Meet Luke. My Luke a duke. Our foster dog who we've had for a little more than 3 months. His story is a bit unknown, he was found extremely thin with no known story. When we took him in, he was extremely skiddish, skinny and timid. Three months later he is a loving, healthy, gentle dog. If I could tell you a story about Luke now this is what I'd say...
Luke acclimated well into our family. He picked up our routine fairly quickly. He crate trained easily and potty training was a breeze. He loves to destroy the toys and no toy is safe from him. Yet, he can be extremely gentle with our 7 pound dog. When he gets excited or nervous, he shakes his butt fast and his tail whips back and forth. If you are in that path, his tail can be deadly! He learned basic commands fairly well, although we are still working on it. He loves his belly rubbed.
Whenever any one meets him, all they talk about is how bright and crazy his eyes are. Always the topic of conversation. I nod and agree, but when I see him, I see so much more than his eyes. I see the gentle and loving soul behind those eyes. My wish for him is that he finds a family that will love him and take care of him better than us. And we set a pretty high standard.
This post comes after a call I received today stating that a family is interested in Luke and would like to meet him this Tuesday. And we have yet to meet a family who doesn't want a dog they requested to see. I exclaimed how great that was, but deep down I was selfishly dreading this call. Because finding his forever home means he will be leaving ours. This happens with most of our foster dogs, but it's going to be harder I think this time around. This is the longest we've had a foster and naturally, I have bonded. How could I not? I love being a foster mom, it's who I am. But I can't help thinking that no one can love that certain dog as much as I can. Then when I meet the families and see the love they have for the dogs, I feel so much better about letting them go. But until that time comes, it's sad.
I foster to help animals. I also foster to help myself. To help feed that need to save every animal I can. I cringe when people say to me "I can never foster, I would want to keep every animal I have." I used to say that too. I hate that statement because fostering is the ultimate way to show your love for the animals. And yes, it does suck to give them up. And it is sad to hear their stories. And I do want to keep every dog that comes through our home. But the reward? Well, the reward is pretty sweet. Sitting here watching Luke sleep without a care in the world is pretty rewarding. Because I think of where he could be if he wasn't on my living room floor sleeping. And when I think of how emotionally exhausting it can be to give them up, this is what I remind myself.
