My Dog Fostering Days

My Dog Fostering Days

 

Before Darcy I fostered dogs for a rescue, giving them a home and to give an assessment of the dog’s needs so that the perfect home could be found for them.

Many dogs passed through, one stayed for nine months but some just three weeks. The cute ones were snapped up,  the ones with health issues, oldies and bull breeds not so much.

I’d sit for hours staring into the eyes of the dog I was fostering trying to imagine what their life was like before they came to me. Of course, I never got any answers and I don’t know if I would really want to know anyway.

Some were strays, some ex-breeding dogs but there was also a few whose owners circumstances had changed and they had no choice but to give up much-loved family pets.

The strays that came to me, or ‘poundies’ as they were known, all had impeccable manners and were completely house trained, so someone somewhere had put time and effort into training them even for a short time. I wondered if they had been loved as a puppy then discarded and replaced when they got older.

At the time I was fostering, chihuahuas were really popular with young girls as ‘hand bag’ dogs. Anyone who has ever owned a Chihuahua will know that they are actually fiercely independent, strong-minded and extremely lively, so not suited to being carried around as a fashion accessory. So. another influx of a particular breed in rescue.

The same thing happened with dachshunds, when they were featured in a couple of television adverts. Everyone wanted one because they appeared so cute but they are difficult dogs to train and need loads of patience.

All the photos show just a few of the dogs that stayed with me.