Day 1

Getting to know each other... and cuddling

Yesterday was our first evening together. I was so excited to bring Trooper home and see how everyone would get along. I was also feeling very nervous. I have never fostered an animal before, I don't know much about Trooper's condition and I had no idea how Maizie would react. But off we drove to St. Catharines to see what the evening held in store for us.

Let the adventure begin!

The first thing I learned about Trooper is that he loves to be held, cuddled and patted. So that is what we did for the majority of the evening. It's amazing how attached to me he's become already. He cries whenever when I leave the room.

My sister-in-law came to visit us and meet Trooper. She adopted a golden retriever from the shelter last year and loves dogs. With Trooper's sweet brown eyes, it's hard not to fall in love with him right away and my sister-in-law was Trooper's next victim.

Maizie reacted surprisingly well to Trooper's presence. She let him sniff her and after that, they pretty much ignored each other. My fear was that Maizie would be terrified. She's never been aggressive with other dogs. She's just scared and wants to hide. I don't think Maizie was thrilled to have Trooper in the house but she wasn't especially nervous or jealous.

You stay on your side of the living room, I'll stay on mine and we'll get along just fine.

It was a very lovely evening until we went to bed.

I've never fostered before so I have to say, I really didn't know what I was doing. I didn't have a crate; I didn't remember what it's like to put a puppy to bed. I really did not have a strategy and believe me, we all paid for it.

Here's what I did (Warning! Do not try at home):

I set Trooper up with a little bed on the floor in our bedroom on my side of the bed. We all got tucked in and turned out the lights and immediately Trooper started to cry. And he would not stop. I really tried to just ignore him but it went on forever with no end in sight. So then I attempted to move his bed to our guestroom. I tucked him in again, shut off the light and when back to my bed. Unfortunately this move made the crying escalate into a heart-breaking yelp-cry.

I'm not proud of what I did next. Usually, I wouldn't say I'm this clueless when it comes to animals. I'm sure my co-workers were ashamed of me.

I left my bed for the guestroom, propped myself up with pillows and held Trooper all night.

This was a terrible solution. He continued to cry throughout the night and neither of us got any sleep. 
When I gave Trooper his medication in the morning, he promptly fell asleep but I had to be up for the day.

Trooper's been through so much in the past few days - he was hit by a car, lost his family, find himself in a scary place all by himself, had major surgery and woke up missing a leg and then found himself in a totally new place all over again. Of course he's terrified and needy and needs a million loves and cuddles. But I also have to think about the fact a puppy needs structure and training in order to be successful in its forever home. It's my job to set him up for success in the next stage - adoption.

So with that, we have a new strategy to try for Day Two that I hope will balance the need for TLC and the need for training. Cross your fingers for us cause it will be a long 2 weeks if this Foster Momma doesn't get any sleep!

Sleep finally!