# The foster you let go



## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

For all you foster parents out there, is there one you still think about more than the others? One you wish you would've kept, but for many reasons maybe it just wasn't the right time?

I pulled this guy out of AC on deaths door both literally (injuries and very ill) and figuratively (slated for euthanasia), and found him a fabulous home nearly two years ago. I still get regular updates on him, and he's very much loved.

I wouldn't necessarily go back and change things, because the time just wasn't right for a variety of reasons to add another keeper, but I still miss the little guy and if circumstances had been different I would've liked to be able to keep him. He was mostly GSD, but had some hound or retriever (or both!) in there adding to the mix. He was a great pup.


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## Sigurd's Mom (May 12, 2009)

King. 2 years ago... I really don't know what breed he is.
He was the most gentle dog I have ever encountered. He would sleep on my bed, underneath the covers. He mustn't have been too old. He was still nippy like a puppy, but I taught him "kisses", so when he nipped, when I gave them command, he'd kiss instead!
Found him on the high-way, running in and out of traffic, starving. I advertised all over town, no leads. I kept him for about 4 months, but then found a home with an older couple not far from my town in Canada.
I had to let him go, because at the time, I was living with my Mother and her male Newfie didn't like him. Her newfie ONLY gets a long with females. They got in a fight, and one of the dogs ended up getting my Mother's hand... well, we had to separate them. I had no plans of moving at the time, so it was in our best interest, to place him.
The dog on the left is King, the one the right is Chelsea, an old old girl (also a rescue, 13~ years):


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

Enschi, a 10 year old female that came to me from California. Her owner had lost her home to a foreclosure and due to Enschi's age she was not considered a good candidate for shelters and rescues were all full. So she came to Idaho as my foster.

I placed her in a fantastic home several months later and I am still in contact with her "Mom". Enschi is still going strong at 12 years age and is winning fans over to the breed every day. She was a retired SchH 3, and her "Mom" is a dispatcher for a police department, so Enschi gets taken out to the training field on occasion and is given a "recreational" bite on a sleeve by the K9 handlers.

This is a great home...but I regret every single day that I didn't keep her for my own. I don't have that regret with any other foster I have had, and I have had a lot. But Enschi is very, very special.
Sheilah


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

Mine is Harley, the Chinese Shar-Pei stray I rescued... I had him for 8-9 months. He was a great dog and I really wish I had kept him!
I did end up keeping one of my foster dogs-- Pooch my terrier mix was originally a foster. I had actually had someone lined up to adopt him, and it wasn't until then that I realized I really did not want to let him go. When the adopter did not show up on the day they were supposed to adopt him I was relieved and that is when I made it official that he was staying with me. I never heard from the adopter again despite attempts to contact them, even though they had actually already paid me part of the adoption fee so I could get him neutered.


This is Harley. When I found him he was emaciated and had sores on all four paw pads. The vet said the sores were probably from walking on concrete for a very long time. I had to nurse him back to health. He was a great dog, good with my other dogs and cats and LOVED kids and babies. He had intermittant skin issues and horrible gas, but it wasn't until I was getting him ready to go to his new home that I learned that these were common symptoms of food allergies (I printed out a lot of info on it for his new owners.) I tried to keep in contact with the people who adopted him but after a while they stopped returning my calls.


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## Remo (Sep 8, 2004)

There have been quite a few that I wish I could have kept, but the first one that comes to mind was Fritzi. He was a moose at five months old and could pull his owners off of their feet. He had belonged to a neurosurgeon and his wife and I guess they figured that if they paid enough for a dog, he would figure out how to train himself. He was such a naughty little guy at first - when they were trying to fill out the surrender papers to sign him over, he managed to knock both of them down, even bloodied the woman's knees. I could not stand it any more and asked them to please turn the leash over to me. As soon as he tried that crap with me and found out that it was not going to get him anywhere, he was puzzled for a couple of seconds, and then relieved. He had been looking so hard for guidance and got none from his original owners. That little booger stuck to me like glue and slept with his head snuggled over my shoulder. Within days, he was leash trained, started well into his basic obedience and just a like a sponge to learn new things. 

It would not have been fair to him to try in fit in with our pack of four that we had at the time. He deserved to have more attention than that. I miss that ornery little guy to this day.


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## Fluffypants (Aug 31, 2003)

sit said:


> Enschi, a 10 year old female that came to me from California. Her owner had lost her home to a foreclosure and due to Enschi's age she was not considered a good candidate for shelters and rescues were all full. So she came to Idaho as my foster.
> 
> I placed her in a fantastic home several months later and I am still in contact with her "Mom". Enschi is still going strong at 12 years age and is winning fans over to the breed every day. She was a retired SchH 3, and her "Mom" is a dispatcher for a police department, so Enschi gets taken out to the training field on occasion and is given a "recreational" bite on a sleeve by the K9 handlers.
> 
> ...


Awww... I think I know who Enschi is.... she was Janis Novak's female! I got my Niko from Janis... wonderful woman. I'm glad Enschi is in a great home... nice to hear as I saw her on this board awhile back.

Tanja


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## georgiapeach717 (Jan 28, 2010)

i dont have one yet...but chances are it will be the one i have now. its sweet to know you all think about them for so long after.  Its good to be a loved puppy, even better to be loved by many!


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

Fluffypants said:


> Awww... I think I know who Enschi is.... she was Janis Novak's female! I got my Niko from Janis... wonderful woman. I'm glad Enschi is in a great home... nice to hear as I saw her on this board awhile back.
> 
> Tanja


Yep! That is Enschi! She is just an outstanding dog. I honestly kick myself every day for not keeping her myself. She is doing great, by the way. And still very healthy and sturdy at 12!
Sheilah


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

In Nov of '08 After my 14 yr old Clover passed, I decided to foster while thinking of going with a good breeder for a pup for SchH. So while doing the research for my next dog, fostering would fill the hole a bit that Clover left.
I saw him on PF and fell in love with his pic, and was able to foster him. He was my heartdog foster, "Hawkeye" I really bonded with him from the getgo. 
Though, he hated my husband, my 16 yr old son and most of my sons friends. They did nothing to give him a reason to be reactive to them.
I couldn't adopt him because of this, and after having him for 9 weeks his attitude didn't change, we practiced counter conditioning, NILIF and nothing seemed to work. Who knows what baggage he carried about men. He ended up biting my DH in the back unprovoked, and I had to return him to the rescue. I loved that dog and never had closure as to where he ended up. I visited him a week after I gave him up, and it was so very hard. He was adopted out the next week and the rescue felt it would be best if I was out of the picture(they never did a reassessment on the bite incident, blamed it on him resource guarding me). 
For some odd reason, his PF link is still up, never been deleted and I look at it now and then. Here is his black beauty'd PF page!
Adopted German Shepherd Dog: Hawkeye: Petfinder


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Yes, Tino. 

Tino had been neglected and all of his teeth were broken from chewing on crate bars. He had separation anxiety and became rather attached to me. I couldn't crate him due to his issues and worked with him on being ok left in a certain room (which was difficult due to potty issues, he was an italian greyhound and they are the worst breed there is when it comes to housebreaking.)

He was also very shy... I took him to the dog park to socialize but he almost never played, would just stick by my side. He would ask me to pick him up, and if I didn't he threw himself at my chest forcing me to grab him! It really caught me off guard the first time he did that. He was very special to me. I also had him quite a long time, I think 6 months before he was adopted. If he came back to the rescue I would adopt him in a heartbeat. 

His tongue would stick out most of the time from his broken teeth


















"What do you mean, 'your pillow'?"


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Molly was also pretty special, after all she had been through. A friend of mine asked me if I would foster her, and explained the situation. She had spent her entire 2 years of life on a chain in someones backyard, her water often frozen over, and abused by the kids and their friends. The people were friends of her family, and she had been trying to get them to either bring the dog inside (they had another dog that was indoor) or give her up but they refused. My friend had finally had enough. We planned it out, and the rescue mission began.... she snuck over there in the middle of the night and took the dog, leaving her old collar attached to the chain as if she slipped out. She drove from Missouri to the halfway point in Illinois where I met her and brought the dog to Indiana. She had severe bacterial and fungal skin infections, a horrible ear infection, and was malnurished. She had never played with another dog and was completely listless having given up on life. 

I'll never forget the morning I woke up because my bed was shaking; her and Tessa were playing and kept smacking into it. Here she is in the beginning


































And after being adopted:









Another special case was Clay, he touched my heart though he was only here a few days. Unfortunately once he wasn't so scared and unsure of what was going on he turned out to have aggression issues and I could no longer foster him with Tessa terrified and refusing to come out of hiding. He went to be an only dog which was ideal because he was incredibly mild mannered and well behaved outside of the aggression. 

The day I brought Clay to my home from the humane society, I was helping a friend move with my truck. I brought Clay to my friends new place a few miles from my house that evening. While making a trip, he escaped out the crate and opened a window and got loose. My friend and I drove around for a couple hours calling his name and asking anyone we saw if they had seen him. We decided to check out by my house, and found him in my neighbors yard trying to jump the fence to get back into my yard! How he found his way a couple miles back to my place I have no clue. 

After that I had my friend watch him while I ran to walmart to get a tag that from then on all my fosters wore with my address and phone number. My friend called while I was gone, Clay was nonstop whining. When he put the phone up to him and I spoke he went silent! It really broke my heart to tell the humane society I could not foster him, but Tessa had to come first. I tried to keep them completely separated but Tessa knew he was still in the house and would refuse to come out from hiding.


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