Happy Valentine's Day to Foster Parents

This is a slightly updated version of a BRAT Blog entry from 2009.  Foster parents are priceless, and I felt it was time to thank them once again.

I have the greatest admiration for foster parents. I can only imagine how difficult it is to send a dog you’ve cared for and nurtured off to a new home.

We are pathetic marshmallows. Years ago, sweet little Leo, the 13-year-old basenji BRAT found in a kill shelter, was supposed to stay in our house overnight on his way to a foster home. He stayed with us until his death, eight short months later, and he still hasn’t left our hearts. Thank heavens there are BRAT folks made of sterner stuff who can actually look ahead and see that sending fosters off to forever homes frees up space for still more troubled little curly tails in need of a second chance.

I think foster parents deserve a parade, because it takes enormous amounts of patience, determination, wisdom, perseverance, and courage to nurture sad and frightened little dogs, prepare them for their forever homes, and then say goodbye.  When these little guys arrive at their foster homes they are often confused, worried, fearful, and dragging along more baggage than one small dog should have to carry. By the time they leave their foster homes, they have unloaded a lot of this baggage and blossomed under the TLC administered by their foster parents. They’ve benefited from a predictable routine and reassuring humans who helped them get rid of some bad habits and acquire some positive new ones.

We will always be grateful to Ivan, Dasa, Tiegan, and Miles' foster parents for taking such good care of our babies and then carefully handing them over to us. We so admire them for being able to give up these wonderful little dogs, and we do our best to live up to their trust in us. This is a small attempt to convey how appreciative we are, how much we love our babies, and how much richer our lives are because we shared them with Ivan and Dasa. and now with the amazing and magical Tiegan and Miles.

From the bottom of my joy-filled, doting mommy heart, thank you to all the foster parents who help these little dogs along to their forever homes.