Why I'm Giving Up My Foster Dog

We kept him off the bed for, hmmm... about 22 hours.

Who needs interns when you have dogs?

We're barely in love.

He's not cute at all.

We kept him off the bed for, hmmm... about 22 hours.Yesterday, I brought Warren to his first adoption event. Truth be told, I found myself on the verge of tears a few times.Two and a half weeks ago, we agreed to foster this little pup. He'd been wandering around north Minneapolis for who knows how long. I remember seeing him in person for the first time and thinking, "Hmm, well he doesn't look like the kind of dog I'd be all into."Au contraire.In weeks, this dog has gone from a cute-but-not-my-type pup who wouldn't stop peeing and pooping on my floor (and wouldn't leave Patsy alone for a second), to a mostly housebroken dog who follows me everywhere. He sits and lays down on command. He naps on my feet while I write, do the dishes and cook dinner. I often find him and Patsy laying in pools of sunlight on our hardwood floor, side by side. Who needs interns when you have dogs?I've totally fallen in love with this dog.And yet...There's something in the pit of my stomach that says we should not keep him. It's been there the whole time and has never gone away.At yesterday's adoption event, I spoke to a couple longtime dog fosterers. I asked if the first one is the hardest, and they said yes, definitely. But everyone also encouraged me to give him up because there are so many other dogs still needing to be fostered. There is a forever home for Warren and it's not with Josh, Patsy, Bogart and me. They promised when I see him go to his forever family, I'll actually be happy.And still, I cried when I got home. Fostering is hard. HOW DO PEOPLE DO THIS WITH ACTUAL HUMAN BABIES & KIDS???!But I knew this would be hard and I signed up for it anyway. Now I need to see it through. To prove I can do it, to give some other family a four-legged family member I know they'll love, and maybe to prove to some you considering fostering that they could do it, too.Trust me, if I can do it, you can. We're barely in love. He's not cute at all.

* * *

Want more animal-related Hey Eleanor posts? Thought so. There was the time I brought a puppy through US Customs (sounds way scarier than it was!), the time I did a ride-along with a Mpls K-9 Unit (those dogs are insane) and the time Patsy was a therapy dog intern. Oh, and how 'bout the time I broke up a dog fight?!