The Foster Experience

After our dog Emmett passed away a few years ago, we debated on getting another dog. As much as we love having a canine companion, dog ownership doesn’t always fit in with our camping plans. For quite a while we casually considered fostering. That way we can have a dog during the parts of the year that we don’t typically camp, and we can opt to not foster when we know we’ll be out of town.

I was scrolling through Facebook one day when I saw a bonded pair of rather large pups in need of a foster home. Since it was November and we didn’t have any out of town trips planned, it seemed like the perfect time to start our foster experience. When we tossed around the idea of fostering, we weren’t planning on taking on two dogs at once. However, I know that finding forever homes for a bonded pair of pets is always difficult, and apparently finding a foster for a bonded pair is just as hard (if not harder). I figured that we both have lots of experience with dogs, so we could give two dogs a shot. Much to my amazement, hubby agreed. He fired off an application online to the Center for Animal Care and Enrichment here in St. Louis. Within a few days they had accepted us as a foster family and before we knew it we were on our way to pick up our first foster placements.

Just before Christmas, Abra and Cadabra found their forever home. We decided to continue to foster for CARE when we can. There are always dogs of all ages in need of a temporary family, and we’re so happy that we can continue to open up our home until their forever family can be found. We then decided to give puppies a try and fostered Guppy and Anglerfish. We had them for a few months, until they were old enough to be adopted. They were so adorable, that it was only a matter of a few weeks before they each found forever homes.

We then took a hiatus from fostering for a few months. Our 1930’s home needed some major renovations to the living room, and we thought it best to take a break from fostering to focus on projects. By the time summer rolled around, we were ready to foster again so we headed to CARE. When we arrived we told them “We’re here to pick up a new foster. Give us whatever older, lazy dog you’ve got.” Milburn was the answer. This super sweet blockheaded pup was only with us for about a week and a half, before he found his forever home and was on his way.

Click the link below to see a little about the dogs we have fostered in the past as well as the pup we’re currently fostering, complete with some adorable pictures!

Abra & Cadabra

Parnella

Guppy & Anglerfish

Milburn

T’Challa