Cultivating Joy - How To

easygoingfemme · 03-26-2025, 06:16 PM

I got my first foster dog yesterday

I had just started opening my mind to the idea and twice this week we had situations at work where we thought we were going to need to have a foster for a dog in our domestic violence shelter. The first one was worked out but the second was not so... last night I picked up a 3 year old Shih Tzu.

He is coming from a REALLY bad situation and I hope his mom is able to turn some things around soon so they can be reunited. He was very traumatized for his first 24 hours. Would just stand still, not making a sound, or sleeping in his crate. I was able to walk him a little. But he was hardly eating and hadn't had a drink in 24 hours. Stayed quiet in his crate all night. Today after work I soaked some of his dry food in chicken broth and was able to hand feed him some. Then... I never do grocery delivery but I was desperate for this boy and had some wet dog food delivered (and threw in other groceries to justify) and omg he inhaled it. Then he got the zoomies and brought me one of his toys and we played fetch until he tired out. Then we took a walk and he drank a bunch of water. It's a joy seeing him be able to relax and play.

GeorgiaMa'am · 03-26-2025, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easygoingfemme

I got my first foster dog yesterday

. . .

Good for you for fostering a dog! Dogs are such an important part of people's families. I don't know what I'd do if I were in a situation where I became unhoused (Goddess forbid) and none of my friends or family could take me and/or Brittany.

There's an unhoused family living in our small town and they have a service dog who got away from them one day. They posted on our town's Facebook group. I never did find out what happened, but I'm worried about them.

easygoingfemme · 03-27-2025, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am

Good for you for fostering a dog! Dogs are such an important part of people's families. I don't know what I'd do if I were in a situation where I became unhoused (Goddess forbid) and none of my friends or family could take me and/or Brittany.

There's an unhoused family living in our small town and they have a service dog who got away from them one day. They posted on our town's Facebook group. I never did find out what happened, but I'm worried about them.

Ugh, I hope they found their dog...

Our domestic violence shelter has a Red Rover grant, which gives us funding for things we needed to open our shelter for people to come in with their pets. It covers food, crates, leashes, medical expenses, boarding when needed, etc. It has made such a difference in people being able to leave unsafe situations because they can bring their animals. Unfortunately the family of the dog I am fostering had to flee because their abuser found them and the police needed to relocate them quickly. Now they are working on finding safe shelter where they can have the dog again. In the meantime, he is my sweet little visitor. He's really opening up and being a sweet silly little boy.

03-26-2025, 06:16 PM	#1
easygoingfemme Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Lil' Miss Sassy Pants Preferred Pronoun?: She/her Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: My place by the river Posts: 3,682 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 7,014 Thanked 14,947 Times in 3,307 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	I got my first foster dog yesterday I had just started opening my mind to the idea and twice this week we had situations at work where we thought we were going to need to have a foster for a dog in our domestic violence shelter. The first one was worked out but the second was not so... last night I picked up a 3 year old Shih Tzu. He is coming from a REALLY bad situation and I hope his mom is able to turn some things around soon so they can be reunited. He was very traumatized for his first 24 hours. Would just stand still, not making a sound, or sleeping in his crate. I was able to walk him a little. But he was hardly eating and hadn't had a drink in 24 hours. Stayed quiet in his crate all night. Today after work I soaked some of his dry food in chicken broth and was able to hand feed him some. Then... I never do grocery delivery but I was desperate for this boy and had some wet dog food delivered (and threw in other groceries to justify) and omg he inhaled it. Then he got the zoomies and brought me one of his toys and we played fetch until he tired out. Then we took a walk and he drank a bunch of water. It's a joy seeing him be able to relax and play.