Category: adopters

adopters, fostering, litters, puppies

Foster Puppies: Quick Before They Escape!

Cara Achterberg

The puppies are thriving and noisy and ever since getting their first taste of freedom in the puppy yard, all they want is “OUT!”

Or at least, that’s what I imagine they are saying as they yip-yip-yap all the live-long day whenever they are left in the puppy room. Thankfully, the weather has been nice and they’ve had plenty of time in the puppy yard. If only I could install my desk out there, we would be all set. As it is, I can’t leave them out there unsupervised.

Continue reading “Foster Puppies: Quick Before They Escape!” →
adopters, Billie Jean, dog rescue, former foster dogs, fosterdogs, returned dogs

A Dog I Once Fostered…

Cara Achterberg

Billie Jean is launched.

Gosh how I hope this time it sticks. I think it is a good match, but we never really know until she goes home.

I’m still awaiting word. I haven’t heard anything since a quick text from her adopter while they were driving home (four hours to northern New Jersey). She said Billie Jean, now Piper, was sleeping in the back seat most of the time, occasionally standing up and putting her head between the seats to give a few kisses.

Continue reading “A Dog I Once Fostered…” →
adopters, Behavioral Euthanasia, Billie Jean, dog rescue, foster dogs, oph, returned dogs, training

Our Beauty Queen Returns

Cara Achterberg

Having Billie Jean back with us has been really fun. She has an energy that shimmers off her and an eagerness to please that is refreshing. Like most cattle dogs, she has a lot to say and a huge repertoire of sounds. She is great company and an entertaining guest.

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She is so much the dog I remember, but at the same time there is Continue reading “Our Beauty Queen Returns” →

adopters, Breeds, dog rescue, Fanny, former foster dogs, fostering, returned dogs, training

Judging By the Heart

Cara Achterberg

It’s another quiet week at this foster house. We’re in between foster dogs, something that feels rare for us as the dogs have generally overlapped for years now.

Tito was adopted on Sunday by a couple of ‘old hippies’ (their words!). It seems like a really great fit. They are experienced pit bull people who don’t just want to adopt, but to ‘rescue.’

They understand that Tito is a work in progress and that any dog adopted into a new home will require a significant effort on their part. At the start of this pandemic, Tito had only ever lived on a logging chain 24/7. Since then he has been in two rescues, one foster home, and now a second adoptive home. They are committed to helping him feel safe and loved, while teaching him about life in his new home.

Continue reading “Judging By the Heart” →

adopters, Carla, Daisy Duke, dog rescue, Flannery Oconnor, Foo Foo, former foster dogs, foster dogs, fostering, owner responsibility, returned dogs

Returned Dogs Are Inevitable

Cara Achterberg

There have been so many adoptions this spring and summer. It’s a wonderful thing, but with lots and lots of adoptions come the inevitable returns.

Making a decision as momentous as adopting a dog for the rest of its life based on pictures, maybe a few videos, a foster’s notes, an adoption coordinator’s questions, and usually only a single meeting, is definitely a gamble, albeit an educated one (the same kind my brother claims he uses to win money in Vegas).

We shouldn’t be surprised or dismayed when a dog is returned. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the dog or the adopter.

What’s really remarkable, I think, is Continue reading “Returned Dogs Are Inevitable” →

adopters, dog books, dog rescue, foster dogs, foster fail, fostering, oph, shelters, transport

We CAN Rescue These Dogs

Cara Achterberg

Our foster world is pretty quiet these days. And that’s a good thing.

100 dogs coverI’m busy getting ready for the release of my new book, 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelter and Rescue. It’s a strange time for all of us, dogs included.

OPH has been saving dogs in record numbers with Continue reading “We CAN Rescue These Dogs” →

adopters, dog rescue, Fanny, foster dogs, foster fail, fostering, Gracie

The Adoption Decision

Cara Achterberg

Adopting a dog is not something anyone should do on a whim. Yes, there are many times when you get that ‘feeling’ or ‘connection’ or ‘moment’ that tells you that this is the one.

But when you are a part of a family—human and canine (and feline)—adopting a dog has to be a family decision.

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In this family, the opinions of the kids are important, but as far as the adoption decision, Continue reading “The Adoption Decision” →

adopters, dog rescue, fostering, oph, owner responsibility, poop, puppies, training, Who Will Let the Dogs Out

My Hope for These Puppies

Cara Achterberg

There is not much to tell about this past week in our foster world.

The puppies got cuter.

The mess got Continue reading “My Hope for These Puppies” →

adopters, dog rescue, Dogs with Issues, fostering, owner responsibility, puppies, returned dogs, training, Uncategorized

CAUTION: Puppies

Cara Achterberg

Everyone wants a puppy.

I get that.

Puppies are cute and fun and at least at this age (seven weeks) they are highly entertaining.

pup with tongue out
photo by Ian Achterberg

 

These puppies are no exception and already, Continue reading “CAUTION: Puppies” →

adopters, dog rescue, foster dogs, fostering, puppies, returned dogs, Who Will Let the Dogs Out

Doing the Impossible Requires Rose-Colored Glasses (or I Believe in Adoption Magic)

Cara Achterberg

A week ago, I still had four foster dogs under my roof.

That’s not so odd (for me) except that on Friday I leave for a ten-day whirlwind tour of 16 rescues, shelters, and pounds in Tennessee, Mississippi, and the tail of Missouri as part of Who Will Let the Dogs Out (an initiative of Operation Paws for Homes).

Leaving foster dogs at the house for my busy husband and my even-busier son to care for in my absence isn’t really an option. Which meant Continue reading “Doing the Impossible Requires Rose-Colored Glasses (or I Believe in Adoption Magic)” →