Dog Frenzy: Our Foster Story

Jifo and I are taking the next step: we're going to become foster parents. For dogs.

It's been a harrowing, surprisingly long, and, at times, emotional journey these last few weeks. We reached out to three different rescue groups to varying responses. One of them seemed promising, but repeatedly either they or the dogs tied to them were not "as advertised." Today I found out that they had suddenly placed a dog into another home that we had promised to foster for them just last night, due to a lack of communication on their end.

I burst into tears and had a fight with Jifo and then wrote a very earnest (and probably emotional lol) email to them urging them to communicate better with us. It was a frustrating 1-2-3 exchange that also showed they may not be the right group for us to work with.

Just when I switched my gchat status to, "God doesn't want me to have a dog," I got a call from the Mercedes Benz of rescue groups.

Much Love has been around for years. They have a tight network of volunteers, fosters, trainers, vets, and doggie day care centers, plus generous amounts of food donated by Petco, Natural Balance and Precise Pet Foods.

I met them five or six years ago during my first stint in L.A. I would go to brunch at the Rose Cafe and, on my way back to my car, pass their booth in a parking lot in Venice. I ended up walking dogs for them right then and there.

I immediately felt good talking with them. The coordinator took her time explaining their process and we set up a home check (they're willing to drive all the way out to the boonies of suburban SoCal) for this weekend.

I hope it goes well and that we can get the ball rolling on having Dog in my life at last.