Foster a dog

To be a fosterer you need a tough shell, big heart and a love of dogs, without mentioning patience and some time. You cannot afford to be over house or garden proud. Personally I love gardening but my once pristine lawn is now a mud bath covered in woodchip, regularly scattered on what carpets I’ve got left by numerous paws. I believe my challenge as a fosterer is to re-establish every foster dogs trust in human beings. Teaching commands and good behaviour is secondary to this but supports it. Watching dogs gain that trust as well as improving their health and individuality are some of the most enjoyable parts of fostering. Another plus is seeing the joy and happiness of a family adopting the correct dog for them. On the other hand there are disappointments. The worst case being the sick dog that does not recover (only one in our case). Heart-breaking even though we only knew the dog for a couple of days. The sense of failure when what seemed a perfect adoption falls apart and the dog comes back. The second worst case falling in love with a long term foster and then having to let him/her go to a forever home to make space for the next foster. To justify letting them go we keep telling ourselves that several years ago we could have re-homed on lurcher, now we have re-homed over fifty. A big plus is meeting lots of interesting and nice people. These range from adopters, we are still in touch with some who adopted dogs from us in our first few months as fosterers, friends I believe. Also others within the rescue who support us and advise us plus the odd slapped wrist when needed. Overall I think fostering has enriched our lives and given it added purpose.

We have loved Lurchers ever since we adopted a Saluki/Whippet cross many years ago. She was a beautiful, affectionate, loyal dog that had probably been used to hunt by travellers way too young and consequently had major problems with her legs and heart. She was left to wander around on her own, scavenging for food and water, luckily she was picked up by a Dog Warden and sent to a local rescue.  As soon as I saw her I knew she would be coming home with us.  We started fostering for EGLR in February 2011 as I was able to work from home and could devote time to helping these lovely dogs get a new home.  Some of them are dogs that have been abandoned, mistreated, starved, injured etc, and it can take time for them to trust humans, but when they learn that we are not all bad they will be your friend forever.  It is hard to say goodbye when they find their forever sofa, but when you know they will be happy, warm and cared for it makes it a bit easier. We have loved all the dogs that have come to us, some have been challenging and taken time to relax and gain confidence, others have settled in straight away. Some need veterinary care or medication, some just need feeding up and a warm bed. All of them have their own individual characters and quirky ways, some love water and you can’t keep them out of streams or ponds, some don’t like to get wet and will refuse to go out if its raining. You never know what you are going to get, but there is always a happy ending

As well as being a joy, life with our foster dogs can be quite challenging at times but I wouldn’t swap one minute of it. These beautiful dogs do so deserve a second chance and it is always so lovely to hear how they are getting on in their forever homes. Much time is spent remembering each and every precious soul that we have had the privilege to share our home, lives and hearts with and be a bridge for “a bridge between what was and what can be” (Diane Morgan) helping each of them to start to unpack and put away their “baggage”, in the sure and certain hope that they will never need to repack and carry it again.