Benefits of Fostering
Most people who’ve worked in animal shelters are well aware of that painful feeling of seeing puppies sitting in cages all day, without a home to go to or a family to call their own. While adoption drives are making a huge difference for so many of these puppies, fostering is a great way to give the rest of them a new lease on life.
Fostering a puppy is one of the most rewarding experiences. When you see that glint in the puppy’s eyes, you know that he/she feels safe, loved and cared for. Fostering helps puppies get used to a home environment and to become comfortable with having people and possibly other pets around.
What exactly does fostering a puppy mean?
Fostering involves taking a homeless dog into your home and giving them love, care and attention. This could be for a predetermined period of time, or until the puppy is ready to be adopted and go to his/her forever home.
Here at Pawsome, we expect foster parents to take up a minimum of a 2-week commitment.
How does fostering a puppy help?
Apart from the joy of having a furry friend to love and play with at home, there are some other real positives that come out of fostering, like:
When you foster a puppy, you’re freeing up one more space at the shelter or adoption home for another puppy in need of help
Fostering a puppy before adoption helps the puppy get used to being in a home and being around people. It helps them develop the necessary social skills to grow up in a house
During the foster period, you will learn a lot about the dog, like his/her temperament, behaviour, moods and so on. These are important details, as it helps the shelter decide what kind of home the dog would be suited to.
When you choose to foster a puppy, you are basically grooming the little buddy to go and fill someone’s life with so much happiness!
What can fostering a puppy do for you?
First things first. Having a puppy at home is going to make your life joyful. It’s going to bring positivity to your surroundings. And the love that you receive from the puppy is unconditional.
So apart from the most obvious benefit of fostering a puppy, there are many other ways that fostering adds value to your life as well!
You get to learn about so many different kinds of dogs. As you continue on your fostering journey, you will be introduced to so many different breeds of dogs, of all ages and all shapes and sizes. Can you think of something more exciting for a dog lover?
You become part of a much wider community. The fostering community is only growing in size, so you have the chance to interact with and get to know many others like you who have chosen to foster puppies.
It makes you feel really good. It’s one of the most selfless things you could do, to open your heart and home to a puppy in need of help. So when you see him/her flourishing and finally getting to go to their forever home, there’s this intense gratification you get that’s hard to come by.
You may be meeting your new forever buddy! In many cases, people who have fostered puppies have chosen to go ahead and adopt them after the foster period. So the next time you agree to foster, remember, you might just be bringing your best friend home for good!
If you’ve ever thought about becoming a pet parent, going through the fostering process is actually a great idea. Since you aren’t getting into a long-term commitment with fostering, you also get an idea of what your life would be like as a pet parent. You’ll know whether you’re cut out to have a puppy in your life permanently or not.
One of the most rewarding things about fostering a puppy is seeing them slowly realise that they are loved. Most dogs that come from shelters have forgotten what it feels like to be loved. During the fostering process, as you take care of the puppy, you will slowly start to see the puppy realise that he/she is safe and loved with you. It helps them to form meaningful attachments with human beings.
Remember, when you agree to foster a puppy, you’re literally helping save a life. You’re giving that lucky puppy a whole new life, and possibly preparing him/her for a wonderful life with their future families.
There are so many benefits to fostering, but like we mentioned, there’s nothing that really beats that feeling of seeing a dog from a shelter believe in life, love and happiness once again.
Here’s a real life account from Viren, who fostered 2 puppies a while ago.
“Fostering Sanju and Sanjay was one of the best decisions I took without consulting my parents. My family has always been compassionate towards animals but they were not ready to accept any animal into the house. That is when I decided to wrangle and go against my parents' wishes. I fostered Sanju and Sanjay for weeks, and they left behind a different man.
1. Sanju and Sanjay, who were just around 2 months old, taught me that it is completely okay if I missed out on sleep for a few days. This is to say that I believed I could not survive without 9-10 hours of sleep and 1 hour of nap every single day. These pups would scratch my room door to wake me up in the middle of the night, because they wanted company. Many times, I slept in the verandah with a book in my hand and these wonderful puppies on my lap.
2. They taught my family to become more compassionate. I remember my father who yelled the crap out of me the day I agreed to bring the pup, but in a week, he purchased treats and toys for them every other day. That was the first time I saw my dad like that and nothing made me happier.
3. This was happening a month before my third year exams. My parents, who have always been very particular about my scores, do not approve if I mess up any exam. And that stress and anxiety was killing me from the inside. I was distant from my friends for this very reason. I believe I survived that phase because of Sanju and Sanjay who always gave me a reason to push through so that I can foster more often.
4. Fostering taught me more about dogs in general. I learnt how the Indian Pariah is a wonderful breed and they are way way better than any other breed of dog. And since then, I've not gone more than a week without feeding streeties. I moved to Bangalore for a short period of time and I say, I had the richest experience because I had befriended several dogs in my neighbourhood, more than anybody would/could have made.
5. I became more attached to my family because of them. A bond which I thought was impossible to create.
I think Sanjay and Sanju left behind a permanent mark in my heart, that would never let me ignore a hungry dog in the street. And I think that makes me better than a lot of people out there.
My entire family teared up when we had to move them to a different foster home, which was not surprising because I could see my family getting attached to them, slowly but noticeably.
Today, I work extra hours and sleep less, so that very soon, I would be able to foster and adopt Indies. And that is a good enough reason for me to push through.
Sanju and Sanjay changed my life and if I had a magic pill to move back in time, I would, without doubt, pick December of 2019.”