Fostering Dogs vs the rare bond we had with Peppa.

I’ve been thinking back on our fostering experiences lately, trying to pinpoint whether there were any real moments of softness or genuine connection with the dogs we took in. And when I’m being real with myself, those moments were hard to come by. When we brought them home they were calm enough, and there was one brief stretch where I held one of them in my arms, but even then it felt more like they just wanted to be held rather than anything that felt like a true bond forming.

Then there’s Peppa.

The day we met her she came bounding out, nose to the ground, tail going a mile a minute, running all over the place. She came over to us like she already knew us. When I carried her home in my arms it felt like something clicked right away. It felt like a connection from the very first moment, and that feeling never really went away.

My wife and I haven’t had a ton of experience with dogs over the years, but the few we’ve had, with Peppa being the clear exception, have all been pretty different from one another. This most recent fostering situation was chaotic, and for me there was no real warmth there. My wife spent the night with the foster dogs and she told me she felt some comfort with them during that time, which I believe, but I was heading to work the next morning so I actually needed to sleep.

We had tried fostering once before that didn’t work out either, and I did connect a bit more with that dog. But our girl Peppa was already here and she was terrified, so we made sure the other dog went somewhere she’d feel safe and settled. Peppa stayed, and honestly that was the right call.

What still stands out to me is that I was invested in Peppa’s well-being before she even made it through our door. When they told us she had some skin and fur issues and offered to swap her out for a different dog, I took real offense to that. In my mind she was already our dog. I told them to send Peppa, the dog we were supposed to get. Not a different one. I didn’t care about skin problems. I didn’t care if she had a bald patch on her head. I just wanted her, and they sent her, and we gave her the best life we possibly could.

That kind of instant connection is rare, and I know it. I hope someday we find another dog who fits into our lives the way she did, one we can love just as much and who loves us right back.