Tag: animals

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Why Fostering Dogs is Good For You (and your family)

Cara Achterberg

As I type this, I can hear puppies yipping and tumbling into puppy pen fences. I’m sure they are teeing up the next big mess (I’ve already stripped and cleaned the pen twice today and it isn’t 9am yet).

Behind me, Nemo is gnawing on a Benebone while Sadie is snuggled in a blanket beside him. It’s chilly in here. My mini-splits are no match for the bitter air. It’s been a cold December.

Having the fosters underfoot in my office/foster cottage as I work is good and bad. I’m debating about whether to move inside our house for an interview I have to record with a podcaster in an hour.

The interview is all about fostering. She sent me a list of questions ahead of time. Most podcasters do this, but hers were particularly good. I want to share a couple with you. This podcast is called Dog Fostering 101 (Everything I Wish I Knew When I Began Fostering), and Jackie’s mission is to offer guidance and inspiration in the hopes of encouraging more people to foster (or keep fostering).

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Pretty Darn Perfect Dog

Cara Achterberg

Nemo has been here with me for a few weeks, and to be honest, I’m flummoxed as to why he has lingered so long in foster care. He’s pretty darn perfect. Even if he only has three legs.

He is solidly house-trained, crate-trained, quiet, sweet, very cuddly, and friendly. He is happy to simply chew on a chewbone while I get my work done. I’m comfortable having a zoom call or even recording a podcast, because I know he won’t interrupt me.

Beyond all that, he is simply a sunny guy. Happy all the time. For the last week, since Loki left (yes! He was adopted!), he’s been all alone for long stretches, especially for the three days I was gone for Thanksgiving.

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Cheat Sheet of Current Cottage Dogs!

Cara Achterberg

The cast of foster dogs in this cottage is always changing. Here is a cheat sheet of who’s adoptable, who got adopted, and who is just passing through.

LOKI

STATUS: ADOPTABLE!

This uber puppy has been with us since I brought him home as a stowaway on our shelter tour two weeks ago. He is A-Mazing! (I know you’re already saying, “but Cara, you say that about every puppy!”)

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Refilling the Foster Dog Cottage!

Cara Achterberg

I’ve just returned from a tour of shelters with Who Will Let the Dogs Out, and this time I came home with more than stories and connections; I brought back three new fosters!

Leo went home while I was away. He was adopted by a family local to me, so I should be able to keep tabs on him!

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Two Goodbyes

Cara Achterberg

Last week I lost two dogs.

They are both in a better place, and I know it was time, so gratefulness filled my heart more than sadness.

If you’ve been following this blog since before the Foster Cottage, you have likely gotten to know Gracie.

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That Old Adoption Magic…

Cara Achterberg

I’ve been fostering for over ten years now, and more than 300 dogs and puppies (and a few cats and kittens) have come through our home. So, by now, I shouldn’t be surprised at the adoption magic.

When I picked up my puppies at the airport in May, I noticed Pinto Bean right away and thought – ‘he’ll be the first to go’. With his dramatic eye makeup, funny nose, and gorgeous coloring, surely he’d be in high demand from adopters.

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Rescue Rollercoaster

Cara Achterberg

Have I told you recently that rescue is a rollercoaster?

Earlier this week, I was feeling quite panicked. It seemed like none of the five dogs I am currently fostering was ever going to leave. None of them had any interest or applications.

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Pretty Perfect Puppies Still Here!

Cara Achterberg

I’ve fostered a lot of puppies. But never this long. I look at them sometimes and wonder if they’ll still be here at Christmas.

puppies

I know they won’t be. Eventually, they will find homes. I’m certain.

I suppose the best part (from a potential adopter’s point of view) is that out of necessity, they are now crate-trained, more-or-less housebroken (except when I get busy and forget how long it’s been since they went out), and sleeping through the night with no accidents.

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author with adoptable puppy
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A Doghouse-Full of Foster Dogs

Cara Achterberg

The foster cottage is filling back up!

After a year with us, Diamond was able to go back home this past weekend! You can read about how she came to be with us here. From the start, we were never sure this day would come. But it finally did, and I’m thrilled for her. She has a fenced backyard of her own and is back with her mom for good.

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Dogs Are Backing Up

Cara Achterberg

Things are moving very slowly in the dog adoption world. Which means dogs are backed up at shelters all over. And we all know what that means.

My adorable, sweet, smart, healthy puppies are twelve weeks old today, and neither has any interested adopters. This seems crazy to me. But it speaks to the times.

It seems unlikely that everyone who had ever planned to adopt a puppy has adopted one. It’s more likely that I just can’t find them. Which guts me because as long as they linger here, I have no room to save more puppies.

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