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).
My cottage is full of puppies! We went from a quiet space with just me and Nemo, to a bustling place with nonstop puppy wrestling (in two arenas), nonstop laundry, and nonstop cuteness!
First up is Sadie, a Dalmation mix puppy I am fostering for Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA. This is my second gig with them. I picked up Sadie from another foster who needed to move her (and also gave her red nail caps!).
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.
It’s that season. A time to say Thank You. A time to remember to be grateful even if the world or your day has tackled your soul.
I remember when I was deep in the chaos of raising kids, someone said to me – the days are long but the years are fast.
These days, it feels like the days AND years are fast. Maybe that makes it even more imperative that we stop and empty our pockets in search of the gratefulness we’ve taken for granted.
No matter how hard your days are, reach deep there amongst the dryer lint and crumpled tissues, and there is always good. Sometimes you just have to squint to see it.
I’m thankful this year for so much, including:
My little foster dog cottage. It’s a place that has allowed me to save even more dogs this year, but it is also a space where I can create.
When I first starting working in the cottage, I thought, “I’ll never be able to write with so many dogs underfoot vying for my attention or puppies barking and playing and sometimes whining in the puppy room.”
And I really couldn’t. I struggled.
But then I stopped seeing all the distractions that would keep me from writing and realized that I could instead see them as an opportunity to practice focus. It isn’t easy every day, but I am figuring it out.
People write in coffee shops all the time. So this is mine. It is filled with others who are also busy. It’s just that these souls are busy chewing or snoring or farting or playing or barking or wrestling or slamming in and out of the dog door. And sometimes I have to pause what I am doing to clean up after them.
Which leads me to something else I am so grateful for—my health. I know we’re all thankful for health, but as I age (I’ll be 60 next year!), I don’t take a single step for granted. Moving as much as possible is important, and fostering dogs keeps me moving!
Working in the foster cottage has forced me to use a standing desk. If I work sitting down, I’m bound to have a few friends vying for my lap or my tea cup or even my pen.
Walking dogs, cleaning up puppy pens, crawling into crates to retrieve contraband or clean up barf, picking up puppies, wrestling dewormer into them or contorting myself to trim nails, all of it is keeping me active.
I’m also immensely grateful for you, my dog-hearted community. The people who enable me to save lives and the people who inspire me to do more. Some I’ve known for years, and some I’ve met this year. Some I’ve only met online. They cross every boundary, and I’m likely without our shared goal of helping animals, we may never have had reason to connect; in fact, we might have avoided each other.
But we are bound together anyway because of animals. And I know there are plenty of people who don’t understand the lengths I go to in saving lives, so I take comfort in the kindred spirits who meet me at transports, send endless Facebook messages and texts, mail medications and supplies, share my posts and my heartaches – the people who ‘get it’ and think nothing of this endless work.
I am grateful for the people who make this work possible through their tireless support – whether that’s leaving an encouraging note on a post, shopping my Foster Cottage Amazon wishlist, or donating to the rescue to help pay for surgeries and supplies.
I’m thankful for people who share the stories and pictures of my adoptable dogs, spreading the word, and helping them find a home. I’ve met an entirely new bunch of dog-hearted souls on TikTok, and it’s challenged me to learn a new set of skills. It’s also helped to get dogs adopted, which makes the brain-stretching well worth it.
If you’re reading this, then you are someone I am thankful for. As a writer, I never take for granted the people who, for a few minutes, share my head and heart when they read my words. It’s what keeps me writing (and reading).
There is magic in the written word. It changes lives. It changes minds. And it can change hearts. And that is true of not just readers, but the writer, too.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am counting you as one of my blessings this year, in a year full of them.
For information on my writing and books, visit CaraWrites.com.
My newest book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues is a primer for those new to the cause, an invitation to get involved, and a source of inspiration for those already working tirelessly to save lives. With stories of successful shelters, innovative strategies, and the key ingredients for success—strong leadership, veterinary access, and community engagement—it’s a celebration of what’s working and a call to scale those solutions nationwide. Learn more and get your copy and/or send one to a shelter or rescue on our website. Also available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.
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’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist. We are currently in need of crate covers(!), dog vitamins and probiotics (we have puppy), size large martingale collars, and Denta-life chews.
If you’d like to take a vacation with your whole pack, consider visiting one of our two dog-WELCOMING vacation rentals. Visit BringDogs.com to learn more.
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!”)
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!
Despite having been abandoned in Georgia, living in a foster home there for two months, being transported by plane to VA, and coming to my little foster cottage, Leo seems none the worse for wear.
He’s an optimist who’s got a wag and a grin for pretty much everyone, even men who often seem intimidating to him (although he warms up quickly to the friendly ones).
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.
If I had to be stuck with puppies for five months, these two are good ones.
They are just such good puppies. Dream dogs. I’ve always said I’m terrible at raising dogs (all the dogs I’ve raised from puppies had major behavioral issues). I’m fine, actually pretty good, though, with tiny puppies – doing enrichment, exposing them to new stuff, engaging them daily, teaching them not to jump up or be mouthy. But after that? I’ve always said it’s a good thing they get adopted at 8 weeks.
I’ve had a few puppies linger for 12 weeks or so, but never this long. So, I’ve never had the opportunity to work with puppies for four months. These two are super special. Just great dogs. Easy going, good listeners, friendly, socialized.
I’d like to take the credit for that, but I’m fairly certain most of it is who they are as individuals. Still, I’ve been thinking about the practices I have in place that are also helping them grow up so well.
A few thoughts:
Having their mom, Lima Bean, around and involved in their daily lives has helped them feel secure, but she is also a disciplinarian. She only puts up with so much of the climbing on her and doesn’t hesitate to take a toy away. Lima Bean snuggles with them every day, and I know it is part of why they are so calm and sweet.
I run a very structured environment for my dogs in the cottage. I have to because I’m juggling too many things at once – the nonprofit, our rental business, my writing, AND fostering. It’s easy to drop a ball if you don’t have a system and a plan.
Because I’ve been doing this long enough to know that things can go south WAY too easily when you have multiple dogs, everyone is crated if I (or Nick) can’t be within earshot. No exceptions. If we leave the property, everyone (including my own dogs) are in crates.
So, on a given day, they might have multiple 30-minute to 3-hour naptimes in their crate (usually with a Kong or a special toy, but not always).
They eat every day at 4:30am and 4:30pm in their crates. They go out to potty first thing in the morning and last thing at night, no matter what, even if I have to stand out there and insist (or leash them up if they don’t follow me out).
Note: Anyone feeding multiple dogs should feed them separately, even if they’ve been eating side by side for years. They are animals, and food is important to them, maybe even more so as they age.
The puppies don’t have the run of the cottage. They are either in the office with me (with dog door access to the play yard), shut outside in the play yard (with access to the covered pen), or in their crates.
Dogs (and puppies) thrive on routine. They know what to expect and when to expect it. That helps them feel safe and builds their confidence. Their life here with me is very predictable. Sure, we take them on outings, but most of their day is the same day after day.
I am enjoying them because they are such darlings, but every day they are here is another day I can’t save another dog. I won’t bring in new dogs because these guys need my attention. I can’t do crate/rotate like I would do if I had a new dog come in, because that wouldn’t be fair to these young bodies and minds. They need to be active.
I remember talking with someone who was preparing to buy a puppy from a breeder. There was an option to purchase a ‘super puppy’, which meant that the puppy would be already house-trained, crate-trained, and leash-trained (and probably know some commands). I don’t remember how much exactly, but the ‘super puppies’ cost significantly more. Instead of taking the puppy home at 8 weeks, they would take them home at 16 weeks.
I was pretty horrified that this person was choosing to buy a puppy instead of adopting, but this idea of a ‘super puppy’ really set me off. I told her that seemed crazy and could result in an undersocialized dog, since by default, a breeder would be kenneling the puppies. There was no way they could be keeping them in a home setting. Sheer numbers would make that impossible. And a busy breeder kennel wouldn’t have time to give individual attention to each puppy.
Today I realized I am raising Super Puppies. Two of them. If there had been eight left, I would have made the effort, but there’s no way I could have met their needs. Which is also why I can’t bring in more dogs while I’m raising these two. Young puppies need much more attention than adult dogs.
I don’t know why Green Bean and Pinto Bean are still here. And while Nick seems pretty sure they are going to be our dogs, I know that’s not the case. Eventually, adopters will turn up.
Meanwhile, I will keep working with my Super Puppies to make them the best dogs they can be.
If you or anyone you know is looking for a new furry family member, please reach out. You can email me: fosterdogcottage@gmail.com or call/text 717-577-6180.
For information on my writing and books, visit CaraWrites.com.
My newest book, Who Will Let the Dogs Out: Stories and Solutions for Shelters and Rescues is a primer for those new to the cause, an invitation to get involved, and a source of inspiration for those already working tirelessly to save lives. With stories of successful shelters, innovative strategies, and the key ingredients for success—strong leadership, veterinary access, and community engagement—it’s a celebration of what’s working and a call to scale those solutions nationwide. Learn more and get your copy and/or send one to a shelter or rescue on our website. Also available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.
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’d like to support the work we do (and save the rescue and me some money), shop our Amazon wishlist. We are currently in need of Acana red meat dog food (it’s expensive but we need it for Lima Bean’s allergies), treats, bully sticks, probiotics, size large martingale collars, and tough-chewer toys.
If you’d like to take a vacation with your whole pack, consider visiting one of our two dog-WELCOMING vacation rentals. Visit BringDogs.com to learn more.
Another Good Dog™ 