Howie!

Monica and I are the proud new foster parents of Howie, a 7 month old Golden Retriever from WAAGR. Why "foster parents" you say? Well, we haven't technically "adopted" Howie.

I think when people hear "dog rescue" they think "humane society" and then have visions of a bunch of cages in a big room where there are all kinds of dogs. The way WAAGR works though is that when dogs come in they are immediately put in foster homes, which are just normal peoples houses. Normally these people will have a dog or two that are "their's" - meaning that they have adopted. and then another couple that they are just fostering.

After the dog has lived with them a while they have a pretty good idea of what is going on with him/her. So, they can tell prospective adopters: he's a great dog but he really doesn't like kids - or whatever the case may be. Hopefully they can give a report of "world's greatest dog" but if the dog really isn't great with kids... you're not doing anybody a favor keeping that a secret. Basically, the process makes it much more likely that the home the dog eventually ends up in - will be a good fit.

Of course, the other part I'm leaving out is that often dogs need to be in foster homes because they have some larger (health) issue. The rescue doesn't want to give someone their first ever dog when it has some serious concerns that need to be addressed.

Anyway, all that explanation behind us - Howie!

Howie has been great so far. Quite the bundle of energy, but I think he's starting to get used to his new surroundings already. He was given up by a family in Beloit who just didn't have the time for a puppy (side note: puppies have a lot of energy. This may seem obvious but there seem to be a lot of people that this is a surprise to).

We'll be crate-training him, so he will sleep and spend some day time in there. He'll also be getting a bunch of walks and a lot more playtime than he was getting in Beloit... and there's a certain appointment scheduled for next week that may CUT into his energy level a bit.

We're really looking forward to getting to know Howie better and if he plays his cards right, maybe he'll get permanent resident status in the not too distant future!