Man Completely Loses It When He Finds Out He Can Keep His Foster Dog

Toby was found after he wandered into an auto repair shop in South Korea one day all alone, likely after being abandoned by his previous owner. He was taken to a shelter, but since it was the dead of winter and the shelter lacked sufficient indoor kennel space, Toby had to spend most of his time in an outdoor kennel, braving the harsh winter cold with little protection. 

Eventually, Toby was rescued from the shelter by Band For Animal, a rescue that works to save dogs from the Korean dog meat trade and other dire situations. He was taken to the rescue’s safe house in South Korea before being flown to the U.S., where he was quickly placed with a foster family — who had no idea just how much they were going to love him. 

Ann Hoang really wanted to add a second dog to her family, but her husband wasn't sure whether they could handle it, so they decided to try fostering first. They agreed that if fostering went well, then eventually they would adopt another rescue dog of their own. That was the plan, until they met Toby. 

When Toby first arrived in his foster home, he was incredibly scared and very unsure of his new parents and siblings. At first, he wouldn’t come out of his crate — and even once he did, he was hesitant to sit or lie down, and instead just stood around, staring at all his new family members. They were so patient with him, though, and offered him as much love and attention as he could handle. Before long, he realized he was safe, and fell in love with his new home and everyone in it — especially his foster dad. 

“At first, my husband was unsure of Toby because he was very timid and also this was our very first foster experience,” Hoang told The Dodo. “However, by the [first] evening, Toby had sat down next to my husband and he looked up at him with his puppy dog eyes, and my husband saw the kindness of God in Toby's face. Toby seemed to attach to my husband pretty quickly from there on out.” 

Once he felt comfortable, Toby’s true personality really began to shine through, and his entire foster family became so smitten with him. He and his dog sister Charlie began bickering and cuddling like they’d known each other forever, and even after just a week, it was so clear just how well Toby fit in with the family dynamic. The plan had always been to just foster Toby for a little while, but Hoang soon realized that wasn’t going to possible, especially for her husband. 

“We had two families who wanted to schedule a meeting with Toby, and when that happened, I just realized how crushed my husband would be without him,” Hoang said. “It had only been one week but my husband and Toby were inseparable. My husband is such a giving person, always putting others before himself. He's never really asked for anything or wanted anything badly. Toby was the first experience where I could see he would be heartbroken without him.”

Hoang decided that she was going to officially adopt Toby as a surprise for her husband. She contacted the rescue to let them know, and they were so thrilled and eager to help her with the adorable plan. Since the rescue needed to send someone out to do a home check to make the adoption official, Hoang decided to tell her husband that it was a potential adopter coming to meet Toby. 

Hoang gave the person from the rescue a card to give to her husband during the visit … 

… and as soon as he started reading it and realized what was going on, he completely lost it. 

“Oh my goodness, I thought he would be happy but never in a million years did I think he would cry so much,” Hoang said. “I have never seen him react this way to anything before! He is sensitive but this was more than I've ever seen.” 

Before long, everyone was crying, even the person from the rescue. As his dad continued to cry, Toby sat by him and tried to comfort him, not realizing that he was crying because he loved Toby so much. 

Toby had clearly made a huge impact on Hoang’s husband in the short amount of time he’d spent with him, and as soon as he realized that Toby was his forever, he simply couldn’t contain his emotions. It was such a beautiful moment, and such a clear sign that Toby truly had found his forever home.

“No one expected we would be a foster fail for the first time around, but it was so meant to be,” Hoang said.