We are a family of dog lovers who had dogs in the past, but when I had some health problems and we weren’t sure whether we had the capacity to offer a dog a long term home.
We’d been a dogless family for several years and we were all yearning for the pitter patter of little paws around the house. I’d never considered fostering before but when I started researching rescues online it became very clear that rescue charities were desperate for fosterers, and this seemed like a good option for us – a way to help a dog in need without the permanent commitment, just in case it didn’t work out. At first, my husband was worried that fostering was cheating somehow, or that we’d be jumping the queue if we did want to adopt, but when I showed him how much charities needed fosterers, he was soon onboard. Out of nowhere, our son suddenly developed an obsession with pugs, and after a quick internet search we found the PDWRA and our lives were changed forever!
We submitted the application form to become fosterers and had a home visit with a lovely PDWRA volunteer to check our home was suitable. We didn’t tell our son it was a pug charity, just that we were interested in fostering a dog. A couple of weeks later I had a call from the Volunteer Area Coordinator (VAC) for our area asking if we could take a foster in, and so our foster journey began.
We quickly fell in love with fostering and all adored having a dog around. Our son was over the moon to have a pug in the house, and we soon adapted to life with a dog again. The first foster was difficult to say goodbye to, but we all agreed that we weren’t quite a perfect fit, plus, the PDWRA had found a perfect home. It was strange to have a quiet home again, but we were so excited when we got ‘the call’ from the VAC about taking another foster pug.
We’ve fostered 7 pugs through the PDWRA in total, and very much hope we can foster again in the future. Each pug that came to us had their own unique personality and challenges. The PDWRA were always on hand if we needed support or guidance. With each new pug it was getting increasingly difficult to say goodbye. We felt we could offer a great temporary foster home, and that was often helping a dog coming from difficult circumstances, but I still worried that it wouldn’t be fair on a dog to adopt due to the complications of my health issues.
Then came Ozzy.
Ozzy came to us as a foster in April 2024. He’d had a difficult start in life. While we had no intention of adopting, as we’d really enjoyed fostering, there was just something about Ozzy’s energy, he just seemed so happy to be with us. He was lapping up all the attention and as each day went by, I saw him become more grounded, as if he were saying ‘ahhh, I’m safe now’. We felt this overwhelming feeling that he was home. We also felt that it would have been just too hard to say goodbye, and that despite the challenges of my health, he didn’t care about that one jot, what we had to offer was enough for him.
So, we quickly let our VAC know and once we’d had all the fostering medical assessments sorted, we signed the paperwork and transferred the adoption fee (we’d already had a home check to become fosterers). All very straightforward.
Ozzy came to us with a few health issues – allergies and eye issues, but the PDWRA have been so helpful in guiding us through managing these. He did need some support with his behaviour too, as after a difficult start in life, he struggled to feel safe – especially around new people. He had sadly lost one of his eyes due to neglect before coming to us and was understandably not a fan of the vets, or people touching his face and head.
With a lot of love and patience, Ozzy has come on leaps and bounds! I always loved to see the progress our foster pugs made with us, even though they were only with us for a few weeks. Watching Ozzy blossom over the last year has been wonderful and leaves me with an enormous sense of awe! He’s doing so much better with people and is so much calmer. He’s been socialising with dogs and people, and we very much hope that if he continues to improve we can foster again, so that he has a friend every now and then, as he does love to play.
Ozzy can be so funny and mischievous, but he’s also so bright and quick to learn.
His zoomies around the garden are always a joy to behold and the way he scratches the kitchen bin to demand his dinner makes us laugh.
Like a typical pug, Ozzy is very food oriented – which has come in handy for training, but also gets him into mischief – he quickly learned that there were delicious delights to be found in the strawberry patch! At first, we couldn’t quite understand why we weren’t getting any strawberries, then we figured out it was just our cheeky boy getting to them before us!
We initially had some challenges with Ozzy and my 10-year-old. At first, Ozzy could be triggered by people moving suddenly, and children are not known for their ability to keep still. However, with time and patience and lots of love, they are doing so well together. We got my son to feed Ozzy every day, go on walks together and get involved in training. Now Ozzy sleeps on the end of my son’s bed each night – we actually ended up getting our son a bigger bed so they both had more room! They love to snuggle and run around the garden together.
My husband says: “It was great fostering, but life feels complete with little Ozzy. I love taking him to the local cricket ground and watching him run with his friends, 2 big Labradors. They’re so much faster than he is, but he perseveres. Due to having only one eye, he can sometimes veer off to one side and gets lost but soon finds his ways back to us. We live out in the countryside, but without a dog I forget to get out and enjoy it. My morning walks in the fields with Ozzy are so peaceful and calming.”
I’ve always been highly impressed with working with the PDWRA. The positive community ethos they have fostered is wonderfully supportive. Our Volunteer Area Co-ordinator, Dee, has always been amazingly understanding and helpful! Thank you!
