by Jen and Andrew
When you’ve spent six years with a dog, a cat, and two humans crammed into a 500 square foot Boston apartment, a 3-bedroom ranch with a fenced-in yard in the middle of Missouri might as well be a mansion. But what do you do with all this extra space? For Jen and I, the answer was obvious: share it with more dogs! So started our journey into the world of fostering pets.
We moved to Columbia for a 2 year stint at the University of Missouri, with our 10-year-old cat Mia and 3-year-old golden retriever Theo. Two sweet animals open to the energy of unfamiliar dogs and making nooks in their newly-enlarged home. We signed up through a local rescue organization, and our first assignment showed up just a week later. A darling older dog named Dorthea who we called Sharky (because of how she smiled with a fully-open mouth). We knew two truths almost immediately. First, that fostering was amazing–a calling for us. We loved making friends with these fosters in the subsequent five years. Learning their habits, quirks, goofs; giving them space to interact with other animals safely; and building their confidence in the real-world, despite sometimes difficult upbringings. Second, that letting any pup go to their forever home was going to be a heartbreak every time.
In the intervening years, Jen and I fostered over 25 dogs and 4 cats at various points in time, a throughline for our lives in Missouri, Chicago, and San Diego. Dogs of all sizes–from the 15 pound mini pit-mix Picasso to the 150 pound great pyrenees Slush–and all ages–from the 10-week-old puppy twins Luther and Emerson to the 8-year-old Barney. We hope you enjoy some of our favorite memories.
Zoey, one of our earliest fosters, was also the closest we came to a dog “foster-fail” (although nobody should consider it failing, your perfect match can start as a foster!). She was a joyous 125 pound great pyrenees who showed up at our door with some matted grey-ish fur and a sunny disposition. Within two days, we were in love and Jen got her to a grooming session that left her with a fluffy white coat and an even sunnier disposition. She was with us for three weeks, chasing after tennis balls with Theo (she never won because she leapt through the air like a slow-rolling cloud). She and Theo were even caught hand-in-hand at one point. It was hard to say goodbye to this enchanted character, but if we hadn’t, her forever family would never have had that joy, and we never would have fostered Luther and Emerson.
Luther and Emerson were brothers from the same litter. Tiny black pit mixes who loved taking walks, kissing humans, and wrestling other dogs. Training puppies is work, but it’s also rewarding work. You have the opportunity to quickly see the positive growth you can encourage in a young dog, and take pride in how well you’ve prepared them for their future families. We were tempted to be that future family, but then their two forever families would never have had the joy of their companionship, and we would never have met Slush.
Slush was a giant doof. Due to a mixup, we called him “Paul” for his whole time with us (but it turns out Paul was just the name on kennel name tag because that’s the human who had last cleaned the kennel). So Paul the dog was a giant doof. They had told us that he loved being in his crate. That it was his perfect den. Flash-forward to the first time we left him at home in the crate for a mere 90 minutes, only to return to a seemingly Superman-gnarled crate, and a perfectly unharmed and content Paul laying right next to Theo in the middle of the living room. Just in case (and with some lingering trepidation about leaving him alone in the house), the next time, we left him in the very comfy temperature-controlled garage (separated from the house with both a storm door and a wooden door)… only to come home a mere hour later to find the garage doors open, and a content Paul laying right next to Theo in the middle of the living room. Turns out, Paul just wanted to be around his brethren. Once we accepted that and stopped trying to contain this sweet pup, all was well. He spent a month watching TV with us, begging for belly rubs, and quietly patrolling the backyard. He would have been a fun forever-companion, but then his forever family with their expansive farmland and three other great pyr brothers would never have had the joy of Paul’s smile. And we would never have met Baby Princess Caroline.
Every foster experience is different. The dogs come to your home, with a mix of unexpected habits, unknown backstory, and unexperienced hobbies. Some bits can be difficult, like intentionally working out a disruptive behavior. Others can be rewarding, like seeing a quivering ball of nerves grow the courage to meet strangers calmly. Many can be downright fun, like playing fetch in the surf during your pup’s first beach visit. One thing it is not, is dull.
San Diego was retirement for Theo, and so we limited our fostering in his later years to only one litter of kittens who loved Theo “The Great One”. Planning to keep only 0, we kept two. We now have a 5-month old puppy named Enzo who needs to grow up a bit more before he’s ready. But as soon as he is, Jen and I are excited to start fostering again. We wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
