A few years ago we fostered a few small dogs for the CaliCan Rescue Foundation. They are a wonderful non-profit organization that brings small, unwanted dogs up from California to get a new lease on life in Edmonton. After successfully fostering a pup, we ended up self-selecting ourselves out of their foster pawrent pool when I adopted Zoe.

I’ve since learned that we were CaliCan’s first “foster fail”.

After Fenris passed away, we decided to begin fostering for CaliCan once again. CaliCan needed temporary homes for their new dog-izens and we didn’t have any plans to adopt a new pup so soon after Fenris had passed. Drew claims he had no intention of adopting a third pup again.. and I know I sang that song and dance as well..

Since Cinn (Sam), I’ve been pretty specific about the pups we’ll foster. They have to be female. OK, so that’s not really specific but it can limit a rescue organization when they’re trying to find foster homes for pups. But for the sake of our sanity, and the state of our home, any fosters have to be female. Hypnos can be a real handful otherwise.

Thus Angie came to stay with us for a little while.  Angie, an Italian Greyhound & MinPin mix, was a bundle of curiosity and energy but lucky for us, she didn’t fit in with the family or our other beasties.  After a few fits and starts in the trial visit stage, we sent our 3rd foster pup on her way to her new permanent home in Andrew, AB.

Then the CHEESE flight arrived. After some hemm’ing and haw’ing with Kari about which pup we’d bring into our home, Kari decided to give us the bigger of the two. So instead of Brie, we ended up with BabyBel.

Who then proceeded to steal the hearts of everyone in our home. While I gave epic speeches listing all the reasons why we had no intention of adopting a 3rd dog at the CaliCan Fundraising BBQ and Adoption Event, Bella was busy worming her way into our hearts.

Like all our dogs, she’s had a rough start. She was a rescue from a hoarder’s home and had been stuck in a shock collar (despite being far smaller than the recommended minimum dog size for collar use) for a significant amount of time. She’s both timid and fierce, energetic and languid, all at once.

At the BBQ we learned her original name while in foster care in California was Bella. She responded to it so well we decided not to rename her something different upon her adoption. Rather, we gave her back her “old” name.

We’re thrilled to be welcoming Bella into our home on a permanent basis.

We’ve rejoined the ranks of “foster fails”. Once again we’re no longer able to foster dogs for CaliCan.

If you’re looking for a new dog to add to your family please adopt a rescue dog and give them a second chance. For small dogs, CaliCan Rescue Foundationshould be your first choice. Larger dogs (and sometimes puppies) can be adopted from HART or SCARS. All of these excellent organizations can also use foster homes for rescue dogs and, of course, financial support. Please consider helping them in any way you can.

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