Foster dogs....

[sunlver]

My first foster dog has been adopted. I am very sad, and miss her. We got "Shelby" the first week of January. She was a beagle/foxhound mix. She was a hunting dog for all of her life, until the rescue group got her.I adopted our yellow lab through this group last August. In Sept I decided to volunteer with the rescue group because I thought they did good things. I started out by doing 2 days of phone work for them. Around Christmas time, decided to try a foster dog. They are always in need of foster families.
Well I got so attached to Shelby, she was so sweet, and so good with my kids, expecially my 21 month old.
Faithfully I brought Shelby to the Petsmart every Sunday for adoption shows. So many people overlooked her, as her being just a hound. Every once in awhile people showed interest in her, but nothing ever panned out.We have 2 large dogs already, and my husband did not want the expense of another dog. With foster dogs, the rescue group provides everything, we just provide a place for them to live.
For 5 months I took care of this sweet little girl. This past Friday a nice couple and their 3 yr old little boy came to my house to visit with Shelby. They fell in love with her. The next day, somebody from the group did a homecheck on them, all went well. Sunday morning the couple filled out all the paperwork, paid their donation and Shelby officially became theirs. Before the lady picked up Shelby, she went to the petstore and bought Shelby all kinds of new stuff, 2 new doggie beds, a new kennel(She slept in a kennel at night)treats etc....
I bent down to kiss Shelby goodbye, and had tears in my eyes.
It has been 3 days now, and I still miss her
I am such a sap. The following night I even had a dream about her.
I come downstairs and almost expect her to be here still.. I know sad huh?
I have to stop myself from grabbing her food bowl when Im feeding the other dogs.
Anybody else have foster dog stories they would like to share with me?

 

[Marseeya]

You did a good thing.

 

[Sherri]

What a wonderful thing you did. Will you do it again? Atleast you know when they leave you they are going somewhere else where they will be loved.
Will they keep you posted on her progress?

 

[sunlver]

What a wonderful thing you did. Will you do it again? Atleast you know when they leave you they are going somewhere else where they will be loved.
Will they keep you posted on her progress?

I will foster again. It might be awhile, as I told them I only do female dogs and no puppies. Because my youngest is 21 months old, they have to pretty much make sure its a dog who is going to be ok with a toddler.Now I know that they cant guarantee this, I mean dogs are dogs. BUT, they are pretty good at accessing the dogs, and what families dogs should go too..

I told the lady "I hope you will keep in touch and let me know How Shelby is doing"... She said she would , well if she had any questions. I have her phone number. I dont want to call her just yet.. She may think I am a stalker

 

[lisajl]

Thank you for fostering!

As far as stories go...ummm...yea...that is why I have 3 more cats...fostered them almost 2 years ago. I trust no one...that is why I kept 3 of the 5. The other two went to a co-worker.
I know where they are and that they are being taken care of.

No more for me...I get too attached.

Lisa

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I know it is tough...thank you for doing it!

We rescued 2 4 month old pups and when we changed the names of the dogs, we could see that the foster families were a little surprised (irritated) with that. You could see the pain in letting go of the dogs.

They were a new group and I don't think they anticipated people changing the names.

On July 6th we will have them for 1 year!

 

[PlutoPony]

Thank you so much for fostering! We have a rescue from a foster home, and we are so appreciative of them and what they did to help our dog! She was found severely underweight and acted like she'd been abused.... they got her well on the way to being a wonderful pet. We've had her for 9 years now and still think of them. Thank you thank you

 

[Tigger&Belle]

What a wonderful thing you did and how great that Shelby went to a family who really wanted her!

I've never fostered, but 5 out of 6 of my animals are rescue animals (one of my dogs I got from my sister, so not a rescue, but she had to find a home for her--long story--so basically a rescue). One dog had been in his rescue home for 2 years--I think he was waiting to choose us. Two cats were from the humane society and then last fall we got 2 kittens from a rescue group. Your post reminds me that I need to call their rescue home and give an update. They did call here once and my DH talked to them--she wanted to make sure that they were ok. I know that she missed them.

Too bad it didn't work for you to keep Shelby, but maybe that's meant to be because you can now help another dog find a great home.

BTW, if it had of been me, I wouldn't have just had tears in my eyes, I would have been bawling.

 

[AllyandJack]

I used to foster kittens. I fostered a set of boys I names Niles and Frasier. Frasier was a bit wild for my taste, but Niles was a sweetheart. DH was so sad to see Niles go. It's been over 4 years and he still talks about Niles. Then, there were the girls, Belle and Bella. All black with big, peering eyes. They went fast - it took a few weeks to get anyone to take Niles and Frasier because Frasier was a bit mean and Niles was shy and appeared unfriendly.

Then came Simba and Paddles. They had to go together. Unfortunately, nobody wanted Paddles because he's a runt. He's tall and skinny and double-pawed on all his feet. He has this horrified look on his face like he's saying, "What's going to happen to me next?!?!?!" Nobody wanted him. Finally, after taking them to the adoption events 5 weekends in a row, the organization told me that they were going to the shelter because they weren't being adopted. I wasn't having any of that. So, I kept them.

I have 4 cats - three living with me, one living with my parents - and that's enough. I fostered a kitten recently and my cats just freaked out. I spent weeks mediating fights.