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Fostering Dogs – It’s About the Love, Not the Loss

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Scooter the foster pup
Scooter the foster pup – mountain climbing dog

[This post has its own soundtrack. Let it play in the background.]

Falling in Love Again

 Do you remember the first time you fell in love?

You were happy just to sit and think about the object of your affections. And when he walked into the room, your world lit up.

Who wouldn’t want that feeling?

And Again

Even after a devastating break up, we want to recover that feeling of love. It feels good enough to take the risk and go after again and again. The love feels good enough to make the loss worth it.

Buster the puppy
Buster the foster pup – escape artist

So why do people say to service dog raisers or foster parents, “I could never do what you do. It would be too hard to give the dog up.”

The typical response is something noble that talks about how the work’s importance makes the loss worth it. I have no doubt that is true. And I can only imagine how wonderful it must feel for a service dog raiser to see his puppy helping a person live a fulfilling life.

But I’d like to ask another question in response: How could anyone not want the feeling of falling in love over and over again?

Eddie the foster pup
Eddie the foster pup – what’s so great about Honey anyway?

We get to know each dog who comes into our lives, even if for a short time. Before long, we’re in love.

And Again

So, if you’re one of those people who is able to take on the job of raising service dogs or fostering but you’ve held back because you didn’t know how you’d ever give the dog back, ask yourself: How many times can I fall in love?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan

    You make a good point that I’d never considered for puppy raising. I’m sure the gratitude of the person who receives the dog would be motivation also.

  2. BOGO Bowl

    I’m fostering two kitties right now (first time foster) and I’ve been a little bit nervous about what it will feel like when it comes time to give them to their forever family. You helped put it in perspective… I’ll just be available to fall in love all over again. Thanks!

  5. houndstooth

    I think you said it very well! We fostered for quite a while and I loved the Christmas morning feeling of bringing a new dog home from the kennel to train. Most of my fosters didn’t stay long enough for me to fall in love deeper than the puppy love stage, either. Although I had a few long term fosters that weren’t a great fit with our family. In those cases we sort of went beyond the romance stage all the way to the break up! lol I can still remember Rapid who stared me down as she stood on the back seat of our van and peed on it. Oh, if I could have wrung her neck, I would have!

  6. Georgia Little Pea

    I guess that’s why we keep having dogs as well (not just foster ones) even when we know what’s going to happen. Love the soundtrack. It’s made me mellow which is always good for a Sunday 🙂 x

  7. Roberta

    Wonderful post and perspective. I wanted to keep Sparky the Rough Collie but knew he would be best off in his own home – and he is! I’ve wonderful photos and emails from his new mom and dad; everyone is so impressed with how well he is doing. So, yes, fall in love again…and again….and again.

  8. Hawk aka BrownDog

    Hi Y’all!

    Just wanted to hop on by and see how y’all are doin’. Hope y’all have a wonderful and safe weekend!

    Thanks for a great post.

    Y’all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

  9. Toby

    I hope lots of peoples reading your post will consider fostering. It is a really nice thing to do for homeless dogs. My peoples have plenty of love, but no room. They hope one day to have a bigger house so they can foster dogs in need of love.

    They’ve also considered raising a service pup (again, when they have more room) but they said they are afraid it will pick up bad habits (from me) and fear issues (from the girls).