St. Joseph resident Cynthia Jeney and Kansas City resident Melissa McMillan have both fostered dogs, and both of them ended up adopting one or more of the dogs they fostered.
Libby is one of McMillan's four rescue dogs.
McMillan, who has fostered off and on for about four years, first worked as a volunteer for animal shelters and rescue groups. Then something changed in her situation to make it possible for her to provide foster care – she got a fenced backyard. A fenced backyard is high on the list of most rescue organizations, she said. After taking an application, someone came to inspect her home.
“They check out the fence for holes – that kind of stuff,” McMillan said. “And they look at how the people interact with other animals they may already have.”
Niles came to Melissa McMillan as a foster dog, but ended up staying.
McMillan fostered dogs from two organizations, Friends of Parkville Animal Shelter and Chain of Hope. She received two dogs from each organization and they never left her home.
“I fell in love with them and kept them,” she said.
Jeney, who fostered golden retrievers for about two years, said the rescue group she works with also has very strict guidelines. GRRRR, Golden Recovery Retrieving Retrievers Rescue, has foster hosts fill out a questionnaire first.
“Then they send a member of the board to come to your house, inspect the property to make sure it’s safe and healthy for a golden, and then they start matching you up,” she said.
Melissa McMillan adopted Onyx after bringing him in as a foster dog.
McMillan is not partial to any particular breed, while Jeney works with only golden retrievers. Jeney, who had three foster dogs during the time she was participating, said she understands the nature, personality and impulses of golden retrievers. For people who are interested in one breed, there are plenty of breed-specific rescue groups. Plus, Jeney already had an elderly golden retriever, which got along well with her four cats. She got involved when a friend who had just adopted a golden retriever from GRRRR told her about the experience.
“Also, my friend pointed out that my really big fenced yard and my huge heart were ideal nurturing places for a lost, neglected, or abused golden,” she said. “Who could resist flattery like that?”
Once a foster home passes inspection and a match is made, the dog is taken to its foster home. Jeney said a rescue group member also brings along enough food and sometimes flea prevention medication to get started. Dogs have already been tested for behavior/aggression issues and treated for any health problems, she said.
“They reimburse foster parents for prescriptions, vet bills, and so on,” Jeney said.
Then the work of preparing the dog for its forever home begins, and the foster parents’ input is valued.
“The first couple of weeks in a foster home the dog is not put up for a ‘forever home’ adoption, at least not until the foster parent has given the OK,” Jeney said.
She said some dogs are ready right away, but others need work such as housebreaking and learning other manners. The rescue group takes precautions against impulsive Christmas-present adoptions. That was when Jeney received her foster dog.
“By the time the holidays were over, we were inseparable, and I re-named her Lily,” Jeney said. “That was 6 years ago.”
Lily and Trudy, rescue dogs, are happy in their new home. Cynthia Jeney adopted them.
Rescue groups and foster parents have a symbiotic relationship that works toward one goal – to find a forever home for dogs – even if the forever home turns out to be the foster home.