Megan's Beginning
My journey as a foster home started in October of 2013 when I saw a post for a needed foster home for a Mama dog named Sadie and her 7 pups who were just a few days old. I had gone to college with the hopes of going onto study veterinary medicine and worked at a vet clinic for 6+ years, so I thought I could handle it. While I did not end up going onto vet school, I like to think I know a thing or two about animals. I had also trained service dogs for 10+ years and was looking for a new outlet to volunteer. I saw the post of a day old puppy and could not get the image out of my head. I went to sleep wondering what was going to happen to those puppies if no one stepped up. I later found out that they were from Missouri and had been found under a mobile home just days after Mama Sadie gave birth. For those that know me, once I get an idea in my head, I cannot get it off my mind! I decided I was going to take on this task, how hard could it be? Mind you, I was faced with complete and total opposition from my other half, Dave. He wanted absolutely no part of this, but naturally, I did it anyways,
The next weekend, Mama Sadie and her 7 tiny puppies made the trek up to Minnesota. I went and got a kiddie swimming pool and made one of my spare rooms into a doggie safe area and waited for them to come. After jumping out of the car, I could tell Mama Sadie was a great mom to her pups and that would make things so much easier for me. Naturally, she was very protective so Calvin, would have to learn to leave her alone. I gave them each a different collar so I could tell them apart since they were all black, except one guy with brown on him. I weighed them everyday to be sure they were growing into strong little pups.
Mama Sadie grew from a very shy, skinny girl into a loving mom that took care of her babies every step of the way. As the puppies grew, they became less work for her and more work for me! Their eyes opened, their legs grew stronger, and they became professional mess makers. I enlisted my father to build a puppy pen for them and they moved from a room at the end of the hallway into my kitchen.
They started eating mushed food and going outside to start learning potty training, which I was beginning to be thankful for. Every morning I would wake up and change the pee pads and I would do that several more times during the day. Along with the floor, their paws, their faces, their tails - in hindsight, I should have bought stock in Swiffer Wet Jets...
When the pups were 8 weeks old, we started meeting interested families and I was so excited to A) have a clean house again and B) find them their forever homes. Being that they were pups, I knew they would get adopted quickly. Part of me wanted to keep them longer, and part of me wanted them gone yesterday. Having a whole litter of puppies is so fun and rewarding, but oh so much work and time. It truly is a labor of love. It was also probably not the best way to convince Dave we needed to keep fostering. Going from 0 to 8 was a bit much!
Along the way, Dave had decided that he wanted to keep one of the pups since his good friend was going to adopt Huck, the little brown guy. We decided to keep Diesel and he became part of the family.
Diesel and Calvin quickly became best buddies and I thought my time fostering had come to and end. Two dogs, a cat, and some fish were enough for us. Having a litter of puppies can make you go a little mad, so I needed some time to get my sanity back. I also needed Dave back, he was about 80% against the puppies, but hey - I had gained 20% interest!
That thought only lasted a few month when I began noticing all the dogs that still needed foster homes and eventually forever homes. My mind was transported to thoughts of sadness and disgust for the people who worked in the puppy mills, which is where most of our rescue dogs come from. I vowed to help these pooches, and I hope you will too!
-Megan
Comments
Post a Comment