As most of you know we began to foster dogs for 4 Paws while we were waiting for my son's service dog. Our family dog of 9 years had died last new years eve after a five month fight with lymphoma. It was a heart wrenching decision to let her go but she kept getting infections due to her chemo and wasn't showing a lot of improvement. She had been my 'barn buddy' and quiet companion for so long and it was hard to imagine not having her with me.
Later that winter I was home on sick leave after a very painful surgery that had a long recuperation time. It was in the dead of winter, the snow was so deep I couldn't even go out to the barn to see the horses. My marriage of 12 years was falling apart and my son who has autism could go into his own world of play for hours. It was a tremendously lonely time. In addition to that I was trying to fund raise to get my son his dog and it was not going well, everything seemed to come to a standstill and I was exhausted and overwhelmed. The surgery had left me weak and it seemed like a tremendous undertaking to just go from one room to the other. I had wondered if I would ever feel good again.
After looking for some info on the 4 Paws site I saw that they were greatly in need of foster families for the pups in training. My son was also bereft at the loss of our dog and we talked about fostering. He liked the idea too, even though it meant giving up the dog eventually. We decided to go for it. As soon as I was physically able to make the trip we went up and picked out our new temporary dog.
When we got there we were presented with several choices, one was a wiggly hound mix that had so much energy I thought it would knock me over. Chris and I agreed that that one may not be the best choice at this time. Then the trainer brought out a beautiful little golden, tail wagging her entire body and hopelessly affectionate. Kind of a no brainer. Cammy had quickly wormed her way into our hearts and we made arrangements to take her home.
When we go home I realized that my lack of energy had disappeared. I felt energized and connected to life again. It was impossible not to smile at the antics of this loving and silly pup, and she wouldn't let you sit still much at all. Energy, energy, energy...she had enough for all of us. The darkness of that winter had finally passed. It was the right dog at the right time.
Spring breezed by and now summer was upon us. We knew it was almost time for Cammy to leave. She was smart and needing to learn more. It wasn't the only change on the horizon, my husband had decided to leave. A chapter in my life was coming to an end.
In July we got word that it was time to bring Cammy back. Chris did not want to go with us to say goodbye and it was probably best that way, so 'the Camster' and I had our last drive together. When we got to 4 Paws, Cammy was happy to see her old friends. I gave her a hug before I could get all choked up and they whisked her off. Three months later we attended her graduation where she became a multipurpose service dog trained in seizure alert. She is now a partner to a lovely little girl who loves her dearly and we were so proud of her. We said goodbye again and Cammy left with her new family to go home to Pennsylvania. Have a happy life my friend.
Fostering is a great experience but it can be exhausting. I knew my work schedule was going to be crazy and adjusting to life as a single mom was not going to be easy, so we decided to take a break from fostering for awhile. We had received a huge donation for our service dog and now I had to get busy making preparations.
But life without a dog is, well in my opinion, not much of a life. Chris and I both wanted a dog in our lives again and knew it wouldn't be until December until we would have one. We decided to foster again and made arangements to pick up a dog.
This time our choices were a goldendoodle that seemed to think he was a lap dog and a quiet, unassuming black lab. The quiet, sweet nature of Atticus won us over.
As we settled in with Atticus we discovered what a good and gentle soul he possessed. While he wasn't especially playful he had such a kind and soothing presence. Where ever I was he would seek me out and lay down next to me, often putting his paw on my foot. He would listen to the slightest correction and respectfully stop what he was doing. He was obedient but dignified. He was so glad to see us we would laugh about getting bruises from his powerful tail! When I would come home from work, weary and frazzled he would climb up next to me on the couch and plaster me with kisses or just lay his head gently on my lap. He seemed to know which was needed and when.
Soon we were at 4 paws in training with our new dog Mercy, but she was having problems with wearing her harness. Atticus came too, but he was getting ready to go into advanced training, so we sadly had to bid farewell. But during the last day of trainining we realized that we had to leave 4 Paws without our service dog 'Mercy' for awhile and we were sad. I worried about how to break the news to Chris, but then a thought came to me. Maybe we could take Atticus back with us for a few more weeks. Chris loved him so much I knew it would probably help fill the void.
So it was. We left 4 Paws with Atticus, sad to leave Mercy behind, but happy to see the silly doggy grin on Atticus face when they brought him out to us.
As I write this on New Years eve I realize that it is a year to the day I said goodbye to my Andi dog. Atticus comes over to me and lies down resting his head gently on my foot as if consoling me. Once again, it was the right dog at the right time.
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