Hi friends, family and furries alike. Ellie Mae here to bark with you about something that is dear to my heart and that i can speak to firstpaw.

When an animal is lost, alone and homeless, there are not a whole lot of great experiences looming in the future. The potential options are being hit by a car, starvation and dehydration or being captured and thrown into a scary, loud cell (where nobody knows your name, you no longer have your little stuffed pig to hold and the smells of fear engulf you). Life changes and nothing is as it was. This happened to me. Dehydrated, impregnated, and lost. i remember closing my eyes to forget all the fear, hunger and heartbreak. But instead of taking my turn on the Rainbow Bridge, i learned the two most life-saving words i have ever known. Foster Parents.

There are lots of stories out there about being saved. That is not the kind of saving i am talking about here. My savior was “Cuz i Matter” Animal Rescue -- more specifically, foster mom, Kerri and foster dad, Tony. They told me to call them mom and dad cuz when i came into CiMAR, i instantly became family. i felt it too. As my time in my temporary home went along, i knew this thing called fostering was something that i wanted for all dogs and cats out there…and birds, and bunnies and mice and … well, you get the point. For everyone! Fostering is not just life-changing. It is life-saving. My tail wouldn’t be thumping the table leg right now without it.

However, fostering is far from just being about the me’s that are saved. The truth is -- fostering is an equal opportunity life changer. When both parties get something good out of it (like a veggie dog! -- yuuuummmm, i love those), it is the best of both worlds. So, this blog includes not only what the animal gets, but what the human gets from fostering a rescue. Oh, i was just reminded to give you the first treat of reading this blog. Her name is Arin Greenwood and she writes for the Puppington Post. No wait. That isn’t right….the Huffington Post. Yes, that is it. She is the wonderful soul that came up with some of these 10 reasons. She is smart. i filled in all the explanations, though, cuz i am smart too.

Let’s first start with, “What really is fostering?” Well… it is taking in a little soul for only a short time and providing love, care and veggie dogs until a forever family is found. Excuse me a moment…. (i had to take a little break to wipe up the saliva on the keyboard. That happens when i think about veggie dogs too many times!) Since fostering is the reason i am alive, i can say it is the greatest gift you can ever give to a fuzzy soul. But here are some other reasons why it is also good for You and fuzzies like me.

“i Matter”

When you are abused, ignored, shooed away and otherwise forgotten, you forget you matter. i cannot tell you how meaningful it was to me when i finally started to believe that i was loved. To see those smiling faces come in to my room to just scratch my head and rub my ears was sometimes overwhelming. i was in such bad shape, but i knew that i could stop fighting and being fearful. i could feel the love that was being offered to me in every meal, every bowl of water and every conversation. (i don’t know if you know my foster momma, Kerri, but she likes to talk!). The moment an animal begins to feel love, trust is its tail. It tends to follow right behind.

Playmates Who Sleep Over!

i know i seem very human like since i write this blog, but i am a dog. i love to play with other dogs cuz they like the same kind of play i do. i like playing with my humans too, but there is just something so cool about wrestling another barker. Tails wag, mouths slobber, bodies roll; it is so much fun! Humans are fun too, but there is a lot less chewing and slobber allowed.

When you foster and animal, you give YOUR animals another friend to interact with. You also allow the rescue dog to feel a sense of comfort. Our world is a little different than the human world. We have ways of teaching each other and building each other’s confidence. It is like if you speak English and you go to a remote island in Japan where everyone speaks Japanese, you would feel a lot more comfortable if there was ONE person who also spoke English. That is what it is like for dogs. Cats are a little different. They are excited to sleep over with YOU. The good thing about cat fostering is that if you put the rescue in a room with its “stuff,” and you visit with food, treats, water and love, you have just quadruplified the space that cat had at the shelter and created the perfect little world for them! Cats are far more OK with being in their own room. Dogs would end up just camping out on each side of the door listening to each other pant. When your friends get to sleep over, you want them near!

You’re Saving Lives

This is kind of obvious, but i will lay it out there in the most direct way i know how. When an animal is pulled from the shelter on the day it is scheduled to be killed, because you agreed to foster that soul until it can get its forever home, you save that life. But it doesn’t end there. You also potentially save the life of another animal that takes the now vacant crate of that animal in the shelter. Animal number two will now be given a chance to be adopted or pulled by another rescue. You actually save two lives all for the one simple act of allowing a fuzzy soul to bunk with you for a little while.

It’ll Make You Feel Great

So, i don’t know you personally (do i?). i don’t know specifically what makes you feel great. Like i enjoy deep massages that pull all my skin up around my face and then pull it back down again like bread being kneaded… You may like that too? i dunno. My point is that different things make us feel great. Taking in a scared, lonely, heartbroken dog or cat is simply a beautiful thing to do. Doing beautiful things usually makes a heart very happy. If you have a heart, the odds are in your favor it will swell with love and happiness when you foster!

Foster Pets Will Make You Laugh

i don’t know what it is, but humans find us, and cats too, very entertaining. i know my foster mom used to talk into this little thing and she would be looking at me and laughing and excitedly explaining what i did. i wasn’t sure if she was trying to tell me to do it again? After the Redbone Nine were born, that is about all i heard when humans came to see them. Those sweet hounds were a hot mess for sure. I even had to laugh. All i can say is if you need some heart laughing, you just need a few goofball Coonhounds and you will be set!

Your Human Kids Will Love It Too

Do you have kids? This particular point is good if you have them. Let’s be real, most short humans love dogs and cats. i have seen kids get all gooey over a pigs and a turtles too. Kids are joyous and tend to understand that animals are just like them. Sharing love and kisses is natural (until you turn into an older human i hear). Having a foster in your home offers great teaching moments for kids. They can learn responsibility, unconditional love, leadership, empathy and compassion to name just a few. When you involve your short humans in fostering, you open them up to a world they never knew existed. If you don’t have kids, the kid in you will be awakened (well, it will anyway). You will find yourself playing again like you did when you were shorter. The best part of fostering a dog, is they are NOT like kids, cuz they actually leave when they find their forever home and they don’t need college funds.

You’ll Give A Pet A Chance To Shine

Shining is hard when you are living in a loud, scary cell. It is hard to remember who you are when you have lost everything. When you are allowed to live with a foster, you begin to find your bearings again. For me, as a homeless dog, i had no ability to shine when i was found. i was covered in dirt. If i tried to make friends with people, they often shooed me away and used angry energy toward me. i couldn’t show them how sweet and loving i was because i was covered in fleas and felt like i was dying. When my fosters bathed me and allowed me to sleep for the first time without wondering what every noise was, my real personality began to be revealed. People want to adopt an animal they feel a connection to. If the animal is living in a gutter or gets moved from cage to cage, there is no way that animal can connect to anything. Shut down or hyper activity takes over and the animal loses its chance at a forever home again and again and again.

You’re Covered

i-don’t’ know if this is true everywhere, but at “Cuz i Matter,” fosters are taken care of. They get help in any way they need to make the transition of the animal into the home easy and calm for both! If you don’t have a crate, a bed, bowls, blankets, food, whatever, CiMAR can help supply what you may need. The vetting costs are also handled by us (see what i did there? i made me a part of CiMAR…tee hee heee….that feels so good!). Which leads me to the next point…

You’ll Make New Friends

If you foster, you automatically are adopted into “Cuz.” You are family at that point. You are invited to come and play with us at events and outings. You get to participate in letting the world get to know your sweet rescue. You not only make friends with humans, but you also make friends with pups and kitties. You become quite embraced very quickly.

i used to think i didn’t want people around me because they were always so mean. And then i was introduced to people who really love animals and i knew i could never have enough of these kinds of friends. Ever.

Good-bye Is A Happy Ending
The best part of fostering is that there is no down side. Your good-bye is also your rescue’s first day in its forever family. The tears you will shed will be filled with love, hope, excitement and relief. Your job is done. You have prepared that little soul for the rest of its life to be loved unconditionally by its new family. i will never forget my foster mom and dad. They were everything to me at the hardest point in my life. i have no words for how much i love them (hooooowwwwlllll). i am not shameful for how deeply i feel this. It is what fostering is all about. It is an undying love that swells your heart and permanently stretches your capacity for gratitude. That is what i feel. i cannot even imagine what it would feel like to be the one that provided that feeling. i can only guess it feels quadruplified!

The pads of my paws are getting a little tired so i will stop there. The joys of fostering can be made into a book there are so many! In the end, as it has been said so many times and in so many ways, “Love Heals.” Fostering is just that for both the fuzzy and its foster parent.

If you want to feel that amazing feeling, contact CiMAR (CuziMatterAnimalRescue@gmail.com). They do their best to match your preferences, schedule, space allocation, family situation – everything. You will never be the same again.

Love,

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