History of Lab Obsession

I've always loved dogs growing up, but never really had my own until after college. A friend of my sister had a 1.5 yr old yellow lab which she could no longer care for, so I ended up taking her. Sheba was literally the perfect dog. She had been trained to stay off furniture, only go into rooms once she had permission, never begged, and was very docile. That wasn't going to work for me, so after a couple years of corruption, I finally turned Sheba into a total spoiled princess who hogs the bed, begs like a champ, and wins everyone over with her cute looks. She was the perfect dog for me!

I met my husband a few years later and Sheba won him over completely. After a couple more years, I was ready for a second lab, and after some time, Mike agreed. We applied to the Lab Rescue in MD (www.lrr.org) and after a very intensive application/interview process, we found Quinn, a 2.5 year old black lab mix. Sheba was the one who actually picked him out. When we went to the various foster homes, Quinn was the only one that Sheba interacted and played with, so we knew he was a winner. We adopted Quinn and currently our babies are 9.5 and 7.5 years old.

Approximately 2 years after we adopted Quinn, I was ready to get a third lab, but Mike put his foot down. We compromised by fostering for the Lab Rescue where we had gotten Quinn, and we've been fostering for 3 years now.

Its a wonderful experience. A lot of people ask us how we can foster a dog without growing attached, and the easy answer is you can't. Almost all of our experiences have been great, and we've grown attached in various amounts with each dog, but we're also able to let them go because of two reasons. First, we know the labs are going to great new homes where they will be cared for and loved. Second, if we adopted the fosters that come through our home, we wouldn't get a chance to meet new fosters, each with their own quirks and interests.

We've fostered approximately 15 dogs now, but I thought it might be fun to have a journal with new foster experiencing starting 2004. We get our first foster for the year on 1/10/03. A small chocolate girl named Carrie. Can't wait to see what she's like.