Taking care of Spaghetti and Meatball

It’s been a busy week here at apartment 543. On Wednesday, Jack and I decided to finally utilize the online “portal” that allows us to see what dogs are looking for foster care. I was sitting at my desk on Tuesday and happened to check the portal to see which animals were in need of temporary homes. 

 

That’s when two irresistible options caught my eye – two-month-old Australian shepherd mix puppies. They had come in as strays the night before, a brother and sister. They were absolutely adorable and my attention had been wholly captured. I sent the agency an email saying I would love to foster one or both of the puppies. After some discussion (her saying it would be a lot for a first-time foster, but the puppies could play together), I decided we could handle two 15-pound puppies in our home for a couple of days. 

 

Boy, did we learn a lot. 

 

The puppies came without names and without collars or leashes, only puppy pee pads. We ended up naming them Spaghetti and Meatball because we thought it was funny, and we couldn’t think of anything else. 

 

As soon as I opened the carrier door, the first thing Spaghetti did was spread a walking pee all over the rug we forgot to pick up (we had fully intended to, but the excitement of dogs made it impossible to remember everything). That went in the wash, and their cage and pen were set up, creating an area in the living room where they could safely run around while also staying far away from the carpet on our bedroom floor. 

 

They were so excited their little bodies were barely able to contain their wiggles, tails moving so fast and momentous. Sitting on the floor next to them, we gave them all our love. They scrambled into our laps and back out again, nipping at our hands, faces, and each other. 

 

As adorable as they were, they were stinky. They came in as strays, carrying a bit of that dirty, lived-on-the-street smell with them. We were told as fosters, that although we might be tempted to give them baths, to not do so because it might further traumatize already traumatized dogs. So between the smell on their coats and their poo and pee everywhere (they had about a 50% success rate of going on the pads), our apartment had a certain smell for a couple of days. 

 

Despite the number of times I cleaned up puppy excrement and yelled “Hey! Don’t touch that!” it was a wonderful experience. For a couple of days, we were puppy parents, learning how to be responsible and teach the right things so our puppy babies would grow up to be nice and responsible doggy adults.  

 

As we watched them play and nap with each other, it broke our hearts to think they might be adopted by separate families. They were siblings with an unbreakable bond. 

 

We had to say goodbye though, so with sad hearts but grateful noses, we let them go back to the shelter to get ready for adoption. It was heartwarming to see them go from shy and unknowing pups to being comfortable and daring enough to be themselves – puppies. We looked them up on the adoption site and were happy when only two days later, both of their pictures were gone. I hope Spaghetti and Meatball are happy out there together somewhere. 

 

We may have become too emotionally invested, but at least we didn’t foster fail. Yet. 

 

My Determination: “We had a good run, and now it’s over; what’s wrong with that?” ― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain