My Experience As a Foster Mom

I had such an amazing and enlightening weekend. My favorite part was becoming a foster mom for the first time for Doggy Protective Services (DPS). I came across their posting for volunteers online and thought this would be a great thing to try! I love dogs and really just want to help out as much as I can with rescue dogs (I rescued Gracie from the San Jose Animal Shelter) and signed up immediately.  DPS rescues dogs from shelters that have been there for too long and are likely to be put down. I am pretty sure they also just rescue dogs they like and want to help train and take care of. The pound can be so depressing and I am so thankful these amazing people are out there helping all these dogs. They keep all the dogs in foster homes across California and do not have any kennels.

Best Friends

I went to Pet Food Express Friday night to visit all the dogs that were in town for the adoption on Saturday morning. As soon as I put my hand down in the cage Huck ran up to me and licked my hand like I was his long-lost Mom. His personality was so playful and kind and I couldn’t resist his cute little under bite. There must have been about 15 dogs there waiting for their foster parents. Just to get a better sense I walked Huck around the store to see how we did together and we hit it off! I filled out an application and we were off. I had signed up to foster him for the evening and then bring him back the next day for the adoption.

My dog Gracie just fell in love with him too. Huck is about 8 months old and is a Shih Tzu terrier mix which is very similar to Gracie.  It was so amazing to see how fast Gracie and Huck connected. One minute I turned around and they were rolling around together and playing like best friends. They did this all night and chased each other around my living room for almost an hour! I even spent some time training him to sit and he got it but soon forgot. Huck is such a cheerful and affectionate puppy and it is safe to say he kept me up most of the night with his kisses.

Right after I picked up Huck

I really became attached to him in less than 24 hours and contemplated adopting him myself but it would have been just too much. It is already hard with Gracie and my work schedule and although I think it would have been nice to have them home together in the day time playing and sleeping, but I didn’t do it. I was so sad when I dropped him off the next day but knew he would find an amazing home! I haven’t heard confirmation that he found his fur-ever home but based on the tweets from @DPSRescue, he was “a hot commodity.” I look forward to speaking to DPS and find out where he ended up. Maybe Huck and Gracie can have a play date soon. If anyone is interested in fostering these dogs check out Doggy Protective Services. I will definitely be doing this again!

 

Dropping Huck off at the adoption