We tried to foster a dog and failed. How did we fail? We kept him. The point of fostering is to give the animal a temporary home. Get to know him, take care of him, and then find the perfect home that fits his personality. Well, it only took about 3 hours for us to fall in love with Franklin and forget our purpose as fosters!
Meet Our Foster Failure Franklin
I had been begging to foster a dog for over a year. Every maternal instinct that I have is toward helping animals. I also “like” so many rescue pages on facebook and see their updates about needing fosters that I wanted to help. Fostering is a huge part of the rescue system. If more people fostered, more dogs could be saved.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Fostering is a huge part of the rescue system. If more people fostered more dogs could be saved.” quote=”Fostering is a huge part of the rescue system. If more people fostered more dogs could be saved.”]
Can’t Foster? See Other Ways to Help Animals in Need!
Mike finally agreed to let us give it a try. This would mean a third dog in our small house. I signed up right away with the Midwest Boston Terrier Rescue. Soon after, I received a call to see if we could foster a senior Boston who was at a shelter. A little old man dog? No problem! Well, long story short, he was adopted before we could get him. Great news for him!
Franklin and his brother were just a cuteness overload. These little guys were abandoned in a home. They both had skin irritation and missing fur due to sleeping on insulation. Their mother was a beagle mix and their father a purebred Boston Terrier. That’s really all the story we knew about them. We got Franklin (#FosterFrank) and his brother was on his way to his forever home, thankfully.
On the way home Franklin placed his tiny paw on my arm and I knew I was a goner. Everyone predicted that we would end up adopting him and that’s exactly what happened.
Franklin’s hashtag has been changed from #FosterFrank to #ForeverFrank and we have zero regrets! 😉
Have you ever been a foster failure?
Kayla @ TheEclecticElement says
I’d have zero regrets for keeping that sweet little face, too! I had a feeling you were going to end up keeping him 😉
I simply cannot blame you for it either! LOL
Jackie says
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. He is a lucky dog…and so cute!
Ellen Christian says
What a little cutie pie! I could not let him go either!
Chelley @ AisForAdelaide says
I’m so glad he’s all yours now! What a great new member!
Daisy says
He is adorable! I would keep him too if I could.
Lisa says
Franklin is an adorable dog! I’d say that is one of those good fails!
Michele P says
omigosh, he is so cute! I don’t think I would be able to foster any dogs or cats because I would want to keep them all myself!
Sarah L says
OK, so fostering was a failure. Dog was a keeper.
MonaG says
My daughter loves animals and has been begging for a dog forever. She’s great with them. There are two problems though. First, hubby is afraid of dogs and second, our condo building doesn’t allow ANY pets.
In any case, fostering would be hard for her. She’d want to keep every dog. Btw, Franklin is adorable 🙂
Linda Bradshaw says
I am not really a dog person. I have 4 cats. I like the lazy , lay around, etc. animals. My sister loves dogs!
David Fultner says
SOOOO cute. We have always had boxers,but we go to the shelter
Christina Foley says
Awww, so glad I saw this post! He is adorable!!!! So sweet. I showed you my foster failure (Tucker) and one of my current fosters last weekend. We have 2 cats and 2 dogs of our own and that is my personal limit but I do foster still – usually just one at a time, but this last time I brought 3 home because I just couldn’t take one knowing his siblings didn’t have a foster home (one has been adopted already, one is likely going to be adopted and one is having some health issues so he will be with us for a bit longer to get him healthy). Its hard, but I don’t foster because its easy.. I foster because I’ve personally seen the ugly side – I’ve seen litters of young puppies die in shelters, I’ve seen dogs be put down due to lack of space. My fosters steal my heart the second they are placed in my arms… I cry as I kiss them goodbye, but the joy I feel for their new families so amazing too.
Jennifer says
OH yeah! Thanks for stopping by!! Yes, I would still foster, too, but the hubby is the voice of reason in this house. :/ We need a bigger house and LAND and I will totally take in a bunch more! I agree with you about fostering. Seeing them find great homes and then making room for more is extremely rewarding!
Alaina Brown says
I would have ended up keeping the dog too! Haha.
rebeccabasset says
I know that if I fostered a Pet, I don’t think that I could give them up either!
Thanks for the Post, and for Fostering a Pet!
Dee Lafrenz says
Not a foster failure, but felt like a failure. We rescued a kitten, Scooter. His mom was feral. She was hit by a car, and he had nowhere to go. No one wanted him, I found out why. When we met him, he was sleeping, and seemed like such a sweetie. Once we got home literally all HELL broke loose. He knocked over anything that was not nailed down. He tore up my rug! He was a holy terror! But he was ours. It took five months to where we feel safe. Now he is so attached, if my hubby wants to take a nap, Scooter will bounce on him to wake him up. He wants the company. He is just now, 10 months later coming to us to sit with us and let us pet him. Of course his time with mommy is when she sits at the computer. He was our 4th rescue, and maybe our last. We never say never! We said that before we got him! Don’t get me wrong, we love him to pieces and would not trade him, I only wish he liked to be cuddled, but he does not.