The Bittersweet Moments In Life

This is Sam - also known as Sammie Lambie, Sam the Lamb, and Sambo Lambo.




This is Sadie - also known as Little Doll Baby, Sadie Lou, Sadie Lou Who, and Lulu Belle.



For the past three months, they have been our foster puppies. They are half-Shih Tzu and half-Bichon Frise, brother and sister, and they are all puppy. When we began this fostering effort we were not at all sure that we could keep both puppies together. To put it mildly, they were a handful. But after the first few weeks we got into a rhythm. While they had their wild side, they were also the sweetest puppies you can imagine. Sadie just loved me to hold her upside down in the evenings after her dinner and rub her belly until she fell asleep, doing the Bichon Wave if I stopped for any length of time. Sam loved jumping into my lap and wrapping both paws around my neck and putting his head on my shoulder.

Since E and I failed Fostering 101 when we adopted Nate just over a week after we got him to foster, we were determined this time that we were going to truly foster these pups. I can honestly say that at no time was I tempted to adopt them because five dogs in the house is just way too much. Small Paws tried to tempt me with their annual Christmas in July offer to their foster parents allowing them to adopt their fosters for only $5. But I deleted the email and stood strong determined to pass Fostering 101 this time.

Early this week I got the email telling me that someone was interested in Sam and Sadie and would adopt them together. It was the wonderful news we'd been hoping for. As the foster parent, I got to interview the interested party to get a feel for his puppy parenting capabilities. When we nearing the end of the conversation and he told me it was way too hot to try to fly the pups up to North Carolina so instead he and his fiance would drive down here to Louisiana to get them, I knew Sam and Sadie would be in great hands. Over the next couple of days we made arrangements to meet them at their hotel this weekend. We got the pups groomed and ready to meet their new Dad and Mom. Today was the day.

This is Mike and Kaini and although you can't really see Kaini's face, you can see that grin on Mike's.



Sam and Sadie gave them kisses right away. I cried after we left. E knew I would. Even though I knew from the start we weren't going to keep them, they still managed to wrap themselves around my heart. I'm going to miss our evening snuggles and their rough housing (I called them The Rolling Ball of Thunder). I'm going to miss Sadie's sweet round eyes that claimed innocence even though she'd just done something she wasn't supposed to. I'm going to miss Sam's head laying on my shoulder while I scratched his chest.

But I just got a call from Mike telling me that they'd made it home. The first thing he said was "They're blitzing all over the place!" and the happiness in his voice was more than apparent. We couldn't have sent them off with better puppy parents if we'd hand-picked them ourselves.

Tonight E and I can finally say we've passed Fostering 101 and, yes, we will move on to Fostering 102 in the not so distant future. Because we believe in the mission of Small Paws - to take the unloved, the abused, and the thrown away, give them love and guidance, then send them off to a forever home where they will always know they are loved.