The thing(s) about fostering

I can not imagine my life without fostering dogs. I love it. I love the furry bellies, the kisses, the doggy hugs. Truly I love giving these, often neglected, dogs love and attention. I love the other people in HART who volunteer their time and talents to help so many of these animals. I love finding deserving people to adopt the animals and seeing how happy they are when they welcome in a new member of their family. Fostering makes me happy.

So many people say they could never foster because they wouldn't be able to give the dogs up. But I'm okay with that part. I know there will always be another needy dog that needs me. For example:

Meet Buffy. She is a 4 year old Cocker Spaniel that was owned by a puppy mill. As soon as she was able to have puppies they bred her, and bred her, and bred her, until she couldn't have anymore. Then the owner was taking her, and others, to the back of the property to shoot them-after all they were no longer useful. Luckily a local woman heard about it and took all the dogs that were about to be shot and begged rescues to take some of them in. HART took in 9. Buffy was the most energetic and happy one out of the bunch. A few are so afraid of human contact you can't pet them. When she was taken in her fur was infested with fleas and crusted in feces, the vet had to shave her and she had bald spots from scratching so much. But she was a loving dog and you should have seen her roll around in grass-that puppy LOVED grass :) She was adopted by a couple with a 5 year old boy and they were so happy to have her. She will live a good long life with them.

Then there are the dogs we fall in love with, the ones that aren't easy to let go of but we do it because the adopters are perfect for the dog. For example:

Petey: Petey's name was Sunshine but we changed it to Petey because he would pee when he was excited. Petey was a 6 month old German Shepherd mix that was found wandering on the GE plant. We took him in and loved him, he loved us too. He also loved to chew on electrical cords. And as mentioned before he had bladder control issues. Chris loved him though and REALLY wanted to adopt him. Petey was so full of life and fun, he was also a good walker. I vetoed it though and Petey was adopted after we had him for just 2 weeks to a family with kids and a pool. Chris still thinks about Petey. .....I don't though :)

This is Maxie. Both of us wanted to keep this sweet 3 year old Puggle. We had even e-mailed the rescue about adopting her when a neighbor asked to adopt her. To us it was the best of both worlds-we could still see her and love on her but we didn't have to add another dog to the mix of our house.

Then there are those dogs that you don't mind seeing leave, you might even do a bit of a happy dance. Like....

Cooter. His real name was Mr. Stubbs but after trying many other names Cooter was the one that stuck. While taking care of Cooter I discovered that I do not enjoy Beagles. I do not like their deep, howly bark. I do not like how they chew on inappropriate items. I do not like all the sniffing and tracking. I do not like them. I do not like them. Kristin I am. Added to that Cooter also peed in my house. All the time. Everywhere. We had him for over a month when I told our Foster Leader that I needed time off during the summer and I gave him to another foster family. He was adopted soon after that.

And then there are those dogs you truly can't imagine parting with. For example....

Meet Allie. She is a six year old Yorkie/Chihuahua mix that was owned by a breeder who was in it for the money not the love of the breed. After she could no longer be bred the owner dropped her off at a kill shelter. HART took her in. I became her foster after her spay surgery. At first she hid under our table and wouldn't come out. Then she got a little more brave and would occasionally come out to be loved on. Then one day I came home and she greeted me with a wagging tail-that was the day I knew I could never give her up. So we aren't. We are adopting this 12lb ball of sweetness and love. She will be ours forever and never know another day without lots of love.

We will still foster dogs. As I said I can't imagine not fostering. Hopefully, though I can remain strong against big brown eyes, doggie kisses and unconditional doggie love. Surely 3 dogs is enough :)