Erica's #53 - Foster an Animal

I'm an animal lover from waaaaay back.  They have generally always felt the same way about me.  My family has always had pets - hell, even as a toddler, I was putting nightgowns on the family cat (much to the cat's chagrin, but it has to speak to that cat's tolerance love of me that I lived to see another day).  To this day, I still like most animals more than most people.  I can't imagine a life that doesn't include some animal companions.

Baby Louie!

Mel and I attempted to foster a dog before.  Since we were volunteers at the local shelter, we would occasionally get email updates about events that volunteers were needed for, supplies that the shelter needed, or animals who urgently needed fostering.  In February 2011, I got an email about an inordinate number of young puppies who either had or were in danger of catching upper respiratory infections from shelter life, since their little immune systems couldn't fight normal doggy germs yet.  I asked Mel if she'd consider it, and we stopped by the shelter on our way home from something else, just to look.

We had pretty much decided we'd be foster parents - you cannot possibly look at puppies and not want to take one home with you, right?  There were about 7 pups left who needed immediate foster - a group of four pups who were siblings, two pups kenneled together, and one lonely little pup in an upper level cage who was obviously already sick.  And his tag pegged him as a pit bull mix.  All the odds were against him for adoption, and we worried about what happens to pit mixes even after adoption, so this sickly little guy was destined to come home with these two bleeding hearts.  We took him into a private room to fill out the foster paperwork, and he was full of energy, but definitely had a puppy cold.  He climbed up on Mel's lap, and promptly sneezed green puppy snot right on her face.  It was love at first slime...

That little guy slept in my arms on the way to Petco to get him a collar and leash and all the things a puppy needs.  We already had our Puggle, Rudy, so we had most dog things, but this guy needed some meat on his bones, so puppy food it was.  He was so small at about 7 weeks old that he wore an extra-small collar.  Needless to say, that scrawny, sick little mutt is now a healthy 65 pounds of pure muscle we affectionately call "Horse" - formally named Louie.  We failed miserably as fosters!

So...I had to stop volunteering at the shelter after I brought home a cat as well.  I can't see animals suffer and not try to save them.  So I was slightly worried that writing this goal on my list would actually lead to adopting yet another animal.  2 dogs and 4 cats is enough...but then again...

Fast forward to last November.  I am on the board of a great non-profit called Woofs and Books, an animal rescue and literacy organization (we have volunteers who take their dogs to schools to read with kids and act as a furry, non-critical audience), and we had a volunteer who was willing to foster a dog, so we found a good match for him and set him up as a foster parent.  This dog, Pete, was a real sweetheart, and completely adorable, so we figured he would be adopted in a matter of weeks.  For some reason, 5 months later, there was no interest in adopting him!  His foster dad's situation changed, and another dog in the house wasn't getting along with Pete, so we needed to place him in a different situation.

That's where we come in.  Pete had come to our house to play with the boys a couple of times, and they really got along well after the initial domination game (3 male dogs!) played itself out.  Pete is quiet, on the small side, and has impeccable manners.  We knew he'd fit in at our place, so we offered to foster Pete until he could find a home.  He did so well at our house.  We kenneled him during the day just in case they all got too rough together, and he never made a peep about it.  All three dogs had a fantastic time playing together in the yard, and taking walks together.  We fell in love with Pete, and knew we had to find him the best situation possible.

One potential adopter came forward, but her yard wasn't equipped for a young dog with a tendency to escape if given the opportunity.  It was disappointing, since she really liked him, but again, had to do what's best for him.

We had a thought...Mel's mom has talked about wanting a dog for a while, but her dad seemed against the idea.  Hmm...if they met him and he loved them, maybe, just maybe? :)  We took Pete over for a visit by himself to their house, and Pete complete ignored them, wouldn't even take a peace offering in the form of a slice of cheese.  We thought it was a failed experiment.

How handsome is Pete?!?

But we brought him back with our boys, and they made him a completely different dog.  He came out of his shell, warmed up to Mel's parents, and they quickly fell in love with him.  Shortly after that, they started about trying out fostering him for a while, so we dropped him off at their house.  After some initial issues about not wanting to come inside (he's freaked out a little by doors, poor guy), he really was the perfect dog at their place - didn't chew on things, no accidents, doesn't get on the furniture, completely fine sleeping in the living room alone at night. Who wouldn't want to keep a dog that perfect and adorable?!?

They were ready to adopt him!  He really is a perfect dog for them, and this way, he still gets to play with his buddies Rudy and Louie when we go to visit.  They still have a great time together :)