We started our foster journey approximately 5 years ago ..
We decided to foster to help save working dogs and find them a forever home. At the time we started we were travelling around seeing as much of Australia as we could which meant we were sometimes away from home for up to 3 months of the year, so we couldn’t commit to having our own dog. It was hard for us as we always had a dog as a member of our family so fostering was a great option .
When Jennie and Peri formed Herd2Homes dog rescue 2 years ago we joined their team as foster carers, we would also assist with the transportation of dogs from the pound to foster carers.
We have had some amazing dogs to foster over the years- we always meant to keep track but we have lost count of how many! When we get our foster home we always treat the dog like it’s our own. We house train straight away as we like the dog to feel part of our family, we also set boundaries such as no dog on the lounge or bed and, unless it’s really unsuitable weather, our dogs sleep in a nice comfy kennel on the verandah. We always make sure a dog has basic doggy manners before going off to their forever homes.
Most dogs that end up in rescue can be anxious at first and some have had a lot of trauma such as the boy we are fostering at the moment! He is a two year old Kelpie boy ‘Scout’ that was hit by a car and left at the pound.
He is an absolutely gorgeous boy- it’s just amazing how these dogs just move on so quickly coming from a less than ideal situation.
Along came Lola…
Just after the rescue started one of our team members notified the rescue that there was a dog in need, she had been mistreated for years – physically abused and never loved or cared for- whenever she came on heat she would have pups, they would be taken away, disposed of and she would never get any veterinary attention. After many years of someone close pleading with the owner to re home her he finally let her go. When Lola was rescued they thought her age was around 10 so she has suffered for a lot of years :(
So her journey began! Volunteers brought her down from the Blue Mountains and Jennie and I took her to Ourimbah Vet to be checked – she had been pregnant yet again but sadly she had already lost the pups. After all her vet work was completed she went out with Jennie to the farm and lived the life of luxury for a few weeks! Frank and I went out to Jennie’s for a visit and while we were there we were thinking about fostering a couple of pups- then we saw Lola….Frank suggested we foster her. Jennie had changed her name to Lola. We took Lola home and we pretty much made our mind up straight away- she was going to stay as part of our family forever. She still flinches sometimes and yelps when we go to pat her and we don’t think she will ever get over her trauma .
Lola is now living happily ever after with two well trained humans to look after her!! She has also been great help with all the foster dogs we have had as she teaches them to chill out and shows them some doggie manners …
The best thing about being part of a rescue team you can help in so many different ways , if you are not able to commit to fostering a dog long term until it is ready to go to its forever home you can also temp care overnight or help with transportation or even join our administration team or help with fundraising. Herd2Homes rescue group has become our extended family, we love what we do and the H2H team that we are part of. The commitment from Peri and Jennie and all the team is absolutely amazing and we are very proud to be part of it .
In the first two years the team have saved and re homed approx 1157 working dogs!! This is why we do what we do!