Buddy the Foster Puppy
Jun 21 '00
Recently, my husband and I decided to get a dog. We just bought a home with a large back yard about 6 months ago and had been thinking about it for while. However, we're busy people with full-time jobs and we already have two cats. What we wanted was a mid-sized dog with a good personality (likes cats) - and that's old enough to have been potty trained.
Our cats are both "leftovers" that no-one wanted, and we wanted to give a home to another "unwanted" pet. So, we had been planning on get a dog from the pound. My husband really had his heart set on a Cocker Spaniel, but I was sure we could find one at a local shelter (the Dallas metroplex has many to choose from).
A couple of months ago though, my husband got an email at work from another guy in his department. Frank is a member of the North Texas Cocker Spaniel Rescue and he needed volunteers to "foster" Cocker Spaniels who had been rescued from the pound. We jumped at the chance. Since we weren't sure how a dog would fit into our lifestyle - nor did we know what changes our lifestyle would need to make to accommodate a dog - and we wanted to help, we agreed.
The next week, Frank brought over a beautiful two-year old boy named "Buddy." Buddy had been rescued from a shelter in a bad part of Dallas. He had no tags when the pound picked him up, and so the little guy didn't even know his name. When the Rescue got him, he had cherry eye (which apparently is a medical problem of the dog's third eyelid). It's a common problem among Cocker Spaniels and easily treated with surgery. When Buddy came to stay with us, his eye was better, but a little puss-y at times (although that cleared up within a week).
Buddy was the cutest dog - curly black hair with a white "tuxedo" tummy mark and white "spats" on his paws. I was in love! But the realist inside me kept reminding me that Buddy wasn't ours for keeps and not to get attached... Actually, we would have adopted Buddy except that on day two of his stay I learned something awful: I've outgrown my cat allergies and grown into worse dog allergies. I was so ill from my allergies that we almost had the Rescue take Buddy to a different foster home. With the help of lots of heavy-duty drugs, however, we were able to keep Buddy for the duration. We learned the hard way that before we get a dog we need to find a more hypo-allergic breed (like a Beddlington Terrier or a Poodle) and/or I need to get some really good prescription allergy medicine.
As cute and sweet as Buddy was, life with a foster puppy isn't all gravy...
Buddy had a problem with "submissive urination," but over a couple of weeks we were mostly able to curb that habit. To anyone else out there who is dealing with a dog who has submissive urination (the dog piddles when it gets excited or upset and you touch it), here's some advice: When the dog is wound up, do NOT pet it; take it immediately outside and make it do its business there. Turn this into a routine and the dog will eventually break the habit. Yelling or scolding the dog for urinating only makes the problem worse.
Also, the dog had more energy than I've ever seen! He would start the Dog-inapolis 500 in the house, so I would let him out into the yard. There he would proceed to run figure-8s for 10 solid minutes or more. It was unbelievable. I didn't mind the energy outside, but I didn't like him running on my furniture. He knew better, he just chose to conveniently "forget" the house rules. (The terrible twos!)
Finally, he had a retaliatory elimination problem. However, I am CONVINCED this could easily be fixed with time. Buddy saw my husband as the alpha dog and me as his "security." Scot could punish him for bad behavior, but if I even raised my voice at Buddy or made a motion that I was going to kennel him, he'd do "something" - either pee or poop somewhere in the house. A big, nasty problem for sure, but one I think was caused by some abuse in the past.
Anyway, for all his faults, he was a good dog - there's nothing like a dog for unconditional, "I'll always be there" love. :) The positives about him far outweighed the negatives. I just mentioned the negatives because many foster dogs are abused and/or neglected by the time the foster parents get them. It's important to understand this from the get-go or you could really become annoyed.
When we took Buddy to the local Petco for the Cocker Spaniel Rescue's adoption day, it was with a mixture of happiness (knowing that he would find a good home) and sadness (knowing that we would miss him). He ended up being adopted by a wonderful retired couple who were undaunted by Buddy's problems. I could just tell that they were perfect for him.
Fostering Buddy was a wonderful experience for both of us. Not only were we able to find out about my allergies without a life-long commitment, we were also able to find out that a young dog is too much for us to handle for more than a few weeks. In the future, I hope we are able to foster other dogs though, it really was a positive experience.
I would recommend that anyone who loves animals and is able to care of one even temporarily, look into fostering. There are many non-profit groups that do this sort of thing and they are always looking for volunteers. (By the way: any money you spend on the animal while it is with you is tax deductible.) It really is a good thing. :)
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Location: Frisco, TX
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