Adoption magic

I was really counting on that adoption magic to prevail this week, but I’m an overly optimistic person.

I was able to see four of my puppies into the arms of their new families.

Peter, Benjamin, and Beatrix are being moved today to a new foster home (thanks Nicole!) because tomorrow I leave for another shelter tour. This time eleven shelters, six states, twelve days. It will be a blur.

It was a joy to see this little bunch get healthy and come to life over the last two and a half weeks. They were pulled from an awful situation just a few miles from my home. There is still a mama dog and her five month old puppy (sister and cousin to this bunch) living on a chain there because there was no foster home available. If no one has helped them by the time I return, we will bring them here.

People always ask how I can bear to let my fosters go. They swear that they can’t do it because they would just foster fail. I can’t foster fail because I know just how many other dogs and puppies are vulnerable in shelters (or on chains just down the road). I can’t help them if I don’t let this bunch go.

Fostering is always bittersweet. It’s wonderful to help them on their journey but it always hurts to say goodbye. And I have to confess, not getting to see them safely home hurts just a little bit more. Those adoption days and those pictures I take? They are the pay off. The happiness in those moments immediately (well almost immediately) cancels out all the work and the poop and the worry.

I’m sure my foster cottage won’t stay empty for long. Who knows, I may just bring something home with me from our tour. I’m sure I’ll be meeting hundreds of good dogs hoping for a rescue.

If you’d like to be part of the solution, consider fostering. It’s the most tangible way you can make a difference and save a life right now. I’d be happy to answer any questions or talk you into it, email me (carasueachterberg @ gmail. com).

If you’re in the Shenandoah Valley and would like to foster for the Humane Society, let me know (or apply here). We would love to develop a real foster dog program here, but as of now we have only two foster dog homes (and I’m one of them). If you join our team, I promise to support you and help in any way I can.

If you’re in Northern Virginia, Maryland, DC, or south-central PA, you can foster for Operation Paws for Homes. They have plenty of resources and great people who can get you set up fostering any kind of dog (or puppy) you like. Hit me up if you have questions or jump right in and apply here.

And if you’re somewhere else, no doubt there is a rescue or shelter near you who would be grateful if you opened your heart and your home.

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs. Or its follow up that takes you to the shelters in the south One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

If you’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist.