The most challenging things about our first foster dog

It’s been a month since we sent our first foster dog off to her next chapter. It somehow feels like she was here just yesterday… and also like it’s been forever since we felt her sloppy tongue? (As I get older, I realize more and more that the passage of time is a very weird thing.)

We returned to our normal status quo after saying goodbye to Val about as quickly as we settled into a multi-dog household when she first arrived, but some things will never go back to the way they were “before”. As I reflect on our time with our blocky bully mix, I think about the ways caring for her challenged us—and how those challenges changed us.

(If you’re interested in seeing Val’s journey with us from start to finish, we have two story highlights on our Instagram profile that document her time in our home.)

Our foster dog was on medically mandated crate rest

Val came to us as a medical foster recovering from surgery to repair a broken femur. Her back right leg had a hefty amount of metal inside to supp…