FOSTERING
THINKING OF FOSTERING?
Most of our dogs come to us from our rescue partners in areas outside of New England, taken from kill shelters where they have landed due to no fault of their own - many are strays, others have been turned in by their owners.
Because of their various backgrounds, we rarely have any medical or ownership history on them. All of our dogs are vetted age-appropriate meaning they are spayed or neutered and given all necessary vaccines. Together with our vet we will treat them for medical issues that are diagnosed. When they are ready to go to their forever homes, our dogs are transported with a USDA certified transport company and require a license to cross state lines (aka a health certificate) to travel.
TESTIMONIALS
“Have you ever considered becoming a foster for Golden Huggs?”
— From Eileen Hartigan Barendse
If your first thought is “I’d just want to keep them all” I am here to tell you… yeah, you might. Do you know why you want to keep them? Because you have a big and loving heart, and a particular weakness for dogs. That does not make you a bad candidate for fostering, it might make you the perfect one.
I am new to the world of fostering myself, with 3 dogs having had pit stops with us since August. In my home I have one golden retriever, 2 elementary school aged kids, and a dog-tolerating husband. I have jobs, hobbies, shuttling, housework, family commitments, travel plans, and a weakness for dogs.
So why not just adopt? There are plenty of dogs that need forever homes. Well, years ago I heard Glennon Doyle offer the prompt, “Figure out what breaks your heart in the world. That’s your purpose. Find the folks working to fix that thing and join them. That’s your tribe.”
Dogs born under trailers in the sweltering summer heat, dogs found in garbage piles, dogs abandoned, dogs harmed, dogs malnourished, dogs tick/flea/parasite infested… that’s my heartbreak. Brigitte Ritchie, Laura Buckley Howe, Fran Olsen, Bev O’Connell, Cimalore Brinkley - to name a few - those are the people working to fix that thing. Joining them as a foster has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
If you’re still reading (bless you) you care enough about dogs to know that they take work. There have been late nights, early mornings, hundreds of potty breaks, toys wrecked, miles traveled, and schedules rearranged. Taking in fosters has brought on all those challenges, but it also means that the southern foster homes have space to take in more dogs in need. Sure I could adopt one, but then that’s one less safe landing spot up north.
Fostering is a critical thread of the Golden Huggs fabric. You will not regret meeting the transport van and locking eyes with a shell-shocked pup who has just been driven 2 days closer to their forever home. You will want to keep one, or two, or three, of the dogs you foster. You will be so thrilled when your pup is adopted and you unite them with their people, and you will also cry when they leave. If you have kids, they will cry too, (if you have a dog-tolerating husband he will not). We’ve had a pup stay a week and a pup stay 6. We have been head over heels for each one. We even sub fostered for one night and that pup is still talked about and missed by my kids!
When you adopt you are playing a critical role in the saving of a deserving dog. But when you foster? When you foster you have the opportunity to provide many more dogs (and people) with the opportunity to be saved, loved, and treasured.
So, are you ready to open your home as a stop on a dog’s way to its forever home? The only thing I can think of that’s better than one dog is ALL the dogs!
