Fostering a Golden

Many people ask, when considering fostering one of our Goldens..."How could I? I would want keep them all?" But the real question is..."how can I not foster a dog, when often the alternative is to stay in a shelter and perhaps be euthanized?" Foster dogs rarely stay in a foster home for very long (days to a week or so). Once the dog is put up on the web site, we find them wonderful homes very quickly. It is our goal to get our Goldens into loving forever homes as soon as possible.

To My Foster Dog

"I am the bridge between what was and what can be.
I am the pathway to a new life.
I am made of mush, because my heart melted when I saw you, matted and sore, limping, depressed, lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine.
I will feed you with my own hand.
I will love you with my whole heart.
I will make you whole.
I am made of steel.
Because when the time comes, when you are well, and sleek, when your eyes shine, and your tail wags with joy, then comes the hard part.
I will let you go - not without a tear, but without a regret.
For you are safe forever - a new dog needs me now."
By Diane Morgan

Taking the liberty of speaking for all the foster parents in the world, I know we all wonder how our former foster pups are doing out there in their new homes---especially the ones who have tugged at our heartstrings and we just know if this baby does not get adopted soon---we will again be a "failed foster".  And then, when that special one does get adopted, we ask ourselves:  Are they adjusting ok?  Are they happy?  Are they better in the new home, then if I had kept them, etc. 

 

Well, Miss Daisy was one of those special dogs that just grabbed my heart.  She was so scared when she got here and was so shy around people.  I would bring her to work and when someone came into the store, she would hide behind me and shake.    I just wanted to hold her and make everything ok in her world.  She had been with her family for 8 years, and she was just so confused about not being with them any longer.  She got better as the days went on, but was still shy and timid. 

 

Two weeks ago, Daisy was adopted.  I was very close to never letting her go and keeping her "safe" forever.  Last night, I was invited to a Christmas Party that was at the home of Daisy's adoptive parents.  I couldn't find Daisy, or should I say, the Daisy I knew. 

 

What I found was this beautiful, self-assured, friendly dog that greeted everyone that came in.  She had a bounce in her step like I had never seen.  There was a band playing there and she was cruising in and out among them, like she was looking for an instrument to play.  I thought at one moment, she was going to start playing the drums with the bone she had in her mouth.  She was the perfect hostess, never spending too much time with anyone, nor hiding out in fear of the crowd around her.  I heard people talking to Gail and George, asking them about Daisy, and they would say that they had adopted her 2 weeks ago---and everyone  was surprised at this---and answered by saying they thought she had been there since she was a puppy, as she was so well behaved and so at ease, Even with all the people and noise around her.

 

Around midnight, as I was getting ready to leave, I had lost sight of Daisy.  I went into the house to get my keys, and there I found Miss Daisy---stretched out on her blanket on her part of the couch.   I called to her and that tail just started beating on the couch and her front paws were just waving a mile a minute at me as she lay on her side.  It was if she was saying, I am exhausted--you will have to come over here to say goodnight to ME.   I gave Daisy a big hug and a kiss along with a few happy tears left on her fur.

 

 Daisy and I both know that she has found her "real forever home".