Often they arrive underweight with dull coats and eyes that
tell you, “I’m lost, scared and vulnerable.”
They might be puppies, sick, unwanted, homeless, displaced
by a human or old and frail.
They may all be basenjis but they come in different colors,
different shapes and different sizes!
What do they all have in common?
A very sad story.
The need for a compassionate human,
to provide them protection, food, shelter, exercise, a path toward learning to trust a human and a
forever home.
Hi, I am a 40-something, married for 20years, have 14 and
11yr old boys. We all know that Basenjis need to be walked and it is tough to
walk 3 at a time….this is where the hubby and kids come in handy. That 45min
walk morning and night are wonderful times for our family. It ensures that we
all have some one-on-one quality time with each other. During the week, Hubby and I walk the B's
early in the morning together and talk about the plans for the day, etc. It is
an opportunity to get some exercise, communicate, plan, dream together, and
start the day out right. On the weekend we walk on the beach together – 3 B's
and 4 McCullys.
Kids need responsibilities – they feed the B’s, walk them,
sleep with them and have learned to be responsible for something other than
themselves. They have learned to care for our foster B's, and to let them go!
The kids understand that we foster and don’t keep the foster B’s…because if we
keep the foster B’s…we cannot foster anymore, and there are always foster homes
needed.
Some true stories:
We have had a deaf foster boy. Our kids learned first hand
about dealing with a disability during our time with this foster B.
We have had a Fanconi-positive foster boy who also had some
incontinence issues that took a while to work out. Our kids learned about
chronic illness and a medication regime.
In summary, Fostering and having 2 resident basenjis in our
home is truly an asset to our family. They provide a connection between all of
us. Reasons to communicate with each other, reasons to care for something less
fortunate than ourselves. Fostering offers hands-on learning experiences for
our sons that they will take through their lives.
It will cost very little in dollars and cents to Foster, and
the potential gains are priceless. I encourage you to give it a try!
-Sonya McCully
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