Over these last ten months, all my energy and free time has been consumed by one thing: fostering. In fact, my husband said to me the other night, “You are addicted to fostering dogs.” One definition of the word addicted is “Enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity,” so while it doesn’t happen often, my husband is right. I am addicted!
I can provide only a limited number of dogs with a permanent home (currently 5), but I can provide an unlimited number of dogs with a temporary home, one dog at a time. And in just 10 months, I have fostered 16, yes, SIXTEEN dogs, all of which have been adopted into incredible families and are now living their best lives.
The emotions that come with providing a temporary home to a seemingly hopeless dog are like no other. It can be heart-wrenching at first, especially when I get a dog who is too scared to even wag its tail. But then the magic happens. Each member of my family —my husband, my children, our five dogs, and myself— plays an integral role in nurturing our new foster and helping him or her feel safe, loved, and whole again.
Then, when the time is right for the foster to be adopted, there is no better feeling than when a family meets the dog and my gut instinct says, “Awww, this is a PERFECT MATCH.” If you have fostered before, you know these feelings. If you haven’t, I BEG you to try, even if it’s just once. These are some of the faces of my many fosters.
Some of the dogs whom I have fostered had lived at privately-run no-kill shelters their entire lives (one had been there for almost a decade). Others have been saved just hours before their deaths at county-run kill-shelters. Many were going to be euthanized simply due to overcrowding, or because of minimal medical reasons due to limited funding and resources at these shelters.
These faces are why I do what I do. These faces have helped give me purpose in life. And these faces have taught my children invaluable life skills such as empathy, patience, and unconditional love. In fact, my nine-year-old daughter insists on coming with me each time I return to the shelter to save another soul.
Shelters are full, rescues are full, and fosters are limited. Please consider fostering. I promise you that your heart won’t regret it.
In my upcoming articles, I will go into detail about each of the dog’s fostering circumstances, and how I helped each one heal mentally, emotionally, and physically. Spoiler alert, it involves a lot of TLC and plenty of Dr. Harvey’s meals and supplements, and some of my other favorite products!
