Fostering: What it means to a dog in need and you?

You read it all the time on rescue pages and hear volunteers state, “Fostering saves lives”. Taking a dog from a shelter into your home, preparing the dog to move into their forever home, doesn’t need poetic words, sad photos or promises of fulfillment to happen; it only needs you to look into your heart and say I can do this. Fostering doesn’t mean you will be bombarded with dog after dog after you sign up as a foster family. Sure there are full time fosters who constantly foster, but if that’s not for you, then we are okay with it. Maybe you want to foster dogs who need 21 days of isolation from other dogs after leaving a canine flu ridden shelter environment and do this just a couple months out of the year. Maybe you want to foster until the dog is adopted and then take a couple months off for family in between fostering, yep we are good with that too. Or maybe you can be an emergency foster who takes in a dog who needs an overnight, a weekend, or a week of safe haven, we need you also. You can only take in small dogs, senior dogs, young dogs, adult dogs who like the sofa, disabled dogs, frightened dogs, crazy oh my God I love you so much can I sit on your lap and lick your face dogs…we have them. The shelters are full of lovable dogs waiting for a chance to start life over. I know you see the sad photos of sick, injured, abused & neglected dogs and you think, “I am not emotionally equipped to cope with a dog in that situation”. I understand, many are not, those dogs are reserved for special super hero fosters who have the skill set and emotional fortitude to care for a dog whose body & spirit have been broken and is in need of some heavy lifting to restore them to being the best dogs they can be. The shelter is also a holding place for dogs who aren’t sad, sick, injured, abused & neglected. They are there because their families decided owning a dog wasn’t for them, they moved, they cannot afford the dog any longer, their new girlfriend doesn’t like dogs, a long list of reasons have been given, some legit other selfish of their owners. There are only so many spaces for dogs on a shelters adoption floor and only so many dogs who leave with new families. The rest are in a holding pattern, waiting for their second chance through a rescue. Rescues cannot pull dogs without having a home for them to go to as the next step on their journey to a happily ever after home. Is it hard to give up a dog you fostered, depends? Sure there are some your heart might break when they leave, but the reward is always far greater. You not only helped this dog find their family, but you helped a family become complete with their new canine family member. There is no cost to you as a foster. We supply all the dogs needs and offer day to day support, as well as training classes for the dog if need be. Fostering is a group effort, you are not an island onto yourself. We take a very hands on approach with the dogs in our custody and believe me, we all cry happy tears when a dog finds their forever family. We want to know every aspect about the dogs in our care so that we make the correct decision in placing them in their forever home. Every decision we make is made looking at it at from the dogs perspective. There is no pressure, if you complete an application and when the interview is completed you find that you aren’t ready, that’s okay. We just want a chance to discuss what fostering can offer to your life, while saving another living beings life. Fostering isn’t a lifetime commitment, its a commitment to saving a life. Please consider opening your heart and home to a life in limbo and a heart in need.