Monday, August 2, 2010

Meet Natsumi ... .and Me

My name is Kim, I'm a single Mom with a 12 year old son.   We have been fostering with a dog rescue group here in St. Louis, MO for the past two years.       WOO - let me tell you, I had no idea what I was really signing up for that day.   It has become one of the most rewarding activities in my life, but also very emotional.    There are extreme ups and extreme downs, but at the end of the day if we can say we saved one life then it has to be worth it.   To top it off,  I've met some amazing friends ... both of the furry and human kind.     A friend of mine in the group, Tracy, told me I might want to think about starting a blog to help get my fosters adopted.      Our group specializes in older dogs, and I have a particular soft spot in my heart for the adult and senior dogs who end up in a pound.     They end up there all sorts of ways, unfortunately, one of the most frequent ways is that they've become inconvenient to the people who originally adopted them.    Pet ownership is like marriage - for better or for worse.   But considering the divorce rate in this country, maybe that's not the best analogy.  ha       It ought to be a lifelong commitment!!!!   But I digress ... Because of my soft spot I often end up fostering dogs that might not be the first choice when someone starts thinking about adopting a dog.      Right now I only have 1 foster that I consider highly adoptable - meaning I won't have him more than a few weeks.    I could be wrong, though, and tomorrow I might get a call or an email from someone who is willing to commit to a dog that really needs a happily ever after.    Right now, the foster I'm worried about finding a home for is Natsumi.    She is an adorable 6 year old apricot cockapoo.     She was turned into a local pound last Tuesday by the owners requesting she be put down the next day.    In our group, our contact for that particular pound sent out an SOS about her.   I couldn't turn down the request to save a dog that would be PTS (put to sleep) the very next day.     I got out to the pound as early as I could Wednesday morning to pick her up.    This poor girl was terrified - it took forever for myself and the animal control employee to get her.    She got out of her kennel and was running around both frightened and unsure of her surroundings.      I could tell right then that she had sight problems, but I wouldn't realize until later that she was totally blind.    This is the first blind foster I've had and I have to admit I had a very hard time the first few days I had her watching her as she kept bumping into everything in the house and yard.     As I've heard, though, it was just a matter of time before she mastered the lay of her new home and navigates her foster home with ease.      We have an appointment at an opthamologist this Thursday to determine if she has glaucoma.     I'm told if she has glaumcoma, it will be nearly impossible to find her a home.    I'm convinced someone will see her lovely and innocent face and make sure to give her a home to spend the rest of her days in.      If you're interested, shoot me an email at dogadoptionkim@gmail.com

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