Sunday, August 26, 2012

Going grey

No, not me. Just because my 29th birthday was a few weeks ago does not mean that I'm the one "going grey." Nor is Mr. K, or at least, I don't think he is. I am blind after all. He could have a full head of grey hair by now and I would never know. I wouldn't be surprised if he did, having to put up with me and my constantly buzzing about like a busy bumble bee.
 Roscoe has a few grey furs, but who wouldn't living with us, and Hermione is way too young to be "going grey." So what in the world am I talking about?
Can you guess?
I'll give you a minute...
Do you know?
Well, I'll tell you:
Mr. K and I have decided to open our home to X-racing Greyhounds. We are going to become foster parents. Well, as long as we pass the home check and all the jazz, we'll become foster parents.
I'm so excited.
I'm not entirely sure how all of this happened. It was all sort of quite quickly. I had contacted a Greyhound rescue based in Scotland a while back to ask if they needed volunteers; it was about the same time I had gone out to visit that Greyhound rescue. The one that had left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I hadn't heard anything and then just a few days ago I received a call asking me if we'd be interested in fostering. I guess they really need foster homes and I told Mr. K that the volunteering they really needed was foster parents. I figured he'd be opposed. He really does humour me with all of my crazy   dog stuff and with Glacier having just left, I thought he was good with just Roscoe and Hermione. He surprised me when he said he'd be okay with fostering. We had a short chat about how it was a good time since I don't have a guide dog and who knows when I'll actually get one. Fostering has always ben something I've wanted to do, but haven't because I was worried it would negatively impact my working relationship with my current guide dog. Without that relationship to worry about, I can be free to foster.
Another perk to fostering is that we can see how Hermione does with new dogs in her home. Eventually, I will get a working dog and it may be good for her to have other doggie companions between now and then. She'll have to share me with a guide dog, and although she did that with Glacier, since he's been gone, she's been the object of my attention even more. It may be shocking for her in six months to suddenly not have me all to herself any longer.
So, if all goes well, we shall have "the world's fastest couch potato" moving in at some point. I am really looking forward to being able to give my time and effort to a cause that I feel strongly about: re-homing dogs...especially X-racers. I won't go into all of the politics of racing and the treatment of some dogs and all of the unhappy stuff about racing because, really, the important part is that if we are able to foster we are improving the lives of these great creatures one dog at a time. And that, is amazing. Just think, by opening your home to a rescue dog you can make a difference.
I've always felt like I've had to sit on the sidelines with regards to rescue. I've tried countless times to volunteer with organisations and for one reason or another, it's never worked out. Providing safety for dogs is something I get all fired up about and until now, I haven't really been able to get involved. I thought in order to actually rescue dogs, I'd have to open my own rescue organisation and that seemed like a far fetched idea. However, that is no longer the case and I am so excited about finally giving a dog a second chance. I won't go so far as to say that I'm rescuing them from horrible life or death situations, but it's a second chance in that they will be better prepared for home life with a family and thus more adoptable. Again, to me, that is just so incredible. I am also very excited to work with this particular rescue as they seem very open, considerate and definitely have the dogs' best interest at heart.
So, fingers  crossed that we "go grey" sooner rather  than later.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Wishing you all a very happy Sunday.
Best wishes Molly

Finn said...

Good luck with it!! I hope you are able to foster one real soon!

Dexter said...

Best of luck with your foster hound.

Mango Momma

The Websters said...

Yahoo!