The best and worst part of fostering

Anyone who’s fostered animals probably knows exactly what I mean without reading further.

There is one day of fostering that makes a foster parent want to jump for joy and go curl up in a bleary-eyed ball all at once.

It’s not during the first few days when a new puppy is still having accidents, learning that the couches are not toys, and crying at night.

It’s not when a dog is having such a difficult time learning a desired behavior despite doing all the “right” things, and you begin to hope desperately that your newly thought up, offbeat technique will be the one that clicks with them – and soon.

Stuffed Kong? No thanks. Empty Kong that once held dinner? Yes, please!

It’s not that moment you realize your foster is a completely different, better behaved, and more mature version of themselves than just a few months prior and you wonder why hardly anyone has expressed legitimate interest in adopting this great dog and whether that adoption will ever happen.

The first time I saw this fun, loving boy, he was cowering against a wall of files at the clinic.

Oh, and it’s something that occasionally, a foster parent doesn’t go through due to a decision they’ve made.

All in all, that pretty much sums up yesterday at the CfB household.

Non-fosters, any guesses as to what’s going on here?