Our adventures as a foster dog family
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!
Continue reading “Refilling the Foster Dog Cottage!”
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.
Continue reading “The foster cottage is FULL!”
Have I gotten myself in over my head? This is the question that rolled across my mind early this morning when I couldn’t sleep.
The last time I had this many dogs in the foster cottage, I was overwhelmed.
In fact, it was also four dogs and four puppies. Of course, those were basically feral dogs and worm-riddled puppies, so the physical work was overwhelming. After the seventh or eighth poopified crate, I’d come pretty close to quitting this whole foster gig.
Continue reading “Have I Gotten Myself in Over My Head?”
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…)
Continue reading “Rescue is a Roller Coaster”
Another Good Dog™ 