Rebecca and her partner John are not your average fosters. They’re pretty damn exceptional. I first met them in 2016 when I was new to foster coordinating (and fostering, for that matter). To set the scene, I had taken it upon myself to develop a viable foster program for a rescue (not Dog Gone Seattle) that I was volunteering for, and it was sink or swim; I was in the deep end on the daily. I learned pretty quickly that some foster families were not cut out for any kind of adversity, and one Sunday afternoon at Sierra Fish and Pets in Renton, I was perfunctorily thrust the leash of Brandy, a dirty looking white female mixed breed dog who had arrived from a high kill shelter just 48 hours ago. Her new foster family said she was “crazy” and the rescue (read: I) needed to find her a new foster, now. Cue panic.
On that fateful day, I met Rebecca and John. They moved calmly toward me — which was disquieting because I was feeling frantic — and (as I recall) sat on the curb next to me and this “crazy” dog. (By my assessment, she was just freaked TF out, but she did turn out to be a tad neurotic. Anyway…) I started to ramble off the information that had been shared by the family who had this dog for less than 48 hours — of course with my commentary on their blunders — but Rebecca and John spoke very few words. In no time, the dog had calmed notably in their presence, and Rebecca and John agreed to foster her. They just said something like, “No problem, we’ll take care of her.” And they did.
We worked together many times in those early days, and every time a dog they were fostering was adopted, they were ready to accept another. When I left that rescue and founded Dog Gone Seattle, we continued to work together to save dogs. When I asked fosters to introduce themselves in our new private Facebook group, in February 2017 they shared this:
“Hi all! My husband John and I live on a little farm in Maltby and are big fans of working with feral, abused and discarded animals, including dogs cats and horses. That means our house usually looks like it’s been ravaged by wild wolves and our furniture has a lot of teeth marks in it (but I’ve never heard anyone talk about how they hope after they die they’re reunited in heaven with all the beautiful couches they’ve loved, so #priorities, I guess.) […]”
Not exactly A+ recruitment material for folks who value their couches, but A+ nonetheless.
I understood that Rebecca and John could handle the most challenging or special needs dogs — the ones who were very shut down, and even ones who were not adoptable. One, in particular, I recall, was Annette. This little urine scalded Dachshund had not known good human contact for her life, and was so terrified of people that she shat herself at even the faint prospect of human touch. We had no idea how this dog had so much poop in her tiny body, all day long for months and months. Over time, though, she blossomed — albeit at a glacial pace — and learned to trust a little bit. Still, she wasn’t likely to be successful anywhere else, and so she stayed. Annette Pickle is now a wonderful ambassadog to many other scaredy foster dogs, though she’s still apt to squeak out a little poop when frightened, and not infrequently.
Since 2017, John and Rebecca have foster failed 5 dogs, which begs the question why anyone should heed their advice on how NOT to foster fail. Well, let me just say this. For every dog they have foster failed there have been countless others who have gone on to live very happy lives. And the ones they have kept, well… it was for good reason. Those were the kind of “foster fails” that make a rescue go, “Oh, Thank God” (as in the case of Annette Pickle, who would shit herself in fear at any first – or seventh! – meet and greet) or, “Good for Them!” (as with Cooper, a that dog checked all the boxes and would be an key pack member in the rehabilitation of countless others. So yeah — they know what they’re doing.
In addition to taking in some of the most challenging foster dogs, Rebecca and John have been invaluable for the wisdom, guidance and support they have provided to countless other foster families since 2017. Rebecca’s iconically dry wit provides comic relief and a breath of fresh air in often dark and difficult work:
“The New Year is going to be all about Rebecca taking care of Rebecca. In the interest of meeting that goal, I just bought $86 worth of dog treats. Because there is no better way to take care of yourself than making sure your own dogs don’t kill and eat you.”
And while fostering is inherently selfless, they take it to another level. Point in case: They offered up six Row 2 FLOOR TICKETS to freaking Taylor Swift as a “thank you” to other active fosters. (“Rather than sell them, I’d like to give away these tickets for free to our hard-working fosters and volunteers.”) Just, wow.
Of course not everyone can be as awesome, hilarious, and inspiring as Rebecca and John. They’re like 0.1%’ers. But the takeaway here is these are deeply compassionate and skilled people who care way more than you (probably) about dogs. They are emotionally invested in every dog they take in and do not settle for less than the best for the dogs in their care. If they can let go of a foster dog, you can too. So please, check out the words of wisdom Rebecca gives to other fosters struggling with letting go of a beloved foster dog. So many of our foster families have found them very helpful!
