I became involved with Lucky Dog Animal Rescue in November 2013. My daughter was looking to adopt a dog. She had recently lost her 10-year-old Boxer to cancer. My daughter had a weakness for short snout dogs and Lucky Dog had a Pug available. We decided to go to a Sunday event at the Petsmart near our home. When we showed up the Pug was not there but as we were leaving, we spotted Sprout, a Brussel Griffon/Border Collie mix. It was love at first sight. My daughter applied and two days later she was able to bring Scooter (formerly known as Sprout) home.

The visit to the Petsmart that Sunday showed me the difference a rescue vs a shelter could make on a dog. All my life when we wanted to adopt a dog we would do so from a local shelter. It was always heart breaking to see the dogs in those large cages barking and terrified hoping to be adopted. The dogs we met at the Lucky Dog event were much happier. At the end of the event, if they were not adopted, they would not go to lonely cage in a shelter. Most would be going to loving foster homes. The need to provide those homes was why I decided to start volunteering with Lucky Dog.

I began volunteering as a foster in early 2014 have fostered 50 plus dogs over the last 10 years. My favorite job of course is fostering but there are other tasks available needing volunteers. For instance, tasks I have volunteered for include printing weekly bios, data entry, driving dogs to medical appointments, picking up dogs at the airport, handling dogs at events, making prospective adopter home visits and even signing adoption contracts.

I have also had the opportunity to travel to Puerto Rico with Lucky Dog and see firsthand the good they are doing there from sponsoring vaccination clinics to training sessions for locals and even at a school on the importance of neutering/spaying and vaccinating of pets.

The one instance I will never forget was a pup I fostered from a South Korean meat market. He was so terrified he would not come out of his crate when I first got him. It took about three months before he began to feel comfortable around people. He was later adopted by a loving couple who have stayed connected, and he is living the life. If that is not rewarding, then what is?

The question I am constantly asked when I foster is “How can you give him up?”. Most people say they could never think about fostering a dog because they would never be able to give him up. I do not see it as giving them up; my job as a foster is to take the dogs and get them ready to find a loving new home. Sometimes that means nursing them through health issues, sometimes behavior problems and sometimes it is just a matter of keeping them out of a lonely shelter while they wait for the right person to come along. Yes, they each take a little of my heart with them when they are adopted, but there is nothing more gratifying knowing that they have been placed in a home that will love them as much as I do.