Penny the Shy Dachshund

This is Penny. She's 7 months old and had a bad start in life. I don't know exactly what happened to her but she came up from a southern state with a lot of fear. She'd freeze if we even looked at her. Try to pick her up and she'd sink to the floor as if to disappear. Seven months old and there was no fun or life in her. I have to wonder what the hell happened to her before she came into my home. A seven month old puppy should only be thinking about playing and making friends.
Penny's been here three weeks. For the first week she never lifted her tail from between her legs. It stayed down, never wagged, never lifted up. Her eyes were downcast and even when I lifted her chin she would do her best not to meet my eyes.
Week two that tail would come up for wags but only if she was playing with my other foster dog, Leo.
Leo loved everyone and loved to play. He was the one who brought Penny out of her shell and showed her the joy of playing once again. She still wouldn't meet our eyes.
Then Leo was adopted. He went to a great home where he's #1 in his new adopter's eyes.
Week three and Penny's tail is always held high now and wags every time we look at her.
Yesterday she finally looked into my eyes and I almost cried. Sweet Penny is finally opening up to the fact that life can be good and she's among those who love her.
Monday, barring any issue with the Nor'easter heading our way, potential adopters will be over to meet her. I feel bad that she has to be uprooted again and basically start all over but I know she's going to be fine. She's a sweetie.

A Confession...

I confess...I had a Petfinder obsession. Like an addict I'd surf that site to see the dogs and wish I could help. I thought about adopting and hesitated. I wanted to be sure the dog would fit our lives. Since we work I wanted an older dog, one that was slower and wouldn't mind lounging around all day. I wanted small since I had a shoulder injury that never quite healed. I wondered what else I should look for as I surfed the pages. It wasn't an easy decision and I wanted to be absolutely sure. After all, I was committing for a lifetime of love and care.
Then I started poking around on the rescue sites. I read about how they pulled the dogs from shelters, vetted them, and how there were many ways to help. And that got me thinking. Instead of adopting just one, what if I could help more?
I emailed a few organizations, made some phone calls and visited their adoption days. Finally, I found Castle of Dreams. They were always quick to respond, answered all my million and one questions and took their time to explain how it all worked. I volunteered.
Up top is a picture of Peanut, a little brown beagle mix. She was rescued from North Carolina. She was my first foster dog and my whole family fell in love. Shy and sweet, Peanut just soaked up love and gave it back tenfold. When the email came that there was a family for her we all cried. No one wanted this gentle dog to leave, but off she went to her forever family.
Next came Sally...a black chihuahua mix.
I think the trick to successful fostering is to remember that if you let one go, you can save one more. Because until there are none...we foster one.