Fostering = Time; Theirs.
Fostering is really just giving a dog the gift of time.
My significant other/boyfriend and I foster beagles for rescue groups. It is probably the most meaningful thing we've ever done. We currently have Amos, a wonderful old beagle/basset mix who came from a kill shelter in a rural area, un-neutered, no microchip, but healthy, PERFECTLY house trained, and gentle, sweet and happy as a lark. He's a garbage-getter--used Kleenex are a particular treat--and last night he pulled a HEAVY saucepan of pasta off the stove to the floor and had an extra meal.
But I digress.
My point in this post is TIME. Lots of folks say they would be a foster home if only they had the time. No time, busy busy, time, time, time.
To which I say: of course you don't have time. No one does. Except for what you make time for. We all have the same 24 hours each day, and we all have more on the list than gets done in that span. But we all make choices continuously in how we spend those hours.
We already have two beagles of our own, and luckily they are easy, meaning they are healthy, well-behaved, sleep-all-day-while-we're-gone-couch-potatoes, they don't bark all day or chew things up. Basically we just feed them, let them out, and in exchange they shower us with that unconditional "love" that is, in my opinion, unique to the canine-human connection. Since we're going to go through all the motions of caring for our own dogs, how hard can it be to add one more to the mix?
And ultimately, while we may say we "don't have time," it's really the displaced dog standing alone on a cold, hard concrete slab behind bars in a shelter who truly doesn't have time. He may have a week, two weeks, in some cases up to a month, before the inevitable takes place, because in that time dozens more come in and there is no more space and rescue groups cannot take more in until a foster home opens up, so down the hall to The Table he goes. Because I said I didn't have time. So his time is up.
And another beagle was just brought in the door. All he has is time, just not much of it.
Joyce
The beagle rescue our dogs came from: www.houndsong.com; always in need of foster homes and donations.
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Go Joyce Go!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. You're a great writer,and a better giver of yourself to your beagles.
Hope you keep others enthused to carry on like you inspire others to join your ranks.
Bald CA Guy
Cheers to those who can foster. I'm afraid I become far too attached to the animals. And my two boys are not near as well behaved as Joyce's two girls!
ReplyDeleteI foster dogs and the 2 concerns of 1) time; and 2) "I'll get attached" - should be of no concern if you think of it like I do... 1) TIME -- If you already have a dog or two, what's one more on a temporary basis? You have time for them, right? If you have no dogs, what a great way to see if you are cut out for having one 2) Getting attached -- I have 2 dogs and I love to have a foster, but I always say that it's like having company over-- you love to have them, but when they leave, you flop on the couch and sigh with delight that you are back to your old routine. And unlike when my company leave, they are just going home -- my foster is going to his/her PERMANENT home, so it is a very happy thing for them. It's sad to see them go for ME, but I get over it in a day or two when I realize I just saved a life and now have room to save another one!
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