Why you CAN foster!

Written by a CP foster and adoptive mom

A couple of weeks ago I sent Winfrey NKA Winnie to her forever home. I have not had time to post to tell you all about it nor have I had time to down load pictures yet but I will post them as soon as I can. Any way, Mike & I decided we would drive Winnie to her forever home it was cheaper for Winnie's new Mom & it gave us a chance to see her new digs & meet her new Mom. Winnie was my heart, the hardest foster I have ever had to give up. But she & Shelby had fought a couple of times & Shelby was being very bad so Shelby was banished to my Mom's house till we adopted Winnie.

I just knew I would find a reason not to like Mary & Winnie would come back home with us. We got there & visited. Winnie really had no interest in Mary and she kept marking the house. I thought oh good Mary is not going to like this she is going to say take her back home with you. Nebbie came along for moral support. When Mike went & got her out of the car, it seemed to settle Winnie down so we had dinner & visited a bit more, fed the girls and Mike & I left to go to the hotel to see how they did overnight. Mary made us a wonderful dinner! Winnie was a little sad but did fine. She only pottied a few times in the house the next morning but was figuring things out.

We all walked along Lake Michigan( Winnie's house is only a couple of blocks away) visited a few more minutes, Winnie had even settled down & was resting on the floor. I almost forgot Winnie has a sister Maeve, another cairn who lost her cairn sister over the Christmas holidays. After we were there a bit Maeve really started to perk up - she was missing having a friend. Then Mike & I said our good byes to everyone. Foster Mom did not even cry till just now(and our last night when I fed her). I really miss her. But I know she will get much more attention & love than I can give her) Winnie is one very lucky girl!

For those of you who say "I just do not know how you can foster". Well I used to think that & yes I have flunked 2 times. The truth is it is HARD very Hard to let these little kids leave you after you have seen them make huge break throughs. Here is how you handle it. For one thing you can't keep every dog you foster. Then you have to look at the fact that not every dog you foster will get along with your pack or you for that matter. Hard to believe your personality will not mesh with every dog who comes through your house but even those you LOVE will ALL your heart! Then the biggest reason you CAN let them go is that you know that another home with less dogs, or just lost the love of their life needs a new one badly and you have the dog with the perfect personality for them.

You send them off with love & tears knowing you are going to get another foster to mold and shape into a loving prince or princess. Besides, fostering is like getting a new puppy all the time and unless you get a puppy to foster you skip the teething & just get all the fun of their new discoveries! Their first toy, a leaf blowing across the yard it is amazing & wondrous. So even though your heart gets tugged at, your heart gets bigger with each foster you let find forever.
So click here to learn more about how you too can foster for CP.

Now I am going to go kiss my forever kids & my foster while you read the other reason you can let your fosters go....The updates from the forever families!


Good morning Nebbie and foster Mom,

I miss you both but am learning lots of new things -- walking on leash, and wrestling with my new mom, and, oh yes, manners with other dogs. They wouldn't let me go to class with Mom yesterday, but next week I can go. My new mom's lap is pretty good, but I miss sitting on foster Mom and Dad's lap. And, Maeve's an ok buddy -- I keep her safe, but she just follows me around and sometimes gets in my way. By the way, I've decided to live here forever, but we might try to visit you this summer.

Love,

Winnie

Note from new mom: We're working diligently on manners and walking. We've had a good number of people over and Winnie's become very comfortable with people visiting. I come to decide that you're right she could very well be the only dog in the house and be happy. We are the best of buds.

Thanks so much for bringing Winnie into our lives,

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