This past weekend my family and I picked up our first ever foster puppies. This had been something I wanted to do for a long time, and, well, I think my mom was as bored as I was, and she let me fill out a foster application a few weeks ago. We decided to fill out an application with the organization named, Animal Rescue R Us (ARRUS) based in New Jersey, because it is the same organization we adopted our St. Bernard, Mel, from. I filled out the application, a little nervous as to what I was getting myself into. A few weeks went by and we hadn’t heard anything from the organization, or so I thought. It turns out, my parents had already made the arrangments on fostering two puppies and didn’t tell my sisters and me until it was time to go pick them up. I was so excited and also a little nervous as to what I had gotten us into, but there was no turning back now.
Fostering two puppies has actually been one of the best things I have ever done. Number one, I actually have never been around such small little puppies. When my family adopted my St. Bernard, she was a puppy, but definitely not this small. These two puppies are so clumsy it’s adorable. I was also so nervous about how our other dogs would react, but they all love each other. The puppies love playing with the older dogs. Even our cat has been showing an interest in the pups.
Fostering puppies has also taught me a lot of responsibility. One of the main reasons we decided to foster right now is because my sisters and I are all home at the same time, so it shouldn’t be so bad dividing up the work. We plan on continuing this in the future, but for our first time it’s great we can all do it together, and let me tell you these puppies are a handful. Training puppies means taking them outside basically every half hour, no matter the weather. Thankfully, it has been pretty nice out lately. It also means cleaning up after them and making sure they’re not doing anything they’re not supposed to, and it seems as if they’re always doing something they’re not supposed to.
Overall, I love the feeling of doing some good in such an uncertain time and also getting to love some puppies while I’m at it. I know I am going to be super sad when its time for them to leave, but this experience has been really valuable so far, and I am excited to continue doing good in the future.