It doesn’t matter if it’s your very first foster dog or your ninety first, the day that s/he gets adopted is an emotional one. On the one hand you should feel happy that your foster dog will be joining a family, and proud that your work led to this. But on the other, you may feel anxious about the dog’s transition to a new environment, and sad to say goodbye. Trust me; all of these feelings are totally normal.
It wasn’t until I had taken my third or fourth foster dog home that I was given the most valuable piece of advice I’ve ever received, to this day.
Don’t look back.
You will be unbelievably tempted, as you hand off the leash, walk away, or hop into your car. You will want to look back at your foster dog, to see how it’s going. Don’t. Because if you do, you’ll see one of two things:
1. Your foster dog pulling towards you, confused, maybe even anxious, not knowing why you’re leaving.
2. Your foster dog not having a care in the world, forgotten you like yesterday’s dirty laundry.
Neither of these scenes will feel good, and will only lead you to overanalyze the adoption even more than you already were up until that point.
So really, don’t look back. Take the “happy tail photo” (these are some of our favorites), answer any last minute questions for the adopters, and move on. You can (and should!) always ask for updates from the adopters after a day or so…or stalk them on social media!
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