THE HAND-OFF

Hi, my name is Gunner and I was rescued by BTRNC much earlier this year. I came to live with a nice lady named Liz who everyone said was my foster mother. I never was sure what that meant but I didn't really care because Liz was very nice to me. She held me, walked me, hugged me, let me give her kisses, fed me and made me feel warm and safe. I was one happy dog after I met Liz. She called me her big marshmallow! I don't know what marshmallow's are either but they must be a good thing because Liz always smiled when she called me that.

One day, Liz picked me up and put me in her lap and held my face in her hands. She explained to me that there were two people who had seen my picture and read about me on a computer and that they wanted to adopt me. She explained that to adopt me meant that I would be their forever baby and that they had promised to always be good to me. She also assured me that if they were ever unable to keep that promise, that they would give me back to BTRNC. I figured out then that forever meant something different than foster. It meant that I would never be moved again unless my new family moved with me. I also understood that although Liz loved me and would always remember me, that if I went to live with a new forever family, that she would have room to rescue another fur baby like me. That is how dogs like me keep getting rescued and get a second chance. Foster homes and foster families make us feel secure again and help us to trust again as well as fixing us if we have medical problems. Then when a special person or persons decide that they want to adopt us forever, we get to move on and another rescue baby comes to our foster home to get all better like me! Wow, that sure is a lot for a little guy like me to understand but Liz made it easy for me.

Here I am in the car with Liz on my way to meet my very own forever family. As you can see, I'm really wondering about my new family.

Here I am with my new family! Pretty cool ah? As you can also see, we all liked each other right away. I'm living a great life and I will always remember Liz and how she helped me be ready for my very own people!

If any other foster Mom's want to read my story to their foster babies, I bet it will help them understand everything like I do! Thanks a lot.

Love,

Gunner