The Foster Dog I Fell In Love With From His Perspective

I fostered a dog I fell in love with, but our elderly dogs didn’t feel the same. When I returned the dog, Boomer, to the shelter I couldn’t even see clearly from all of my tears. I was asked to share about our experience.

I wrote it from Boomer’s perspective:

“I’m a HAPPY DOG! I can forget how big I am and am easily excited, so get ready for lots of love. I can walk for hours, obsessed with treats, and when I’m tired, I love to snuggle while I snore. My favorite thing is thick green grass; I can lick all the morning dew off if it’s damp. I used my mouth to explore everything. Although I never bit anyone, I’d chew on human hands and feet when I needed attention.

Sometimes I see things I want to chase: cats, squirrels, lizards, and even shadows are exciting. The humans continued to distract me; sometimes, it worked with those high-value treats. I even found critters living under the grass and tried to dig them up, but I never reached one. I could dig fast, though, and it constantly caused some yelling. I think they were cheering me on!

I have this special crate that’s only mine. At first, I didn’t like it, but then I learned that being calm gets me all the treats I could ask for. Mellow music was on when I came in here, and I always fell asleep. I would nap for hours during the day. Sometimes I would even take myself in there. I love to chew on things and would get my favorite kong balls with peanut butter. The humans never put me in the crate for punishment, so I didn’t hate it.

I only peed in the house once, and it was when I first got here. The excitement was overwhelming. After that, I would walk to the door when needed, and the humans knew what I was doing. We also spent so much time outside I could go whenever.

The tricky thing for me was leaving the older dogs alone, especially in the house. I wanted to play so badly, but they got tired. I kept trying, though! The dogs would get mad. Or maybe it was just them being silly; I couldn’t tell the difference. I think this upset the humans as I would get a time out. But I’d keep trying to play with them! I was on my best behavior when I was away from the dogs. I was calm and obedient when I was the main focus and didn’t have to share the love.

Another tough time was when I was in the car, and a human outside would hand something to my human in the car. I knew my job was to keep everyone safe, and I barked ferociously to keep all in the car secure. It worked. When the car was moving, I loved snuggling. It made me sleepy, and since the windows were only open enough for me to sniff, I’d often go to sleep. I bet I could jump out of the windows if they were open.

Going to sleep made me anxious. I needed to run around, bark, and jump on everyone when I got tired. I fought sleep often and would try my best not to miss out on anything. But once I passed out, I would be OUT. I’m not sure why this never got any easier, but sleeping was terrifying.

When one of the humans left for work and came home, I couldn’t contain my excitement. I’d try to get the older dogs involved in this, but they didn’t seem to care as much as I did. I wonder why? These parts of the day were when I got the most time-outs as I would start biting everything.

I started getting kisses on the head when I followed directions. These made me so happy. I would lean on the humans to show I loved them while also staring into their eyes. This was my favorite way to show them how much I cared. I followed them around the house to be in whatever room they were in. They seemed to like it when I did that, too.

I know those humans loved me. We cuddled every day on the couch when I slept for hours. I think we all loved the long walks. They particularly loved my crooked jaw and long tongue. Over and over I was praised for it. When I wasn’t around the old, grumpy dogs, I could focus on whatever they wanted me to do and we all were calm and happy.”

Boomer is available for adoption and looking to share so much love and lots of long walks. Truly a great dog.