I told you guys last week that I was about to take the Foster Plunge and take in my first foster dog and I received such a great response. You all rock! My fiance and I are now a few days into our foster experience and things are going quite well. The group I’m fostering for, Annapolis Dog Rescue, takes in many of their dogs from high kill shelters in North Carolina and South Carolina. This particular group of pups came from South Carolina. We met the transport van at the drop off spot and wow, was it a sight.

The van, driven by Humane Society volunteers, was filled literally to the ceiling with dogs, mostly puppies. The dogs are kept in crates and stacked on top of each other. This particular van had about 60 dogs. They drive up the East Coast stopping to meet rescue groups along the way and drop off dogs. The rescue groups place the dogs in foster homes and some of the dogs, like one puppy in our group, are already adopted before they even get to their destination (he was already posted to Petfinder.com).

Tyler is ready for his adoptive home.

It was sad to see so many dogs stacked up like that (and so stinky!) but I tried to remind myself that these dogs are the lucky ones and on their way to a new life. One of the puppies in our group started rolling around in the grass like there was no tomorrow. It was probably his first time ever seeing grass! We got our foster’s paperwork and loaded her into the car. She was totally relaxed on the ride home and we introduced her to our dogs in our backyard. Tails wagged and noses rubbed. It was a great introduction! I was so relieved I almost cried.

After the intro, we gave our foster pooch a bath. She was really dirty! We set her up in a crate and fed her a meal. Our dogs were definitely acting curious but they took it at a slow pace. It didn’t take us long to rename her. Nadia is now Lady and she’s so calm and well behaved, it’s almost like she’s not even here…except when she wants to give us kisses. She is very affectionate and bonded to us immediately. Our dogs warmed up to her very quickly as well and I’m getting a kick out of seeing three little dogs wander around my house and yard.

Lady getting a bath.

Foster Siblings - Happy, Joey and Lady

So far so good on the foster front! Lady goes to the vet tomorrow to start heartworm treatment and I’ve been contacted by a friend who is interested in learning more about the little Lady and potentially adopting her. If you’re in the Washington, DC, area, and looking to adopt you can learn more about Lady on her PetFinder profile.

One Response to “My Weekend Rescuing a Dog”