Ask any foster family and they’ll tell you that the question they get most often is, "How do you not fall in love with your dog? How do you not keep them all?"
Okay, that’s two questions.
It doesn’t matter which rescue, or even the type of pet being fostered. The idea of bringing an animal into your home for the purpose of loving it and sending it back into the world is a lot to wrap your head around. We get it. So we asked a Happy Bark power foster to explain how and why it’s possible, for her and maybe for you, too.
“It’s hard,” admits Cortney, who with her boyfriend, Steve, has fostered 17 Happy Bark dogs (so far). “But it’s also easy, because we know that Happy Bark is doing its due diligence to find our foster dogs the very best homes for them. You get to meet those families, and then you see how much this dog is going to change their lives.”
On average, Cortney and Steve’s fosters have stayed with them for a week. “If you have the time and the room, it’s not a hassle at all,” Cortney says. “Especially because you get to pick what you want in your house. If I say that I can’t take a big hound, I won’t be asked to take a big hound.”
She’s also deeply appreciative of Happy Bark’s “no expenses” promise to foster families—food, treats, crates, collars, leashes, vet care and any other necessary expenses are purchased by the rescue, “but you’re the one who gets all the love and snuggles.”
Of the 17 dogs Cortney and Steve have fostered there were four they considered adopting as a permanent buddy for their own Happy Bark dog, Bandit. “But if we did that, we might have to stop fostering, and I don’t want that to happen,” she says. “I never had a dog before Bandit, and now I’m maybe overcompensating by getting all the dogs I want.”
Interested in learning more? Read more foster home testimonials and check our foster program FAQs.
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