Save the Unicorns Consulting

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Swansea, IL
Save the Unicorns Consulting

A consulting services for animal welfare organizations that specializes in helping your large breed canine population. In 2021, Ms.

The Unicorn Foster Squad was created by Brittany Fleming in August of 2019. The program was designed to assist with successfully adopting out the most challenging dogs at Gateway Pet Guardians (GPG) . These dogs were large breed dogs with documented behavior quirks and were called Unicorns. The initial pilot helped reduce the dogs' length of stay by more than half and, as of 2022, the program has

since helped reduce the total length of stay at GPG by over 70%. Each of these dogs would have been euthanized in most shelters, but with strategic programing Ms. Fleming helped create a proven data-driven program that helps "Unicorns." Fleming helped create and teach the Unicorn Foster Squad Implementation Bootcamp, which helped teach over 40 rescues across the country the same best practices that helped make the original Unicorn program a success. And as of 2022, Save the Unicorns was created to bring the teachings in person (and virtual) to organizations across the world.

05/09/2026

One of the biggest challenges in shelter work isn’t always the animals’ behavior, but our own, especially our fears. During the session Louiza Chan and I presented at the Best Friends National Conference, I shared a few of these handouts, but I wanted to share the full collection here for anyone who may find them helpful.

I created these resources to help support teams when working through various behavior concerns and cases. Please feel free to use and share them with your teams.

If you would like a pdf version, please dm.

02/17/2026

Visual marketing is key when it comes to helping your long stay pets find homes. Shelter photography can be chaotic, but a few simple tips can make a huge difference:

• Go to a quiet area and keep the energy low to help dogs settle. This is less stressful for them and it shows in the photos.
• Use proper lighting. Stationary ring lights or soft boxes help a lot, and an exterior flash can help too.
• Use a seamless backdrop. Paper matte backdrops are great because you can toss them when they get dirty and they give a clean, simple background. If you’re using fabric backdrops, make sure they aren’t wrinkled. Iron or steam them first so the background looks clean and professional.
• Outdoor photos can be great, but they are weather dependent and seasonal, so having an indoor setup option is really important too.
• Use treats and squeakers to get those ears up and eyes on the camera.
• But the real magic is in post editing. Check out the link in the comments for a detailed video on editing shelter dog photos.

03/06/2024

Our experience at Joint Animal Services in Washington last week was fantastic! The dedicated team I worked with was enthusiastic about learning and trying new things. If you're interested in bringing a Unicorn 🦄 program to your shelter, please reach out to me at [email protected]!

11/04/2022

Two months ago I visited Humane Society for Southwest Washington. During that time, we spent an intensive week diving into the programming that makes the Unicorn Foster program successful.

Since my visit, the staff at HSSW have since gotten 58% of their Unicorns out of the shelter and 63% of those have been adopted. That is great progress in just two months. Great job HSSW!

09/14/2022

Having good photos of your Unicorns plays a large part in helping them get adopted! While we are at your shelter we have a demonstration on how to set up a photo studio and how to take pictures as a beginner. Humane Society for Southwest Washington had some beautiful pups to work with last week.

09/13/2022

Currently at Humane Fort Wayne in Indiana. Yesterday we had Unicorn Ozzy crash with us for the night and today he got adopted! Having a foster program is so beneficial for the shelter dogs. It reduces stress and gains pertinent information on the pet to help them get adopted!

09/11/2022

We had a great day teaching stranger socialization class at Humane Society for Southwest Washington. Ongoing socialization with people and other pets is an important factor in getting your unicorns adopted.

09/08/2022

One of Save the Unicorns services allows us to travel to your shelter and stay in your city for a week. During that time we ensure to lodge in pet friendly housing, that way we can take your Unicorns home for the week and gather crucial home notes on the pets for your organization. This week at Humane Society for Southwest Washington we have had the honor of sharing our room with Mr. Oslo and Dudley.

Both boys are showing extreme kennel stress at the shelter which can act as a barrier in learning what the dogs true personality is. By utilizing foster homes we can learn more about their temperament and reduce their stress significantly.

Both boys have been great on their slumber parties and have proven they will adapt greatly to living in an adoptive home.

09/06/2022

Does your organization struggle with placing large breed dogs into foster and adoption homes? Save the Unicorns is a brand new consulting service that brings years of expertise to your shelter. Check out our website for more info

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Swansea, IL

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http://Www.stunicorns.org/

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