Late Wednesday night, I saw something interesting on Facebook.
No, none of my friends admitted to sleeping with Herman Cain. And no, Bank of America is not giving a foreclosed house to everyone who “likes” them.
But my friend Beth was looking for a foster home for a puppy who had been seized by Animal Control due to neglect.
And since I had a completed foster application sitting on the desk, and since I was challenged by Kristine over at Rescued Insanity to do something I had never done before, I said I’d take him.
But this isn’t about me. This is about Honey. And the age old question…
Why would anyone get a dog from a breeder when there are so many great dogs in shelters?
I’ve had great dogs from shelters—three of them. But they weren’t good with other dogs.
When I’ve brought stray dogs home or wanted to visit someone who had their own dogs, I was always scrambling to figure out how to keep my reactive dogs from reacting.
I finally decided that I’d stack the decks with my next dog. I’d get a breed known for being friendly with other dogs. And I’d find a breeder who would socialize my next puppy right from the start.
Once I had a friendly dog, I could volunteer with other dogs and know that my dog would be ok with it.
Did it work?
You tell me.
Ettel
AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How awesome are you? Seriously? How awesome! And how cute is the puppy? You realize this means we need lots, lots, and lots more pictures and videos, right?
Edie
Wow — big news! Congratulations. Scooter looks like a sweetheart and I look forward to her — and your household’s — continuing adventures.
Vicki Cook
Yay – Honey will be a great big sister!
Elizabeth
Congrats, again! He is adorable, especially at the end of Honey’s toy. I hope you are enjoying this adventure as much as I am imagining it. 🙂
Sam
Fosture failure? Honey does need a good home! 😀
Sam
Jodi
Awww Pamela, good for you and Honey! It is something I would love to do, but I’m afraid I would be the ‘failed foster mom’ and end up being that crazy dog lady. 🙂
It looks like Honey is enjoying the company. 🙂 Congrats and I look forward to the stories and boy will there be stories. 🙂
Ashley
Hooray! Fostering is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and I can’t wait until I’m in a place in my life where I can do it again.
Enjoy! And try not to fall too hard in love 🙂
Kristine
Yayayayayay! I know, it’s sad, but I can’t stop saying it. You and Honey are the perfect family for a foster puppy. She clearly loved this little guy right from the start. It’s a dream of mine to watch my dog tug so happily with another dog!
Congratulations, again! I even love the name Scooter. It suits him so well. 🙂
Married with Dawgs
Congratulations on your first foster! I miss fostering soooooo much so I will be living vicariously through you until Scooter finds his forever home.
And I’m so glad that Honey is doing well with him – our dogs, even though they have had reactivity issues in the past – were always great with the foster puppies. I think puppy breath has the same hypnotic effect on dogs as it does on us people!
kenzohw
Congrats with that big step. I couldn’t imagine otherwise with Honey than that it did work out, I am sure she is fine with her new friend. Now Honey and you can foster puppies making sure they get the right and socialized start in life. Kudos!
2 brown dawgs
What a cute puppy! I could never foster because I would never be able to say good-bye. 🙂 Great job for taking the puppy on! And that picture with your Golden is beyond cute!
Roberta
Never say “never” to fostering! Foster homes give dogs a real chance for life – plus save another who can come into rescue. Yes, you can give them up because they are not “yours” – they belong to the family looking for them; you/we are simply caretakers (very important caretakers!) for their real family. Congratulations on your puppy – Honey looks happy with that brown thing on the end of her rope.
Amy@GoPetFriendly
Oh goodness (literally!), he’s adorable. Good for you, Pamela. I hope all of Honey’s sweetness Rudy’s off on little Scooter. I’m looking forward to following this journey!
Jan
The only thing better that a dog is two dogs. And the only thing better than that is four dogs. I could easily become a hoarder. 🙂 But I do like the way my dogs amuse themselves and me. They have their pack order established and they are a constant source of entertainment. So happy for Honey’s new challenge.
Leah @ Exceptional Dogs
That is so sweet! Sometimes I wish I had more space to do things like fostering, but then I realize that for someone like me it would probably be the path to ending up with waaaay more animals than I should have, LOL.
Pup Fan
Oh my goodness… they are so cute together! 🙂
Julie
Wow! Way to jump right in 🙂 Honey looks like she is going to be a very good teacher for Scooter!!! Congrats!
Mel
I can’t believe you have another puppy in your house! Congratulations! Sometimes that’s the best way for new things to happen. You just had to be ready to receive a good thing. Lucky Scooter!
Donna and the Dogs
That is so awesome. And so glad your plan with Honey worked. I do know what you mean, I love all of my rescues, but I also sometimes consider getting what it would be like to get one from a good breeder, without behavioral and health issues – a clean slate as they say. Mostly because I’d like a therapy dog, and none of mine have worked out….great dogs, but not therapy material. But then I think of the ones in the shelter and say how can I buy? Sigh, it is a tough choice…but I really like the reason behind why YOU decided to go with the breeder with Honey. Good call. And lucky for Scooter.
RumpyDog!
What a great pair you are!
houndstooth
Now that is a great way to rise to the challenge! Scooter is adorable, and I hope he continues to do well. Honey looks like she’s taking it all in stride quite well.
I completely understand what you said about getting a dog from a breeder. Our dogs have always been rescues adopted as adults, but with our current puppy, he needs to be able to do a very specific job. It’s true, we may just have added another beloved pet to our family, but we feel we have stacked the deck as much in our favor as we can, and we’ll love him either way. With three other dogs here in the house, though, we have to get it right this time, because we can’t go up to five dogs. If Kuster won’t work, then it will be a long time before we can try to find the right dog for the job again. Our breeder has done so much to help us, though! I feel really lucky to have had the experience so far!
Jay from The Depp Effect
Ahahaha! Well done, you. You know that they say that dogs find us, not the other way round, don’t you? 😉
Actually my first dog was a shelter dog, of the most disadvantaged kind. He was a greyhound among a ton of other unwanted greyhounds, he had been abused, and he was in poor health (mangy, rake-thin, and with numerous shudder-inducing scars). And he was the BEST dog.
He was GREAT with other dogs of all sizes, and could be safely let off lead in public, crowded ‘dog park’ type situations (we did that for his whole life, apart from the settling in period, till he knew ‘come’ and we knew him), he could – and did – roughhouse with small dogs, quite safely, and he was afraid of cats. We had him from when he was about two years old to when he died in his own bed of congestive heart failure at thirteen and a half.
He was loyal, loving and easy to teach whatever we wanted. So long as we could make him understand, he’d do it.
Gosh, I miss that dog!