Angel is a forever foster
Sponsored by Danny and Ricki in celebration of Bernice & Norm’s 65th wedding anniversary and Norm’s 90th Birthday!
It’s been 6 years this month since Angel entered our care, so we thought it was time to share an update on our girl and explain a bit more about what it means to be a “forever foster” through Save Me Rescue. To understand Angels journey we need to start at the beginning. In 2018 we were contacted by one of the shelters we work closely with about a dog in their care who was completely shut down. She was unresponsive in her kennel, spending her days curled up in the back corner shaking and refusing to eat. Due to this behaviour she was not a candidate for the adoption floor. Our shelter contact knew this also meant she would quickly find herself on the euthanasia list if a rescue could not be found. We knew little about Angel’s background, we knew she was 2 years old and had come from a home with kids. She had been surrendered to the shelter because as the kids grew and started running around, she began displaying herding behavior and was nipping at them. But beyond the basic details shared during her surrender it was hard to do any additional testing due to how shut down she was.
At the time, our rescue was doing a lot of work with mill dogs and the behaviour Angel displayed in the shelter was very similar to many mill dogs, so we felt we had the skill set as a rescue to rehab Angel and find her an appropriate home. When Angel moved into her foster home, she was very shut down for the first couple of weeks but then something changed. We often talk in rescue about the 3 3 3 rule. In 3 days they start to decompress, in 3 weeks they start showing their personality and by 3 months you truly know the dog. By the 3-week mark Angel had started to come out of her shell and show her foster home that she was actually a well behaved, sweet and silly dog in the home environment. She got along well with the other dogs in the home, and she quickly caught onto the routine. But as Angel continued to settle in, additional behaviors started to arise. We learned that although Angel was great with her “pack” she showed reactivity to any new people entering into that environment. We brought in a trainer to work with Angel but struggled to make progress due to how sensitive Angel was to any changes in the dynamic of the home.
After a year in care the decision was made to move Angel to a more rural foster home where her daily interactions with other dogs and people could be more easily managed. With the move came our introduction Kyle and Madison Vivian, the owners of North Grey K9 who worked as Angel’s trainers and offered her a safe space when her foster parents were out of town. Although some progress was made in Angels training, we had to accept the reality which was that due to a combination of genetics/past experience/sensitive nature Angel would always be triggered by changes in her environment and the introduction of new people into her space. And for her well-being the best course of action was management of her environment. It was also around this time that we decided that we would not seek adoption placement for Angel but instead would keep her in Save Me’s care as a forever foster. When we pull dogs from the shelter, we make the commitment that if we can keep them safe and healthy, they have a place for as long as needed. And in Angel’s unique case that will be for the entirety of her life.
So, what does Angel’s life look like today? Well 6 years later she is living her best life on 100 acres with her foster family. She has a small circle of “friends” which include her foster parents, their extended family and her trainers Madison and Kyle. When people visit her foster parents for short periods Angel has a room in the home where she can go and calmly hang out. She has a handful of canine friends who she deems worthy of her love, and we are always working on growing that circle so that she has more dogs to play with. And for the people she lets see her full personality she is one of the silliest, loving and easy-going dogs you could ever meet.
Forever fosters are not the norm in rescue, but they are an important representation of the commitment rescues make to all the dogs in their care. We are so thankful to everyone who has donated over the years as those funds allow us to support all the dogs in our care, even if their stay is longer than originally anticipated.
