01/07/2026
✨Introducing our 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐖 monthly Foster Spotlight!!✨The first one is all about our long-time foster mom, Heather Lewis. We sure hope you enjoy this new fun feature. 💗🐾💗
𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓?
𝐀: When I was 23, I decided to adopt a dog. I had grown up with Boxers and was looking for one of my own. I was a depressed, dirt-poor graduate student looking for a companion when my Boxer girl came into my life. She had been tied up and left in a dumpster with a broken nose, broken ribs, and about 35 lbs. underweight. Just a shy little flower of a Boxer, I named her Buttercup. We healed together from our wounds and within a year she was no shy flower anymore. Snap your fingers in a "Z" and say "Buttercup" like RuPaul, and you’ll get who she was. Loud and proud, that little girl dog had transformed into a force to be reckoned with. I was the luckiest girl alive to have her by my side and I vowed that as soon as I could, I would try to pay it forward; to help other dogs like her. Dogs thrown away, overlooked, neglected, or just plain lost. I could help bring them back from that trauma and get them ready for the life they 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 be living. THAT is why I foster. Because there are so many dogs out there that just need a break; a reset and a soft place to land for a while until their perfect home arrives, or sometimes a last home for those dogs that need to know they are loved as they fade from this world.
Truthfully it helps me, too. There's been plenty of times when the world seems like a dumpster fire and I think, "Okay, breathe. You can't help all that crazy out there in the world, but you can help THEM. It’s baby steps to you, but it is their whole life on the line. Carry on."
It can be very grounding to put aside your own selfishness and convenience to help out another being. Remember this when you're cleaning up dog vomit at 3 am. Ha! All joking aside, fostering means never knowing exactly what you're getting. Folks lie all the time when giving up their dogs, so leave your expectations at the door! Every dog is a true individual, and you have to make room for that, you will never know the entirety of what they've been through, so let patience, love, and consistency guide the way for them.
Here's the best part; you get to watch them bloom! When they finally realize you're not going to beat them, that they will always have food, that they have a job to do, and someone who consistently helps frame their ignorance into good behavior...they bloom. It’s the most amazing thing to be a part of that transformation and the thing that will get you to say "yes" to the next dog that needs help.
𝑸: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆?
𝐀: If it’s your first time fostering it can be a little scary like anything new, but it is so rewarding. There are plenty of folks to help with behavioral issues or questions you may have, and with every dog you foster you learn a little more. Things that may freak you out at first don't even phase you after a while because you're already working on the solution to make it better or know someone who can help.
𝑸: 𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆?
𝐀: Miss Buttercup led me to start fostering over 25 years ago, and I have never stopped. I have fostered A LOT of dogs; some easy ones and some pretty tough customers. Every single one has taught me something, and everyone has left me grateful to have known them; recharging me for the next dog who needs a hand.
