One Night Stand (Foster Dog Style)...

First... I'd like to start of with announcing that Mandy is being adopted!  Wow, it's been 2 1/2 months since I started fostering her!  I think I've had her longer than I've had any foster so far.  Just like any other dog that comes through the door, she's become a part of my family.  In the last 2 1/2 months, I've watched Mandy grow both physically and emotionally.  My shy little blob of a puppy has turned into a solid, beautiful, confident lady.  Mandy had her meet-and-greet on Saturday with her potential adopters.  Mandy made herself at home right away!  She wasn't nervous or apprehensive about any of it.  She greeted her people, looked at the cats, and had a blast playing in the backyard!  They looked at Jessica and said, "We want to adopt her."  Music to my ears... as well as a little piece of my heart breaking off.  I'm thrilled, I really am.  Any foster parent knows that the dog being adopted out is both happy and sad.  The more you foster, though, the more you begin to realize that you're doing something amazing for that dog.  And when that dog is adopted to a wonderful family?  Guess what?  You're letting that dog go because, once you do, you get to help save the life of another one.  I actually get to hang onto Mandy for another 2 weeks until her new foster parents are totally ready.  I'm excited for Mandy.  It's been a long time coming.

Onto my day today!  K9 Justice League had a booth set up at Out in the Park (Hampton Roads' gay pride event) and had donation boxes out, dog bandanas to sell, and information to be given!  No better way to get the word out than by being there and spreading it yourself!  I dropped by to visit and buy bandanas.  Rebecca, one of the foster moms, makes them herself!  They are great!  I ended up getting four of them for my kids!  Lyla actually got two.  Somebody's "mommy's little girl", huh?!

As usual, I had a great time hanging out with the wonderful ladies of K9 Justice League.  Jessica ended up asking me if I'd mind holding onto a puppy tonight and taking him to the vet tomorrow.  They were picking up an owner surrender that needed a place to stay for the night and someone to transport to the vet tomorrow.  I was happy to volunteer!  The car ride to pick up the puppy was epic.  Yeah, you know it was pretty amusing if I used the word "epic" while typing this up, huh?!  In a nutshell, we got the puppy and parted ways.  Lars slept quietly on the dog bed in the back of my car for the whole ride home.  He's only about 10-weeks-old.  Looks like a Boxer or a Boxer mix.  He has a sore leg, so he's not allowed to romp around with my pack of dogs.  I had him in a crate at first, but he wasn't thrilled about the situation, so I put him in the area where I usually feed the dogs.  He has about four times the space he had in the crate and seems much happier!  I've only spent the last few hours with him, but I've learned that he does well in the car, thrives on human companionship, seems fine with other dogs (at least from the other side of a gate), takes treats gently, "sits" on command, learned immediately not to mess with the cats, and is as cute as a button!  He's smart, handsome, sweet, and playful.  As long as everything goes well at the vet, I think this little boy is going to be adopted quickly!

My purpose of writing this tonight is to spread the word about fostering!  You don't HAVE to foster a dog for 2 1/2 months.  A lot of shelters, rescues, and organizations will let you foster a dog for a night or even a weekend.  You have no idea how beneficial it is for these dogs to be in home environments... even if it's only for a short time... even if it's just for a night.  Take a weekend and let a shelter dog hang out with you!  That dog will appreciate every minute of it, and you'll know that you gave that to them.

So even though I'm only fostering Lars for one night, it still made a difference.  You can make a difference, too.

Peace, Love, and Paw Prints... Emily