Why did you get into fostering?
I feel that anyone who has the means has a moral obligation to
help unwanted companion animals in whatever way they can, by
donating time/money/supplies, by adopting rescued companion
animals, or by fostering. We had the room, so we fostered
Brutus, a hart dog. We were a "foster fail" in that Brutus
became a permanent part of our family. However, we still have
room, so we are again fostering. This time, it's Veto.
Which hart dogs have you fostered?
Brutus and Veto.
What has been the most rewarding aspect to
fostering?
Coming home to three sets of big brown eyes, wet noses and
frantically wagging tails-their unrelenting happiness is
contagious. It's very rewarding to get to know a dog as a
unique individual with his/her own wonderful personality and to see
him/her learn how to fit into our family and household. Dogs
bring so much love and laughter with them, and just being with them
is its own reward.
When individuals think it will be too much work or too
emotionally taxing, what feedback do you have for
them?
I think those people have to ask themselves what is important to
them and what is worth doing. I guess it really depends on
how you define "work". If you don't love it, it will probably
seem like work. For me, the most emotionally taxing part of
volunteering with hart is knowing what many of these dogs have gone
through before hart stepped up to take responsibility for
them. But opening your heart and home to foster a dog is not
emotionally taxing-it's a great feeling to be of service to these
amazing dogs. They are the heroes, not us. People may
struggle with the idea of "giving up" a foster dog to an adoptive
family after they've become very attached to the dog. I think
that's pretty normal and not a reason to not foster. Dogs
have a way of worming their furry little selves right into our
hearts, and our love for them is why we do what we do. But
finding the perfect home for your foster doesn't mean you will
never see him/her again-hart is one very special organization in
that they encourage adopters and foster families to keep in
touch.
If your foster dog could speak, what do you think he'd
say to you?
Knowing Veto, he'd say "Drop what you are doing and CUDDLE ME
NOW!" He's a bit pushy that way. I think he'd also tell
us to get a bigger couch because ours is simply not big enough to
comfortably accommodate two people, three big dogs, and two
cats. I don't think he'd say "I love you," because to Veto
(and, I suspect, to all the other foster dogs), that just goes
without saying.