Fostering, Finn, and Jake

Several questions has been asked of me over the past several days. When people started finding out I had 5 Bassets in my house right now, I am sure they were very curious to the reason why I was doing it!

Please excuse my ugly face, but i am sure you are looking at the hounds :)

I will start you off with a picture of all of the hounds on their couch in our game room. Can you tell they feel loved? Only two of them are mine, Poly Pockets, and Turbo is what we call them. Turbo is the one right next to me on my left hand side. Polly Pita Pockets is the one with the harness on.

The rest are foster hounds ;)

Jake

Why Do you Foster?

I foster because its needed, the group I work with doesn't have a facility to hold all of the dogs in.  They are very dependent on their fosters, they can only pull so many dogs out of the shelters, and its all based on how many foster homes they have in the system right now. Pure bred dogs do get put in shelters all of the time, dogs run away, people abandon them, and breeders don't care.Until we can get a control on the breeding habits of dogs and cats there will always be a problem. Every dog that I bring into my home is one more dog that is saved... not only are they saved but they are fixed, fed, taken care of. No more babies for them! I have had several fosters, and even my own Turbo came from a breeder... which is not a good situation for a dog. Would you want to live in a cage 3 inches bigger then you are?

Who Do you Foster for? 

 Currently I foster for the North Texas Basset Hound Rescue, Polly Pockets came from this group. If you are interested in a breed specific group, then Google it for your area, i can almost guarantee there is a rescue group designed for your favorite breed. There are also other groups that do more general breeds, like hounds etc. You can find them! There are also groups out there that cater just to cats, so even if a dog is not your thing you can foster your perfect feline!

Finn

Who pays ?

 Everyone always wonders who pays, costs are a very big thing that does and very well should affect your decision to have a dog. In my case my rescue group takes care of all of their medical expenses. The rescue has leashes, and collars, takes care of their medications, and even has food to offer to the fosters. So the only thing I am out is my time and my gas money to provide the transport to and from events and vets!

 

 Skinny Finn :(

How can you just give up the dog?

This is a tough subject for any foster mom, really the answer is I am a foster failure, we did keep one of our fosters, Polly Pita Pockets. With failing once we now understand how vital it is for us not to fail again, because every time we can pull a dog out of an area shelter we are saving a life. Every time we get a foster hound we get the chance to give someone one of the greatest companions they will ever have. So yes, its hard to give up a dog, BUT there is so much joy knowing the dog is going to their furever home. The picture above is another example of why I can give up a dog so easily... there are more out there just like Jake and Finn, and I can do my part to make them better, healthier, and fatter. 

Do you have any other questions? I would love to be helpful, and hopefully you will consider finding an organization to work with :)