[Dailydrool] Foster failure in less than 24 hours

[rosekh at aol.com]

Lois, I too was asked by Suzanne Fitch to foster Fred for "just a few days."? Annie was on her way (my first dog, although I'd grown up with dogs, and my first basset.)? Fred was arriving too, both having been transported from Arkansas to New Jersey.? They were arriving at about 10 pm on a Saturday night, and Suzanne called me at about 9 pm saying that?Fred's foster plans?had fallen?through at the last minute.? At first I said I couldn't take him at all...two dogs??? I'd never had one!? Then I said, ok, I'm off on Monday, so I can keep him until then.? Suzanne said that this would give her a few days to work something else out.? When I hung up, I started thinking about this poor dog who'd been in a car for 2 or 3 days, and was going to get settled and then get moved on again.? I called Suzanne back and said that I'd keep Fred until they found him a permanent home.

An hour later, I was in a dark McDonald's parking lot with my sister-in-law and niece, meeting Suzanne to pick up Fred and Annie.? Annie was terrified, but Fred was having a great time meeting everyone.? It was love at first sight and, as I signed Annie's adoption papers, I told Suzanne that I doubted that Fred was going anywhere.? Suzanne was going to stop by my house the following day to see how we were settling in.? I called her in the morning and told her to bring the papers for me to sign for Fred.? My parents came to visit and my mom (not knowing, but somehow knowing, that I'd made a final decision), showed up with ID tags...one said Annie Hughes and the other, Fred Hughes!? When?Suzanne arrived, she said that so many people involved in the transport had fallen in love with my Freddie, and had expressed interest in adopting him if she couldn't find him a home locally.? I told her that that's what I was worried about, and I wasn't taking any chances...he was mine!!??What I didn't realize at the time was how much Annie would depend on Fred.? In the beginning, she would not do ANYTHING if he wasn't with her, and he is still her security blanket.? 

An interesting note...Annie's name was originally Fannie Mae, but I changed it.? Fred's was Fred...when I was in college, there was a basset hound who belonged to one of the students.? My school had a policy that dogs were allowed anywhere on campus (a woman had donated money and this was part of the deal!)? Anyway, the basset's name was Fred, and he used to sun himself on the steps of whichever building his owner was taking a class in.? My parents absolutely LOVED him (my dad has always had a thing for bassets) and used to look for Fred whenever they would visit me.? It just seemed fitting that my first male basset would be a Fred!!

Rose, Annie (I was adopted first, which is why I'm in charge) and Fred (who could resist this face??)







-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20090802/cf43db27/attachment-0002.htm>