Foster dogs & rescue bits and bobs

I have had a few foster dogs in the past.  My first was Smudge, who is now called Marni, a collie x spaniel (sprollie).  She was roughly 9 months old when her then owners posted an advert on the Gloucestershire Freecycle that they didn't want her anymore and she was free to the first person who wanted her.  Yes people do this.

Luckily a lady who worked for Teckels (an animal charity in Gloucestershire) and I spotted this advert, managed to get in contact with each other, and arrange that she would get Smudge out and I would then foster her, anything to make sure that she wasn't in a home with people who didn't want her or that some horrible person would take her and use her as a bait dog or something horrific.

Smudge came home with me and stayed for almost 2 months, I fell utterly in love with this wiggly, utterly adorable ball of fluff, she was twice the size of Jack (legs wise in any case, width wise she was tiny!) and a mad bundle of energy who could not corner! Jack and her had mad playing times and lots of cuddles, Teckles managed to find a fantastic home with a lovely lady called Anne who still stays in contact with me after all these years (5 years now!) and after a few tears (ok bucket loads of tears!) off she went with her new mum and collie siblings.

Since then an adorable black lab x called Sunny had a few weeks bed and breakfast with me via the Irish Retriever Rescue (IRR) before being homed to friends of mine (he is now called Guinness and is their much loved, rather large and clumsy baby!  Then two adorable little Lhasa Apso ex puppy farm bitches came to stay for a couple of months, they were little cuddle monsters who jumped onto my lap as soon as I sat down and spent the rest of the time peeing everywhere (poor girls didn't know any better having been confined to cages and used as breeding machines for their first years) or trying to chase Sparks! Sadly I didn't have them until they found their new home, I couldn't cure their desire to chase Sparks and didn't feel it was fair to her to not be able to relax in her own home so they went to another fosterer and soon found a new home with a lovely couple who adore them.

On top of the fosters there have been long drives after a day in work (after taking Jack for a run, don't panic!) the first to Abergavenny to rescue a 9 week old black lab x husky bitch (so sweet, all black but with one blue and one brown eye!) whose owners had decided they didn't actually want another dog ... when I got there the owner asked me if I'd take their 6 month old golden retriever too ... obviously I couldn't leave him there so in the car he jumped ... cue some mad phone calls on route back to Cheltenham trying to find a rescue who would take him, IRR stepped up (which is how I met Pauline and how Sunny came to stay for a few weeks) and I met Pauline outside of Oxfordshire, dropped the gorgeous boy off with her and headed home with the pup who then went up to Wiccaweys with Jack and I the next day and was homed very quickly.  An apparently aggressive german shepherd was my next rescue, I had to plead with the owners to let me help instead of having her PTS, thankfully they agreed and again Teckles stepped up and took her on, I picked her up and set off down the M5 with her in the boot, halfway there the dog guard fell down on her, quick stop on the hard shoulder and I dismantled it from the back seat around her head, she didn't flinch or move a muscle, just gave me a kiss once I'd move it all away.  She now lives on a boat in Bristol harbour and goes swimming most days!

Basically I love animals, particularly dogs and sometimes, well if I'm honest most of the time, I love them more than people, other than my family and friends obviously!  They never do anything out of hate, malice etc and despite some of the horrific things people do to them they always want to forgive, reconnect and love.  I think we're all better off when we have animals in our lives.

Once we're properly settled up here (realistically this probably means after the husband is back from building sandcastles) I would love to have another foster dog/s.  It absolutely breaks your heart when they go off to their new home, but if they don't go you don't have the space for another foster which in turn frees up a space within the rescue for them to save the life of another dog.  I couldn't run a rescue, I don't have the patience to deal with some of the cruelty they come across or some of the excuses people come up with to dump their previously loved pet, the most horrific one was (honestly someone said this whilst giving up their dog) that the dog no longer matched the carpet ... but by doing the odd bit of fostering or a home check now and again I can do my (very) small bit to help dogs out.