I know the typical saying is "Don't Shop, ADOPT" and I whole heartedly agree that you should adopt rather than purchase a dog.from a breeder or pet store.  However, I think all dog lovers should consider another possibility--fostering on a regular basis instead of adding another dog to the home. We could save so many lives together.

I think every dog lover should definitely adopt one, maybe two dogs to be their core "pack", family members. But so often I see the most amazing dog homes adopt until their home is full, and they can't foster. I hear it all the time "I'd foster but I have four dogs!"  "I'd foster but I have 3 dogs now" !  We ALL want to adopt - of course we all fall in love with these adorable spirits that we temporarily have in our homes and hearts - but the true gift is to FOSTER. 

In our home we have two forever dogs. They are amazing and completely a part of our family; life would not be the same without them, and we are grateful daily to have our girls. The 3rd dog in our home is always a foster - or what I call "The Sacred Spot" - because it is a life saving space we offer to our foster dog for however long they need it. Believe me, we have fostered some dogs that just wormed their way so deep into our hearts that we cried when they were adopted, and will forever consider them a part of our family.  Sometimes their adopters become part of our extended circle because we share a common love for this four legged being (during the floods an adopter of one of our favorite dogs, Zuzu, actually offered our entire family - 2 legged and 4 -  to come stay with them). But, in the end, we always let our beloved fosters go. 

To me, it's a math equation. We always have a foster, and on average they stay about a month. So that is 12 dogs a year we save with our family's "Sacred Spot" program... if we adopted one of our darling, wonderful foster dogs that would be... well let's just say the dog lived 10 years - so 12 dogs per year that couldn't be saved by us times 10 - 120 dogs. 120 LIVES lost because we want to adopt our foster  -  that is the way I let each one of them go.

 We kiss them, hug them, and tell them we will always love them, and we're always here for them if they need us - and then I let them go to their forever loving family that eagerly embraces them.. and open our doors for another life to be saved.  
   Please consider fostering. YOU can save a life, or 120 lives!

What do you do when a tragically sad, overcrowded shelter that doesn't even vaccinate the dogs in their care calls you and says "We accidentally put the wrong dog on the transport! The driver is coming back to get the fluffy puppy you requested. So you want them to leave this accidental dog here (oh and by the way we accidentally vaccinated her too) or send her as well? She is VERY sweet".  

        The Longview shelter in Texas gets 1000 dogs a month through its doors. They do not vaccinate their dogs because they don't have the money - and most are euthanized  anyway. Why spend money vaccinating a dog that you only are going to inject with lethal injection days later?  Georgia was at that shelter and an angel must have been watching out for her. Or perhaps the shelter workers couldn't bear to see her killed because her time WAS up... and they knew that this ride could take her to a wonderful life if they could get her on it. 
   Of course, we said yes... please send us the 'accidental puppy'. We had no idea where she'd go... or even what she looked like. She was supposed to look like the fluffy puppy that was heading to Retriever Rescue of Colorado ... but in reality she is short haired and months older than that pup! But we are so grateful that Georgia got out. She is quite possibly one of the sweetest souls we've ever met in our rescue. Pure love, pure joy. 
    Of course coming from a horrible place has its long lasting effects. Georgia is heartworm positive and has started doxycylcline pills and will get her immiticide injections in May and June.  We love her and her foster mom couldn't be happier. It all worked out. We were stressed when she arrived because we had no place for her to land... but with a little shuffling she got into one of our BEST foster homes! Spoiled, loved, cared for... this is why we do what we do. 

    

 Along with white picket fences and apple pie the "american dream" seems to often include a family dog. Especially in Colorado. So many couples approach us wanting to adopt a dog before they start a family, or when their children are still young. Ideally it does seem wonderful for babies and toddlers to grow up with the warmth, love and snuggles of the family dog. However, in rescue, we see over and over again that many great dogs just aren't suited to live with young children.  Keeping track of a young, crawling or toddling child is hard enough for parents 24/7 and then add an animal into the mix and often its a recipe for trouble.  
   Sweet, gorgeous MOKI was the apple of his human's eye before the baby arrived. Their life centered around Moki - he went to work with his mom and hung out at the office all day with the other dogs, hiked at lunch time and went to training some evenings. Life was great. Then one baby arrived and a year later another baby came. The house was busy, noisy, mom was stressed, going to work didn't always happen but Moki rolled with it all and enjoyed his new life as a huge stuffed animal for the babies.  One day though it was nap time and Moki was sleeping under the crib and dad inadvertently closed the door of the bedroom leaving Moki in the room unsupervised with a toddler and a sleeping baby. No one knows exactly what happened but Moki nipped at the toddler, or moved his head quickly and clipped him with his teeth. No one will ever know. But suddenly Moki went from beloved family pet to out the door. 
   When my son was little I used to tell him "DOGS SAY NO WITH THEIR TEETH" and this is the true sad reality for thousands of dogs in America who are put in situations where they tell little people NO with their teeth. 
   It is never acceptable for a dog to growl or nip a child. However it is also not acceptable to believe that your dog will tolerate anything your child dishes out and supervision around young children and dogs is critical as is teaching proper behavior around dogs. At Summit Dog Rescue we just aren't fans of placing dogs in homes with small children.  Some rescues have firm "NO CHILDREN UNDER 6" rules. We on occasion have dogs we feel are good candidates for young children, but its a case by case basis. We have decided that before a dog is placed in a family with small children our board needs to specifically review that placement beforehand. We would never want to place a child at risk, or set one of our dogs up for failure.