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).
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.
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!
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.
Up until now, pretty much every one of my fosters has belonged to a local rescue organization, like the Humane Society of Shenandoah County or Operation Paws for Homes.
With the current crew in my foster cottage, I am fostering for X-Port Paws. They are mainly a transport rescue organization. They save animals marked for euthanasia from shelters, find a receiving rescue, arrange for veterinary evaluation, care, and transport. It’s actually amazing how many lives they have saved, even though most of them they’ve never met in person.
When I wanted to save the dogs and puppies in my cottage from the euthanasia list at Memphis Animal Services, time was of the essence (we got Dani out with only hours to spare). I knew my local Humane Society didn’t have the resources for the medical care required (multiple dogs who need heartworm treatment, an amputation, one spay surgery, plus the risk always involved in pulling puppies). There wasn’t time to convince anyone at OPH to pull these animals, and it was unlikely they would since they are not rescue partners for Memphis, and they require extensive vetting and behavioral evaluation. I asked several other rescues, but no one could act quickly.
Only X-Port Paws was willing to trust my judgment that all of these dogs were worth saving, and also believed that I was capable of fostering them, seeing them through treatment, and finding homes for them (and also helping to raise the money they would need to pay for medical care).
So they stuck their necks out big time—and Nick and I did, too.
All of the dogs—Wishbone, Dani, Lima Bean—are very adoptable dogs, once we get them healthy. They are sweet, people-friendly, dog-friendly, well-mannered young dogs who will be wonderful family pets.
But now I need to start finding those families. I don’t have the reach of organizations like HSSC or OPH. I just have you. The dog-hearted people who follow my adventures in fostering, mostly from afar.
A smart Animal Control Officer and shelter director told me recently that, “It’s already a ‘no’ unless I ask.” His shelter is so supported by his community because of his willingness to ask for help. I’m taking a page out of his book and asking you, my dog-hearted community, for your help.
So, here goes.
If you don’t already follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, I’d really love it if you would. And then once you do, if you could share my dogs and puppies to your networks, that would go a long way to getting the word out about them.
I plan to have some local adoption events, but I’m also willing to adopt to people within a reasonable distance and/or send them to a receiving rescue who will be better equipped to place them.
I also need chicken-free food and treats for Diamond and Lima Bean, they both have allergy issues that present in persistent skin problems. Those items aren’t cheap, and I’ve put a few on my Amazon wishlist for anyone who wants to support this work we’re doing.
Meanwhile, I’m going to get to work raising funds. Lima Bean has finished nursing, so in a few weeks she could have her amputation and spay surgery—if we can raise the funds. Watch for my fundraisers (please share those too) or if you want to donate now, you can send your gifts to X-Port Paws. Here’s the link: https://xportpaws.org/donate. Be sure to tell them it’s for Cara’s Foster Cottage dogs.
Updates on everybody:
Wishbone is going through his heartworm treatment at the vet as I write this. I can’t wait to get my hands on that sweet boy tonight and bring him home. I know he’ll be miserable for a bit, but this is the moment when his real life can begin. We’ll have to keep him calm and crated for the next few weeks and monitor his activity after that, but he’s ready for a home.
Wishbone is a darling, sweet, gentle boy with a funny personality and such a loving personality. He’s crate and house trained, walks well on a leash, is neutered, up to date on shots, great with EVERYONE (of all ages), and shy about other dogs, but warms up quickly.
Dani was moved to another foster home while I was on shelter tour, and Tina, her new foster mom, fell in love with her and wouldn’t give her back! So, Dani will stay with her through her heartworm treatment and recovery, as we work to find her a home.
This is making things much easier for me in the foster cottage and means Lima Bean can move out of the kitchen and into my office area with the other dogs.
Diamond is still looking for a home of her own. I put a post up on Another Good Dog Facebook page that has lots of pictures, info about her, and some of her funny videos.
I do think she’d be a great TikTok star! Please share that post to your networks (I’m really asky today, aren’t I?).
Lima Bean is finished nursing, so as soon as we raise the funds for her spay/amputation surgery, the sooner we can get to treating her heartworms. She already has that soft cough indicative of heartworms, so I’m anxious to get this process started.
This dog is incredibly loving. She simply melts into every person she meets. Nancy was here (and fell for LB, of course) and struggled to get pictures because Lima Bean would not leave space between them.
Last ask (I promise!)—the Beanie Babies are almost ready to go home! That went fast, didn’t it?
Help me get the word out about these gorgeous pups. They are healthy little butterballs who, like their mom, LOVE people. I’m gonna guess they will be as big as their mom when they grow up, but anyone who follows this blog knows I’m almost always wrong. Please spread the word. Anyone interested in adopting them should reach out to me (cara@wwldo.org) for information.
Shew. That wasn’t easy. Thanks in advance – I’m so grateful for this community and the support you give us in our foster and rescue work.
Until Each One Has a Home,
Cara
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:
Chicken-free food and treats for Diamond and Lima Bean
probiotics
puppy food and puppy treats
High-quality treats and chew bone
Indestructible 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.
Fostering is often a lot of work, and always rewarding, but sometimes it’s also just plain heartbreaking.
Every time we welcome foster dogs or puppies, they are a mystery. They are most often strays, and lately, most have been pulled from the euthanasia list at an overcrowded shelter.
We don’t know their medical histories before the day of their intake at the shelter, but we do know they have often been subjected to neglect and rarely have had good nutrition, medical attention, or even basic care. They suffer physically, but emotionally as well.
Having four adult dogs and four two week old puppies is requiring me to refine my juggling act.
At this juncture, none of the adult dogs can be loose in the cottage at the same time. So it’s a game of crate and rotate and walk and keep track of who hasn’t been out recently to potty and who needs snuggle time with me and what the best set up is to have quiet for my zoom call.
I make myself take several deep breaths and put on my ‘calm mama’ invisible cloak before entering the cottage. That helps tremendously. In the early days of my fostering career, I used to allow my anxiety over the situation and my frustration at my inability to instantly fix things to color my world. And the dogs picked up on that.
Rescue is always a roller coaster. But I tend to go with the most death-defying coasters (at least when it comes to rescuing, definitely not on real coasters!).
Lately, there have been too many situations that have made me angry, sad, and/or heart-broken because I am powerless to do anything about them. I wallow briefly, but then rally and look for situations where I can have an impact.
So, as weeks have gone by in which the news in my world and the larger world has kept me awake, twisting my insides, or leaving me emotionally spent, I started casting around for a dog to save. Maybe I can’t fix the world, but I can rescue a dog! (or maybe six…)
Wishbone is transforming before my eyes. Security makes all the difference. When he first arrived, he was skeletal and skittish and focused inward, curling up in a ball in his crate whenever he wasn’t eating.
I took him for very short walks, trying to venture further from the cottage each day, but going at his pace. In the foster cottage, we kept things quiet. He and Diamond take turns being loose/crated. After a week, he finally felt secure enough to stretch out and sleep soundly (snoring loudly!).
He makes a nice matching set with Diamond, my other foster. He is the same size as her but weighs about 25 pounds less. He is quite literally a walking skeleton. It’s easy to feel all of his bones.
Another Good Dog™ 