Ramblings From The Ranch – May 2024

Foster or Fail?

When we lived in Oregon, my husband and I fostered over 25 dogs for our local shelter. Fostering fit in well with our lifestyle, where we travelled often and didn’t want to commit to dog ownership. When we would talk to our friends about fostering, they’d say, “Oh, I could never do that! I’d fall in love with the dog and keep them!” We did love some of our fosters (a huge Cane Corso named Cooper comes to mind), but others made us joke, “who’d ever adopt this goofy dog?”

Foster homes are a critical part of The Ranch, as they are to any animal shelter or rescue. “It can be a risk to adopt a dog right from a shelter,” Ranch volunteer David Ellison said. “But when the dog has been successfully fostered in a home for a while, it jumps to the top of the list. You know so much more about the dog.” Foster parents socialize and train the dog and also provide detailed information to potential adopters.

David walked Eliza during his volunteer shift at The Ranch. I said to my husband, “she is just the perfect dog! Why isn’t there a line of people waiting to adopt her?” When Eliza was roughed up by a kennel mate, David took her home as a foster, to heal. David and his husband Edgar Antonio have three other dogs. Those dogs and Eliza quickly became inseparable. “They loved each other!”

In the past, David and Edgar have focused on adopting dogs who were, for various reasons, not very adoptable. “In this case, we felt a bit guilty keeping Eliza, as she was so adoptable. But we would have felt worse breaking up the four,” David said. Eliza is now what we refer to a “foster fail.” She has been part of the household for about four months now and everyone is elated.

Adelia and Dane Leblanc intended to provide short-term fostering for Ranch dogs, to help them become more adoptable. They took Pulga home to help him recover from a leg injury. He needed regular injections and pills and was ordered to rest.

“We had been thinking of adopting another dog for a while,” Adelia said. “We had a list of Ranch dogs we were considering and Pulga was definitely not on it. We thought he was too hyper and hard to walk.” When they took him home, as so often happens, they saw another side of him. “He was so well-behaved,” Dane said. “He was completely different than at the shelter. He’s smart and affectionate and easy to train. He’s a great hiking partner for me and behaves perfectly at restaurants.”

You can guess where this story is going, right? “We had him for six weeks and we just couldn’t bring him back. To be honest, we weren’t sure he’d find owners as good as us!” Adelia laughed.

Mark Martin and David DeMello have fostered seven dogs since moving to the area with their own two canines. “You can really see a dog’s true personality once they are out of the shelter,” David said. “That makes it easier to market them and get them adopted.”

Mark developed a special bond with Leo when walking him at The Ranch. “Leo had been there a long time, several years. He’s a black dog and black dogs tend to get overlooked by adopters,” David said. “We took him home just to give him some respite. Our plan was to advertise him and find him a home.”

After six weeks, Mark and David decided they couldn’t part with Leo. They were concerned he’d continue to be overlooked for adoption. And besides, they’d fallen in love!

The Ranch is always in need of fosters, particularly for shy dogs or those who are healing from surgeries or injuries. Many dogs arrive at the Ranch after the trauma of being abandoned or after being injured on the street. Can you offer this critical temporary service for a dog, helping them to heal and to learn the skills needed to attract the perfect adopter? The Ranch makes it easy, providing you with everything you’ll need. And if you end up being a “foster failure,” no worries! You can keep your new friend.

You can find out more on our Facebook page or at www.theranchchapala.com. Or email us at adoptaranchdog@outlook.com.