Dolly is gone

Dolly went to her new home yesterday. I am very happy for her, but very sad for me. It’s hard to let her go, especially after fostering her for such a long time. I hope to get another foster dog soon, since it reminds me of why I’m doing this. Every dog I can foster makes room to save another dog from being put to sleep. If I kept Dolly, I wouldn’t be able to foster another dog, since my husband imposed a two-dog limit on our house. And I love being able to save them, so that makes it easier to let her go to her new home.

Choosing the Right Home

Today we received another application for Dolly, and this one sounds very promising. The lady had seen her on our website, and has been looking for a border collie mix to give her 5-month-old border collie puppy a playmate. I will hate to see Dolly leave, but I’m excited that she may find her forever home. It’s scary to be the one responsible for deciding if this home is right for the dog you’ve been fostering. What if I approve someone to adopt one of my foster dogs, and then they don’t take care of him or her? Or they abuse the dog, or give it away to someone else who won’t take care of it? What if they leave it chained up outside? I invest so much time and energy and love, and I want to make sure that whomever adopts my foster dog is going to love her as much as I do.

Update on Dolly

When I decided to foster for Heartland, I was asked to be willing to bring the foster dog up to PetSmart for their adoption days at least once a month. The more time the dogs spend at PetSmart, the better their chances of getting adopted. While the dogs bio and picture are posted on the website, that can’t compare with the actual impact meeting the dog can have on a potential adopter. So although its been a busy time of year, I’ve been trying to get up to PetSmart at least every other week to help Dolly find a home. There have been several applications submitted for her, but so far none of them has been the right home. Every time I go to PetSmart, employees and regular customers come over and say “She’s still here?! I can’t believe she hasn’t been adopted yet!” It’s an interesting puzzle, trying to figure out why some dogs get adopted immediately and others never do. In Dolly’s case, she has a lot going for her. She’s a very cute dog with a great temperament. She’s not completely house-broken, and she does have the ability to jump tall fences in a single bound, so that may hamper her in finding a home. But she gets along great with all people, with all other animals, and has no serious issues. So what is she still doing in a foster home? My theory is that because she takes awhile to warm up to people, she loses that instant bond that so many people feel with homeless animals. If you meet two dogs that need a home, and one looks at you longingly and licks your face, while the other doesn’t even seem to notice you’re there, who would you want to adopt? But what I tell people is what she’s like after she gets to know you. She follows me from room to room, always wanting to be with me. She is eager to please me and wants nothing more than to be by my side and shower me with affection. This didn’t happen until after I’d taken her home and spent some time with her. But for people considering adopting her, they don’t have that luxury so I think this hurts her chances of finding a home.