Foster Chronicles - Betsy now Princess Bella - a brindle Hound mix

You may not count Betsy in our foster family. She was only with us for 2 hours and it was only because her foster family work schedule conflicted with transport pickup. I thought -I'll be there anyway so we can take her for a few hours.

Well that was all the time it took for her to steal my heart. We are on our 5th foster so far if you count Betsy - which I don't think most would - and she was the hardest to let go of.

It's bittersweet to me that she found her forever home (photo below) because a part of me really wanted to adopt her even though I knew deep ... deep ...DEEP down that she wasn't a good fit for our family.

This was my first experience with transport. You arrive and then you wait - in this case you wait in the very hot sun - for the transport to arrive. It's not an exact arrival time because they are coming from pretty far away ... in this case North Carolina.

There are toys, collars and food all laid out. The foster families all seemed to have done this before so they were getting the supplies they needed, chatting with the volunteers and each other or enjoying their car's air conditioning.

When the transport arrived, everyone gathered. Each dog was brought out one by one. First was the new mom. Then her puppies - oh the little cute puppies!! Children and adults alike came forward as their dog's name was called. The local humane society was there for photo moments with each family. The process moved along nicely - get your dog, get a photo, get a drink of water (the dog, not the humans!) and then get to the grassy area for a pee.

The dogs were kept apart for safety reasons - all leashed, all with their foster families.

Betsy was the sweetest thing you ever saw. She was skinny and had the puppy body movements - a bit awkward, bouncy, high energy. You don't know how it's cute to see this awkward body moving around but it so is!

She was a good temperament. Not shy or stressed. Cooperative.

We took her home and I stayed with her in the basement as we were advised to keep new fosters and current dogs apart for 24-48 hours.

I set up my computer to work, but Betsy was just too curious. =) We spent lots of time in the back yard - she never relieved herself in the house and did all her business outside. She was so adorable and loving and affectionate and needy and fabulous.

When her foster dad arrived, she had already attached herself to me and I to her. I would never have guessed that 2 hours would be long enough to make giving a foster up a hard thing to do. I ached for her for days. I considered adopting her. I had irrational thoughts of losing her to someone at an upcoming Renegades game!

This feeling passed slowly because I knew she wasn't the right dog for our family. But she will be the right dog for a very lucky family. And I know she'll have a great life!

Here's Betsy's first photo with her forever family. Her name is Princess Bella and she has a furry brother named Sir Bozzly who is also an adorably awesome rescue. We are so happy her foster family - Tom and Devin - took great care of Betsy and got her ready to live happily ever after. Happy tails Betsy... I mean Princess Bella =)

Agency - Crate Escape
Temperament - playful, clingy, adventurous
Favorite toy - bugs
Rewards - she was so loving and needy that you instantly wanted to keep her safe and love her forever and she had plenty of love and loyalty to give in return
Challenges - biggest challenge was giving her up


*All photos of Betsy are via the Crate Escape Foster Safe group