Those of you who read the blog regularly and follow me on facebook probably remember that I started fostering my first foster dog Harry back in January. The poor guy came to us so abused and broken - when I looked at him I literally felt like I was staring at a vacant shell of a dog. The passion and joy that you always see in the eyes of happy dogs was completely extinguished, and he just looked so very sad all the time. After weeks of working with him, I finally started to see small glimmers of happiness in his eyes.
We fostered Harry for 3 months, without any applications coming in for the sweet guy. I finally decided to tweet Denise Richards to see if she might be able to help - she’s a huge supporter of dog rescue and Best Friends Los Angeles, who I was fostering Harry for. To my utter surprise and happiness she retweeted my message to her millions of followers!
Literally within an hour, we had several promising emails, with one that really stood out from the pack! Harry had found his forever home - one with a dad that would stay home with him all day long, and a mom that would spoil him to pieces with new matching leashes, collars, and bowls.
By April, Harry was ready to go to his new home. These photos were taken in our last hours together.
(^ He’s smiling! I swear I didn’t photoshop this!)
I won’t lie - I was a complete and utter wreck that morning. When Robin from Best Friends came to get him, I was bawling so hysterically that she actually said “Grace! He doesn’t have to go! He can stay here with you!” But I knew he had found his perfect family, and I tearfully said bye to Harry that morning.
A good friend told me that the pain of parting with a foster dog goes away as soon as you get your first update, and she was right. Harry’s new mom and dad have done such an amazing job with Harry since April and I’m so excited to share their update:
We wanted to give you a status report on our Bichon-Poo “Harry”. He has gained at least 5 lbs since we got him from you, and has become very protective of us. The only time he barks is when someone rings the doorbell or comes to the front door. Other than that, he’s very quiet (which we appreciate). He just started a basic obedience class at Petco, with one session down and five more to go. There are two other dogs in the class - a lab mix and a great dane-something mix (HUGE). Harry was quite intimidated at first, but eventually came out from behind our chairs and got brave enough to venture into the “common” area. We are very proud of him. He has come a long way since April. He is still skittish sometimes, but really enjoys our affection, and wants nothing more than to sit with us on the couch and cuddle up. Rhonda has had to move him over from “second” to “third” position to get the pecking order straight, but he’s ok with that, as long as he still gets attention.
We love Harry very much. He has grown to more than a “lap dog” - he’s more of a “two-lap” dog in size. I wish there was a way to keep him clean all the time, because he’s so soft and cuddly right after a bath, so he gets a bath every week. He still is very ready for the next one every time!
Here’s three pictures of him. The first has him “begging” (waving his front paws in the air up and down) which is very cute. In the second and third, he’s just standing looking at the camera - almost posing. Hope that helps you know he is loved.
And there you have it. Harry is home. And Harry will live happily ever after! Harry was my first foster dog, but I know he won’t be my last.
