Fostering Puppies Almost Ruined My Life. I've Now Fostered 47.

My first foster litter was four puppies, three weeks old, whose mother had been hit by a car.

I had no experience with neonatal animals. I had a clean apartment, a flexible schedule, and a misplaced confidence in my ability to handle anything.

Neonatal puppies under four weeks cannot regulate their own body temperature. They must be fed every two to three hours, around the clock, from a syringe if they can't nurse. Their weight must be tracked daily. They cannot go to the bathroom without stimulation.

I learned all of this during the first night, from a rescue coordinator on the phone at 2am while two puppies in my hands were crying in a way that made me certain something was catastrophically wrong.

"They're hungry," she said. "Feed them again."

I did not sleep for five days in any meaningful way.

By week two, the puppies had tripled in weight and discovered legs. Watching a three-week-old puppy figure out how to walk is the most objectively funny thing I have ever witnessed — a series of face-plants so pure in their confusion that I cried laughing while running on zero sleep.

By week four, they were eating soft food, wrestling each other, and developing completely distinct personalities. Tank was bossy. Pebble was the escape artist. Marble followed everyone else's lead. Dot was the one who fell asleep mid-play at unpredictable intervals.

Saying goodbye when they went to their adoptive families at eight weeks was harder than I expected. I had been warned about "foster fail" — the tendency to keep fosters — but I didn't keep these four. I kept the habit.

I've now fostered 47 dogs across four years: neonatal litters, single puppies, adult dogs in medical recovery, seniors waiting for placement. Every single one was temporary. Every single one mattered.

People ask how I say goodbye 47 times. I tell them I don't think of it as goodbye. I think of it as delivery.

My apartment is small. My life is full. The rescue coordinator knows my number by heart.

---

*Fostering saves lives and costs you nothing but time. Contact your local shelter about their foster program — most provide all supplies.*