Rescue Volunteering

As I prepare for bed tonight I realize that this will be our last night with our latest foster, Dio. Dio marks the sixth foster dog we've had, the fourth that we've seen through to adoption (we adopted our second foster and another just didn't work out). While I am so happy to be able to foster these amazing dogs I’m also left with the fact that it breaks my heart to see them go.

Recently I've felt that my husband and I kind of “wasted” our years in Portland before we moved. We were married and lived there for five years, but it feels like we did nothing. Hosting was a large part of my life, and school was a large part of his, and to a smaller degree, a part of mine. But we did….nothing. It wasn't until we moved here to Arizona that we got involved, and largely so we could meet other people (mainly me, since he’s still in school, so he doesn't have that problem). Over the past year my husband and I have thrown ourselves into volunteering with the organization we joined, it feels almost like we’re making up for the “lost time”.

We’ve taken dogs in as fosters because they had nowhere else to go, or because we felt we could help the dog in some way become more stable, or because we had the time, or because we partially fell in love with the dog when we did the dog’s intake. These dogs become a part of our family, and yet at the same time we also have to remember that they will be moving on and we need to help them succeed with their next family. Our first foster, Hershey – she became such a part of our family that she slept in a crate in our room. Later, we realized we could potentially be doing her a disservice when friends took care of her for the weekend, and she wasn't able to sleep alone in the guest room. Subsequent fosters we ended up keeping in guest rooms, so they got used to being away from people, and used to taking a break.

Another foster was an experience and adventure I’ll never forget. She ended up not quite being a fit with our family, but the week plus that she was here taught me so many valuable lessons in have a multi dog household (we own three, fostering makes us a four – dog household). Our third female foster was a wreck when we got her, but that’s the reason we offered to take her in. My husband is so good and so patient with dogs we wanted to be able to continue the good experiences she’d had at her previous foster home so she could go with confidence (or at least more than she had) into her new home. It was something else watching her go home with her new family. The minute she laid eyes on her new daddy that was it, she never once looked back. Leaving that adoption, bringing her together with her new family felt so right, so perfect and it felt so good to be a part of that.

The thing is though; sometimes you happen across a foster that just fits. Just clicks with your family. That’s what Dred did when he arrived; he became part of our family, practically overnight. Aaand that’s when you end up wanting to keep them, but knowing you can’t. In the case of Dred, well, we could, we’d been looking anyway. But man, the talks my husband and I had about keeping him, we went back and forth and back and forth…partially because adding that third dog makes it that much harder to foster, something that we really wanted to be able to do. And then when the third dog’s Dred…yeah, even harder than that. In the end it boiled down to whether or not I could let him go and I found I couldn't.

 Aaand then we had another foster that just clicked into our family. Oh man, it was crazy, she was crazy, and puppy, and awesome and just really knew how to fit in with our family. I’m not even talking about an “either/or” situation either, like either Dred or our female. She fit in with everyone. She played with Da’shain, left Dare alone and knew how to just back off when Dred got grumpy (you don’t find many dogs like that). She was fun to train and seriously wicked smart.  Buuut, it wasn't in the cards for us to keep her. I love all three of my dogs and wouldn't trade any of them for the world, but even three is a little overwhelming at times. Adding on a fourth for fostering is always an adventure, but permanently? Sooo not happening, even for one that fit our family just right.

There’s still a hole in my heart that Hershey took with her when she was adopted. The other two girls and I had our moments, good times and bad, but it was great to see them get their homes and just fit. And later, my girl? While it broke my heart to let her go (and I’m not exaggerating, I seriously bawled), I know that she’s in a great home with an amazing family that loves her.

For a little while I thought it was just her, that she clicked so well with our family. That’s why my heart hurt, right? Partially, sure. But currently we have little Dio, he’s not even six months old and we've only had him for three weeks. Dare avoids him like crazy, Da’shain plays with Dio until Da’shain’s tired, and since Da’shain’s four now, he gets tired just a bit sooner than Dio (or at least of being used as a chew toy).  Hasn’t met Dred really, though they've been out at the same time, but he’s a little too exuberant for Dred. Dio still pretty much hates his crate, doesn't like eating in it, still chews just about everything he can get his mouth on (he does redirect if you catch him at it though), doesn't sleep through the night no matter where we put him (crate outside our room, crate in room, bathroom with crate blocking doorway….), always has a smile, wags his tail at everything, drinks more water than I knew dogs could drink, always has his tongue out to lick you, still can’t seem to sleep ON his dog bed, rolls over onto the floor of the car while sleeping on the seat, sleeps with his head under the curtains, is growing like a weed, still has paws bigger than he is, and is just sooo puppy (well, ‘cause he is).

For the past almost four weeks now that he’s been here, Dio’s been, well a puppy. And I fell in love all over again. This time though I thought I was safe. There wasn't any way we could even talk about keeping Dio. While he’s an amazing dog, he doesn't really fit in with our entire family. It’s not a case of “in a perfect world I could keep four dogs and it would be fine”. Well, #1, my husband would disagree with that anyway, and #2, even if I could, it wouldn't be these four dogs. This really would be an either or situation, and I’d always choose Dred. Dio’s an awesome dog, and he’s about to make a certain family very, very happy. But, Dred’s mine. With all my boy’s quirks, snarkiness, attitude, everything, I can’t imagine him ever being someone else’s dog. Then again, that’s probably because I couldn't imagine any of my dogs being anyone else’s dog. They’re mine and that’s how it is and how it’ll stay.

Okay, deep breath. I really did have a point, somewhere in here. Yeah, so today as I’m cuddling with Dio, watching him play with Da’shain, and chew on one of his toys, I’m excited for him – tomorrow starts his new adventure. I’m also sad, really more sad than I thought I’d be. This is the last night I get to watch him, the last night I open his crate door and he just walks right in (only to awaken in a few hours, whining), the last night he and Da’shain play until Da’shain’s wiped out, I’m glad I have video of some of those times.  The people that he’s going to though? Those are good people, solid people. He’ll have a playmate there too, and people to take him out doors, spend bunches of time with him loving on him. They’re excited to have him. So tomorrow I’ll cry a little bit and say goodbye then hopefully take a quick snapshot of him with his new family and head home. Home to a full house of dogs, but one that will seem a little bit emptier for missing him. In the days that comes next, our family will be taking a breather. No more fosters for a few months at least, hopefully until the New Year. As a whole we all need a kind of break. Let everyone know, yes, this is our family, and you guys aren't going anywhere.

This past year has been a virtual roller coaster of fostering dogs, helping transport dogs, participating in home visits, attending events and representing the rescue and it’s been a fun, crazy, amazing learning experience. Fostering being the craziest experience of them all. Sure, we’ll be taking a breather, but I know there will come a time when someone posts about another dog in need and we’ll step up and say “sure, we can take that dog in for a bit”. And we’ll take the dog in, give them more than just a couple meals and walks a day, in essence, we'll loan our family out too. “Our family is yours” we’ll say, “for however long it takes you to find your own.”

If you don’t volunteer, think about it, research, ask questions. Find something you’re comfortable with, it’s not all fostering; there are so many things that are needed that aren't even animal related, sometimes things as simple as designing layouts, running fundraisers and more. And if you do volunteer, awesome, and thank you!

~