Stories From a Foster Mom

    When Daniel left my house on August 8, I fully expected to hear that he had been returned to the Idaho Humane Society to be killed. He’s a lovely dog, probably border collie/sheltie cross; very sweet and loving and in the short time he stayed with me he’d learned his name and started talking to me when I returned home after even a short absence. But Daniel has one problem: He has no nose. The fleshy part of his nose has been eaten away by what the vet says is probably a particularly vicious form of cancer. His nostrils are exposed, and the part of his nose that would normally filter out dust, germs and pollutants is missing, leaving him susceptible to infections and respiratory diseases.

    Anyone adopting Daniel would have to be prepared to spend a lot of time, money and heartbreak on what is essentially an incurable condition. But right now he’s a happy, alert, loving dog, who has every reason to expect the worst from this world and the humans in it, but who instead wants to love and be loved. Daniel was my August foster dog. We assume that his people probably either didn’t have the resources (financial or emotional) to care for his condition early on when it might have been arrested, or just didn’t want to bother, but rather than try to find someone who might help out, or having him put down, they dumped him out on the roadside where he became everyone’s problem.

    Billy left last week for a good home with a couple in Nampa. He’d been at my house for a month. Billy is ten years old and I was told that when his people got a new puppy, they took Billy to the IHS, where he stayed for four days before coming to stay with me. He was a basket case; the first few days I couldn’t get him to leave the yard, even on a leash. If we were out walking and I dropped the leash, he would take off like a shot heading straight for home & never look back. At least he came back to my home & didn’t just run. By the time Billy left for his new home, he was not only looking forward to his walks, but if we went on a different or strange route, he didn’t succumb to a panic attack or run if the leash was dropped.

    Atticus was with us only one day; he was a stray and his new people had been looking for a particular type of border collie for several months; Atticus and the Blounts took one look at each other and knew this was it.

    Tia stayed two weeks. She and her sister were picked up as strays in Canyon County. Tia was very sweet, but still a puppy and not housebroken, plus she panicked when she was confined in a small space, which made it rather difficult to keep her in the house, but it was not warm enough to leave her outdoors at night. Her new people took her for a trial and almost brought her back as their original dog was very offended by the newcomer. But they persevered and after four days decided that it would work. Randy met up with her new family a few days ago and things are still going well. I’ll always be grateful to them for giving her the chance and persevering.

    Fostering dogs is not necessarily the easiest way to use your spare time, but for the animals who stay in foster homes, it makes all the difference in the world. What would you prefer? A sterile kennel with a few volunteers who crowd you into their already busy day, or a home with loving, caring people who feed and love you and make sure you get some needed exercise and socialization? Not a very tough choice is it? But these animals don’t have a choice. Their original people have failed the responsibility test. Rather than try to place an unwanted pet themselves, they have foisted their responsibility onto society at large and assume that their problem will be taken care of. 

    The truth is when a dog or cat is taken to an animal shelter there’s less than a 50/50 chance it will leave there alive. That’s not to say shelters aren’t trying it get the job done, it’s just that they have limited space for the number of animals that are coming in every day. For many of these animals, a foster home and an extension of time make all the difference in finding a permanent new home. And many of us, even if we want a dog or cat, can’t bring ourselves to go to the shelter to find one. Fostering allows the dog’s traits to be better identified and prospective owners can decide they don’t want the animal without feeling guilty that they are condemning it to an extended stay at the shelter and possible death.

    Fostering isn’t easy; in the case of animals like Daniel, it can be a heartbreak; but the rewards of watching an Atticus, or Ben or Josie or Buddy go dancing off to a new home with people who have made a special, conscious decision to take on the responsibility of a pet are without number. For every animal that is fostered out, more space is made at the shelter for another animal to remain alive until a good home can be found. When you foster a dog or cat, you give two or three animals an extra chance at a happy life.

    There are lots of ways to sign up to foster animals; most dog breeds have rescue programs that are always in need of foster families, and of course your local animal shelters can always use foster families. Truly, with the population in this valley, there should be enough foster homes available that no animal should have to go to the shelter. Whether you live in Mountain Home, Boise, or Weiser there are animals who need a place to stay until they can go to a new home. Even if you only take in two or three animals each year, you’re helping immensely.

    As a foster parent, you can help the animal through this trauma with love, firmness and understanding, a very regular, set routine and patience. these animals have been abruptly removed from a familiar environment and everything they have known. They don’t understand what has happened, only that it’s not good. They’re frightened and they manifest that fright through abnormal behaviors from piddling indoors when they’ve been housebroken, to picking fights with every dog in sight; they may have some trauma in their background that will cause them to fear some member of the household, or like Billy become almost agoraphobic.

    Seeing a frightened, cowering dog evolve into a loving, happy animal is reward in itself, but then seeing it go home with a new family leaves a feeling of satisfaction that can’t be beat. Another issue for foster parents to consider is how your own animals will react to a newcomer in the house. It’s never the same; some dogs Sarah won’t even let come inside, with others she has no problem. Our last foster, a "schnoodle" was determined that any item Sarah was interested in would become hers. I’d picked up most of the toys, but missed one rawhide bone; when the smoke cleared, Sarah had possession of the bone, but had sacrificed a corner of her ear to get it. I’m still wiping blood off the ceiling!

    Never lose your sense of humor – the ear is a long way from the heart and although I feel bad for Sarah, I understand Tessie’s need to have something of her own. (Tessie didn’t stay long – she found a home almost immediately.) Having a crate is also a good idea. Because there’s no way to know if a dog has been housebroken, you’re on your own and having a safe, confined place to put a dog at night makes it that much easier to control certain behaviors. Of course, there is always the chance that like one other foster dog I heard about, the dog will suffer such anxiety that it will chew it’s way out of the crate! For the most part the dogs are pretty manageable while maybe not well-trained (which is probably why they were abandoned in the first place) and the stories we hear are the extremes; but you should be prepared …

    As for Daniel; he’s been adopted, and is staying with another foster family until his new people can get moved to Boise and give him the loving home he’s wanted and deserves.

Choosing Home

Please remember to carry bags and clean up after your dog!