Col. Potter foster homes like to say that if you have room for a dish, a bowl and a bed, you have room to take a foster. We just had our long term foster find his forever home and as everyone adjusts to life with ONLY 3 dogs, it becomes apparent to all of us that our fosters don't just live in our homes, they live in our hearts.
Each of our fosters comes with some baggage, maybe an owner surrender because of the economy or a death in the family, a dog who didn't fit in with the new baby, more recently we are happy to be able to transition dogs from commercial breeding facilities to lives as beloved companion animals. Some of these dogs become long term fosters because they have so much to learn after lives spent in cages with little affection or medical care.
Our foster came to us as a very scared little guy and left as a dog that you would be hard pressed to believe that he grew up in a cage. He became easier to be part of our pack than our own dogs at times since we taught him everything he knew, we knew how he would act or react in certain situations. We soon found that he needed to 'practice' nearly everything in a calm, not too many people around set up and then he was ok with doing it.
Like parents who see their children grow to young adulthood, we feel pride at all that our foster accomplished and have hope for his future as a loved little guy with a new home and mom who will watch out for him in the future. A coworker asked me ' how do you teach or train a dog like that ?- I guess you have to have a passion'. I think she's right.
If you would like to foster a cairn and become part of this wonderful opportunity to rehabilitate a cairn, please click here.
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