How long?

One question we get as a foster home is "how long do you have the foster dog in your care"? That's a very good question. Anything over 5 minutes and I have a bond with that dog. So after that point it doesn't really matter. And, yet it does.

Due to circumstances beyond our control we haven't placed a foster in over two years. That is not to say we haven't been fostering. We have. Pete was the last one placed in a forever home. Ideally, that is what our goal is. Sometimes being the foster dog's last "home" is the best possible scenario.

With Sidney we were his last home before he crossed the bridge. With Hank, he was deemed "not placeable" because of his health issues. Funny thing is he's still going strong and we wouldn't part with him for love nor money.

That leaves Ms. Sophie. She's been with us for almost 6 months. Truthfully, she's needed all that time with us. It's still not enough time for her to heal from whatever horrors she knew in life before. Still, she's made huge progress.

In some ways it feels like we haven't been successful in the fostering arena lately. While I celebrate other fosters finding their homes, I feel sad ours hasn't found that special place. I have to take comfort that in the mean time (and we all spend time "in the meantime") that we give our fosters the best possible home they could hope to find.

So how long do we have our fosters?? Not nearly long enough, and just as long as it takes. And, it's all good.