dog Who's Never Had A Home Gets Fostered & Instantly Loves Her Caregiver

Most shelter dogs are nervous or exhausted on their way home. Not Gordita. This sweet pit bull was all about the love and play, even in the first moments of meeting her new foster parent and heading on a car ride home. Animal advocates Eric Noxon and Joey Moslaski shared a video where the former returned to the shelter where Gordita, who had never had a family of her own, was located. He decided to foster her, hoping to show her some love on the way to finding a forever home.

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The 3-year-old black-and-white pit bull came from Aruba, rescued along with another dog that was also brought to the United States to find a family. In another Facebook video, Noxon and Moslaski shared that Gordita had spent the first years of her life in a shelter without much interaction while the other dogs around her were adopted. They thought she'd have received adoption applications because she's so sweet, but she'd received "zero," according to a shelter worker.

Eventually, Noxon made the decision to foster Gordita. Almost immediately when arriving to take her home, Gordita's life slipped toward the happy. He joked that they'd soon need to stop for a bath to rinse off the stink before heading home. They did, and she seemed quite happy to be clean, grabbing a squeaky toy and jumping from the front seat to the back before heading home. She even donned a cute "Adopt Me" bandana that has a story all of its own.

Gordita isn't the first or only dog that the Chicago-based Eric Noxon or Joey Masloski have taken home, as they've featured other dogs that they've fostered and rescued from shelters on their social media platforms. The two are best friends going back to seventh grade basketball, who reunited after college to begin a dog bandana company called Pink Tongue. Proceeds from each washable, seasonal bandana help lower adoption fees for rescue dogs and contribute to the "Adopt Me" bandanas that are given to shelter dogs, like Gordita.

It's sad that Gordita spent so much time unadopted in a shelter, a trend that's far too common for dogs with darker coats. In fact, the shelter worker in the BFFs' video noted that Gordita's lack of interest could be specifically tied to black dog syndrome, the name for the phenomenon that describes black dogs getting adopted less than their lighter-colored counterparts across the board. Maybe it goes back to black cats being considered unlucky, and that superstition spilling over to other animals. No matter the reason, we're thrilled that Gordita finally found a pair of people willing to give her a chance and Eric agreed to bring her in the home as foster parent until she can find her forever family!