As a pet care professional and dog mom to many personal dogs my life is truly blessed. I cannot remember a time I didn’t have dogs in my home. I grew up with family dogs, a rotund little dachshund named Cinnamon, and in my teenage years a miniature schnauzer named Gretchen. As I got older and more settled in my marriage and career, my husband and I started our own doggie family, at one point we had 11 dogs in our home. To many that seems overwhelming, and certainly at times it was! Despite having a house full of dogs to care for I can easily say that the love and companionship that comes from having a multi dog household brings me an unimaginable joy.
Many years ago, I got involved in dog rescue and began fostering puppies, and occasionally an adult dog, that needed a place to crash until the moved on to their forever family. I worked with a few rescue organizations, opening my home and my heart to dozens of puppies. Some people aren’t “puppy people” but I definitely am! There is very little that brings me as much happiness as a puppy bounding around in their typical floppy puppy way, causing fur baby chaos with each passing week! And of course, there’s the smell of that precious and delightful puppy breath.
When Playful Pups Retreat opened in 2010, it gave me the perfect opportunity to delve deeper into dog rescue, as I had a new space and a growing dog loving community. I decided to start my own non-profit rescue organization, Pitties Love Peace, which was founded in 2011 and became a 501c3 organization in 2012. At this point, I have fostered well over 100 dogs, mostly puppies, giving them a safe and loving home until they move on to their forever homes. Not all have been easy dogs, some had major medical challenges and others had behavioral issues, but one thing that each and everyone offered me was a loyalty, devotion and love that isn’t often experienced on a human level.
As I am typing this, I have two 8 week old adorable little foster puppies sleeping in a play pen next to me. They are bundles of furry perfection with their boundless playful energy, sweet and sassy personalities and yes…puppy breath. When I look at them my heart swells with love, I feel a sense of inner peace and truly feel like I am doing what I was born to do…to help dogs. I am filled with gratitude for the privilege of being able to not only care for dogs that are entrusted to us at Playful Pups, but to open my heart and home to dogs in need, many of which will never know the love of a family without a foster home to come to first. The sad truth is that thousands of dogs die while waiting for a rescue to be able to help them, which is impossible without foster homes.
The most common question I have people ask me is how I can give my fosters up. I constantly hear, “Oh I could never foster, I would want to keep them all.” And to that I say foster homes are often what makes the difference between a dog living or dying, so when I consider this alternative, I will always choose to foster even though letting them go to a new family can be difficult! There is something so special about being part of each pup’s life as they wait for the perfect family to adopt them. Foster families ensure each dog is healthy, well loved and cared for, and that they receive training, positive experiences and socialization and they are part of our family, often experiencing these things for the first time ever. I will add that fostering is not always easy, nor is it always convenient and yes, fostering creates extra work…but nothing is more gratifying as being such an important part of each dog’s journey.
Every dog I have had in my home has filled my heart and soul with love, companionship, a lot of laughter and most importantly fostering has allowed me to live my life’s purpose.
If you want to learn more about becoming a foster family for our amazing rescue, please CLICK HERE and you can join our small but mighty village. You can also learn more on the Pitties Love Peace Facebook page. If you are not local to Central PA, there are hundreds of rescue organizations who need fosters and are waiting to hear from you!
Written by Laurie Yost, owner of Playful Pups Retreat
Laurie holds the highest level of certification through PACCC (Professional Animal Care Certification Council) with a CPACO certification (Certified Professional Animal Care Operator). In addition, she is certified in Pet First Aid and is also certified through Fear Free Pets. Laurie is also the founder of a non-profit rescue organization, Pitties Love Peace.