Howard's home visit

This morning, Howard will be leaving my house to go on a home visit with one of the board officers from Peace Love & Dog Paws Rescue. If all goes well, this will be his last morning at my house.

Howard on November 16, 2012.

I can't believe how far he's come in just the two short months that he's been with us. A dog once so terrified of leashes, car rides, and walking through doorways that it required heavy sedation, a blindfold, and a team of able-bodied people just to move him, he now walks happily on a leash (though he still shies a little when he first sees it), jumps happily into the back seat for joy rides, and loves meeting new people on his walks. He's now a relatively normal almost-two-year-old puppy who loves to play and lives to be snuggled. He's a testament for the amazing resilience that so many abused dogs have, and to their ability to love people.

One of the questions that I am most often asked about doing rescue is whether it makes me sad when my foster pets go to new homes. The answer is, in short, no. The pets that I foster only go to homes that are carefully screened either by me or by a reputable rescue that I trust (and Peace Love & Dog Paws has one of the most stringent screening processes of any rescue with which I've worked). Adopters must go through a stringent application process, provide vet references (which are all checked), and agree to a home visit. They also must sign a contract that specifies how the pet will be cared for and that it will be returned to the rescue should the adopter be unable to provide that care. There have been a handful of times when foster pets have come back to me, and I've been happy to have them back. But way more often the screening process works, and what I get back are happy updates, like this one from former-foster Jimmy's new home:

Update 11.5.2012: Jimmy has been renamed Bruce (by his brother Cole) after
the big grey shark on Finding Nemo. They sleep together nightly and are BFF. :)

Another thing that helps me keep rescue in perspective is the constant influx of pleas for help for other pets in need of rescue. For every one of my foster dogs that gets placed into an adoptive home, another dog in an unstable living situation that can be rescued. Not to mention that there's also an adoptive family that I've made happier and more complete.

This morning I'm wishing Howard good luck and crossing my fingers that all will go well for him.