Saying Goodbye

The one question people who have followed my puppy tails (and puppy tales) over the past three years ask me is "how can you give them up?"

Anybody who fosters dogs knows the answer to that one. You fall in love with most of the dogs who move into your house for longer than just a couple of days. There is the odd one or two here and there that just don't have the right vibes and they don't take a piece of your heart, but the puppies definitely move in and set up housekeeping (much like that big fat mucus cartoon on the Mucinex commercial).

The older the more independent the puppies get, the more there is this clutch in your heart because you know that very soon someone at Petco will fall in love with them and they will move to their forever homes.

"Good bye day" is always hard but the thing that makes it easier is that, first of all, you know that someone has seen in this little guy the same thing you have seen over the weeks that s/he has been with you. Second, you know that if you give in to the feelings you have for this puppy, that's the end of your fostering because it would just be too much to have three dogs living here forever and still foster pups who are waiting for their own homes. And third, there's always another puppy or dog who needs someone to love him/her and who needs a foster home until that forever person turns up.

The hardest moment is watching those guys you love so much being carried out to the car by Ashley or Megan to be taken to meet their forever families. The upside is knowing that you will pretty much have puppies in your life most of the time, because, sadly, there will always be other puppies who need you.

(Some people might consider that a downside, given all the pee and poop that goes with puppies. I should say, however, that Tater and Tot have only had a couple of accidents in the house since they returned.)

What's the most difficult for me is having to send dogs or puppies that I love to another foster home, for whatever reason.

After the pre-op for my surgery I read the post-op instructions which had all sorts of cautions about not bending over too low and not having dental work because of the danger of something getting into the eye. I realized that this would not be a time to have two needy puppies, so I asked Ashley to find another foster home. It was difficult to see them go, but it was a good thing to do. I was thrilled when I found out they needed to come back, and they have just been a delight to have here, especially since they came home more or less housebroken.

But "the e-mail" came from Ashley today.

There are three 9 week old puppies who are suffering from Demodex, the same thing Gizmo had (remember the puppy who looked motheaten when she arrived here?).

Ashley wondered if I would take them and she would move Tater and Tot somewhere else. There was this clutch in the pit of my stomach. Move? Move Tater and Tot? Not to a forever home, but to another foster home?

It's been fun since they came back, especially since the peeing and pooping is now mostly done outside, so we aren't tiptoing across the room all the time any more. We have a routine down. I love cuddling with them. Jeri and Phil are still thinking about possibly adopting one of them. How can I let them go to another home?

But, as I said before, I can't keep them myself and it sounds like these new little guys need me so the big switch will take place sometime on Friday. We are going to Santa Barbara for the weekend and Ashley, along with God knows how many dogs of how many ages, will be staying here while we are gone. By the time we get home, Tater and Tot will be in another foster home and we will have three new puppies to bond with.

Hard? Yes it's hard. Painful? Yes, it's painful. But it's the best thing for all the puppies. and it goes along with the job description of fostering puppies for the SPCA.

But I have lots of nice photos to remember them by.