WE NEED FOSTER PARENTS
Our ability to rescue dogs is directly related to our ability to find people willing to foster dogs. Being a foster-parent to one of our dogs is easy! We provide the following: the dog or puppy, vet care and medicines (such as heartworm preventative or for any ongoing treatment), crate, collar, leash, tags, and proof of vaccinations (incl rabies). You provide shelter, food, water, love and socialization. Sometimes it is hard to give up a dog you have fostered. Foster-parents have priority when it comes to adoption, but we hope our fosters continue to foster dogs.
It isn't too hard to find someone who will love and keep a dog. The hard part is finding someone who loves dogs enough to care for different dogs for awhile, then give them up to their new families. But our foster families make it possible for dogs who would not otherwise be adopted to find new homes. They can provide information about how a dog behaves in a home, which we would not otherwise know. This kind of accuracy in information we give to prospective adopters makes it more likely that a dog and his new family will be happy with one another, and make it less likely that the dog will be returned.
I am fostering one beagle at a time for BTTR. Raymond (now Radley) stayed with us for several months, while undergoing heartworm treatment. Becky Sue stayed with us a couple of weeks, till we brought Molly Jane home to fatten her up a little bit. Miss Daisy is likely to be our next foster child, since she is undergoing heartworm treatment. I have come to love each of these dogs. It is HARD to say goodbye. But it is a bittersweet thing, because I am also happy to see how happy the dog and his new family become.
BTTR dog Raymond during foster care.
Raymond was adopted and is now named Radley.
Radley, with his new brother Harper. While Radley
has definitely benefitted from finding a forever family,
he has quickly become a great friend and companion for Harper.
I have found it much easier to give up a dog when you KNOW that you have helped it find a good home and that you are giving it up because that was your role in its life, not because you just gave up a dog. It can be bittersweet, but overall a really happy experience and gives you the satisfaction of knowing you have done a really good deed. Come meet a couple of our dogs at the Family Dog Club. And (naturally) potential adoptive parents are also VERY welcome!
