Everyone wants the internet's favorite dog Tiki to be a 'foster fail' — here's why it's not happening.

Yahoo

23-05-2025

There's a new main character on the internet — and he's a dog. His name is Tiki, and his journey from scared to thriving pup is inspiring thousands.
Earlier this year, a fluffy, small dog named Tiki was brought into the New York City ASPCA's care with three other dogs from the same undisclosed situation. But the ASPCA knew that Tiki wouldn't do well in the shelter — he was shut down and wouldn't let anyone touch him. That's when the ASPCA contacted Muddy Paws rescue, which helps place shelter dogs in foster homes in both New York and Kentucky.
Muddy Paws then reached out to Isabel Klee, a Brooklyn-based writer who runs the SimonSits social media accounts and has fostered more than 20 dogs.
'I wasn't planning on taking in a foster dog this soon, but Tiki just stole my heart,' Klee told Yahoo News about the dog, whose hair around his eyes was shaved following double-cherry eye surgery, revealing an adorable raccoon-like mask. 'We didn't know if he was able to get better, so it was kind of up in the air of what the story would be — we all took a risk on it.'
When Tiki was initially placed under Klee's care, he would not even lift his head in his carrier, or leave it to relieve himself. Treats went uneaten, and attempts to coax him out of his cage failed.
But slowly over time something happened. Thanks to Klee's slow, careful nurturing, Tiki slowly came out of his shell. 'We started him in his crate, and then we put a little gate around the crate, and we just kind of have been slowly expanding his world one day at a time,' Klee said.
That patience worked. Bit by bit, Tiki blossomed — and the internet watched as he took his first bite of cheese from Klee's hand, left his crate to explore the apartment and even played with his foster brother Simon.
Now millions are following Tiki's journey, with Klee's videos regularly receiving more than a million likes.
'At this point I'd watch a 24/7 live feed of Tiki's every move,' one TikTok user wrote.
'All I'm saying is whoever is lucky enough to get Tiki better be good to him bc he is TikTok's favorite pup!' another gushed.
'Tiki we are manifesting the best family for you so your mama Isabel can continue this amazing work with other puppies,' a third said.
Others praised Klee's patience with Tiki.
'You undid a lifetime of fear and trauma for him in ~3 weeks,' one person commented. 'We don't deserve dogs but you definitely do.'
Stars like Kylie Kelce are also reacting to the pup's glow-up: 'Please tell Tiki we are so proud of him!!' the podcaster wrote in the comments section of one of Klee's Tiki TikToks. Rosie O'Donnell shared, 'so exciting to watch the progress- thank u amd tiki.' Meanwhile, the podcast Chicks in the Office, hosted by Francesca Mariano and Maria Ciuffo, gushed about their love of Tiki.
For followers of Tiki, things just keep getting better. On May 21, Klee posted an update: Tiki played with his very first toy, a stuffed sunny-side-up egg.
'He was so shut down and depressed when we got him that I could have never predicted he would have such a silly personality,' Klee said. 'He is such a great representation of what dogs can be like when they are fully decompressed and when they're given a space to be themselves.'
While so many people want Klee to adopt Tiki, Klee has a very good reason she's not becoming a 'foster fail' and keeping him — noting that there are more than 6 million animals entering the shelter system each year, with more than 600,000 euthanized last year alone due to having no place to go.
'There are millions of Tikis around the world — millions of Tikis who need me and need us,' Klee said, noting that since she started posting about her fostering experience she has received 'hundreds of messages' from people saying they were inspired to foster.
'The other argument is, how will he ever learn to trust again? And my answer is, I've seen it happen again and again with every single one of my fosters,' Klee said. 'Each and every one of them is so incredibly happy in their homes.'
Mallory Kerley, the marketing director of Muddy Paws, spoke to Yahoo News about how fosters like Klee are a vital part of ensuring that adoptable dogs remain out of shelters and find their way to forever homes.
'Fostering is an incredible thing that people can do to help local dogs in their communities who are in shelters,' she said. 'We hear a lot of feedback from people who say, 'I could never do it. I would keep them all,' or 'It would be too hard.' But what we really want people to understand is that you can. Keeping a foster is not the end of the world, but we have fosters in our community who have fostered more than 100 dogs. Maybe they keep one or two, but the vast majority of our fosters do get their dogs adopted.'
Kerley explained that pulling a dog from a shelter — which can be a stressful place for dogs, even as the shelters are 'doing their best with limited resources' — and getting them into a foster home can be extremely helpful in getting a dog adopted.
That's because when a dog is in a foster home, they are able to navigate 'realistic situations that they'll encounter when they're an owned dog,' such as going out for walks, seeing dogs on the street or interacting with children. It's also a way to assess a dog's preferences, and for rescues like Muddy Paws to 'really get to understand the dogs in our care and be able to match them with a family based on what that family is looking for and what that dog needs.'
Klee told Yahoo that being a great foster parent to a dog is all about meeting the pup where they're at. 'I think a lot of people adopt a dog or foster a dog, and they want to see change overnight,' Klee said, noting that there can be hurdles to overcome, like accidents in the house or excessive barking. 'But remembering how overwhelming it is and how scary it is for them is the most important thing. That has really allowed Tiki to blossom — he knows that I'm never gonna push him past his comfort zone.'
Tiki is set to be up for adoption in just a few weeks — and, naturally, the internet-famous dog is receiving plenty of interest. Klee is not a part of that process, something she thinks would be 'so much pressure.'
'I'm sad,' she said, 'but it's really such a wonderful thing.'