Everyone warned me it would happen. Foster fail. I managed to make it through a whole year of fostering for Geauga Mama Dogs and Pups before it happened to me. At the beginning of December 2021 I took a couple of older male pups to foster for about 10 days before they went to the shelter.

Puppies are usually placed in foster homes at 7 weeks, but these guys had just come up from Kentucky and they were already 9-10 weeks old. Within a few days it was obvious to me I had a case of “littermate syndrome” in my puppy pen. One pup picked on the other mercilessly, causing him to cower in the crate, fearful of everything. I found another foster for the bully, and decided to work with the shy pup to bring him out of his shell. While doing that, he stole my heart.

When it was time for him to find his forever home, I realized that it had already happened and I formally adopted him. I changed his name from Cleo to Oliver and he joined my pack of three dogs. It was like he had always been here. Oliver was an active, curious, smart pup. I had no idea what breeds might be in his genes, so I did a DNA test and was shocked to find that he was 100% mountain cur. He is a purebred dog!!!! We attended puppy classes where he was a star pupil. He is perfect on a leash and has great manners around other dogs and people. He tolerates people making a fuss over him, but he prefers to observe rather than participate. I have started to take him to events where Geauga Mama Dogs and Pups has a presence as an ambassador for our rescue and to hopefully attract attention from prospective fosters. He loves the puppies that we foster and when they are outside playing, he watches over them, herds them around the backyard, and lets them climb all over him. I shudder to think how his story could have ended without the help of dozens of people who took him into rescue and cared for him, transported him from Kentucky to Ohio, and brought him to us.

Oliver and I will be forever grateful.