Fostering dogs

I get asked from time to time how I can stand it when one of our foster babies is leaving or if I wouldn't want to keep them. Although I fall in love with every single one, there is no happier day for me as when a dog goes to his or her new forever home. There are a lot of things I love about fostering and every dog is different, so it never gets boring.

As I mentioned I fall in love with every single one of our foster babies, but there was one, where we both said, that if we wouldn't already have two dogs, we would consider keeping her. It is just not fair to our "family" as well as it is way to much to ask from our dogsitter who comes in three times a week. Samantha was a mixed breed female that came to us from the Gaston County Shelter. A rescuer in Illinois, found her on the Internet and was convinced that she could find her a good home. The only problem was, that she was said to be too timid and the pound would not adopt her out and she was already set to be euthanized. In cases like these only local recognized rescue organization can pull an animal. The rescuer from Illinois got in touch with Deborah from Carolina PAWS, as she would have no way of getting the dog out and time was of the essence. The dog stayed with us for about ten days, until her transport was arranged. She only was shy for the first day and then she turned out to be just and absolute sweetheart. Everyone who met her, fell in love with her.

One time we had a Jack Russell Terrier with us for a few weeks. When he first came to our house, he stank so badly that I couldn't even walk him outside on a leash without getting nauseated. Don't even think about knowing any manners! After giving him three baths right away, I couldn't afford to let him out of my sight even for a split second. He would seriously attack our cat (the only one ever), bite and chew everything in grabbing distance or mark every possible object in the house. Settling down, was even more foreign to him. After employing every bit of patience and determination I had, he started to transform and became a great dog. He is still a handful, but he is happy as he could be at his forever home (that also has a cat :-) and his "mom" just loves him. What would have happened with him if Deborah wouldn't have convinced me to be a part of his journey? If he would have been at the pound, he probably would have been deemed dangerous and would have never had a chance.

Emily, our current foster, was skin and bones when she came to us. She shivered when we only looked at her. Going for a walk was a scary thing for her. A couple of weeks later, her coat is shiny and she behaves like a puppy her age should do - full of confidence and mischief.

Well, there would be more examples, but there is only so much time :-)

With all the foster dogs we had so far, we were able to witness something like a metamorphosis. We see the dogs change, not just physically, but much more so emotionally and mentally. So, if we would have kept any one of those dogs, we couldn't have taken in the next one after that, or the one after that, etc. That actually would be much harder on me. Now, I get updates on what great lifes our former fosters have and how much they have integrated in the families and that is the best gift in the world. I also think that in some cases it is better for the forever home not to see the "before." It is much harder for us to forget the past than it is for a dog, and if you always feel sorry for the poor little thing that came to you, it is actually more a disservice than a service. Once a dog is happy and knows where it belongs, it doesn't worry about the past anymore!

Maybe something we should try once in a while!