annie4I have more time than I do money.  And I like to spend that time at home and with my dogs.  In today’s economy, it isn’t that easy for people to follow the practice of tithing, contributing ten percent of one’s income or personal wealth to the community, a religious organization, or a charitable organization.  I sure can’t—but I can give ten percent of my time by fostering a dog that needs a temporary home.

Annie, my first foster dog, is a sweet rough-coat collie.  She has trusting brown eyes, a bit of pink on her nose, and nicely tipped ears.  She has a few years on her and likes to sleep most of the day, but when it’s time to go out to the barn to feed the goats and chickens, she is the first dog out the door.

I fell in love with the collie breed after Bob and I adopted our first collie in 2007.  Trace is around seven or eight years old.  No one knows his history.  He is loyal, gentle, and smart.  He is also a high-maintenance dog due to his abundant coat, which needs almost daily attention, especially because we live in the Central Valley.  He will bark at anything that moves, even the glint of a car traveling  a half-mile away.  He is sensitive.  I could swear that if someone inadvertently hurts his feelings, he’ll go off and mope on his dog bed for an hour or two.  It took him almost a year of living with us before he let loose his goofy side.  Now he loves to try to sit in everyone’s lap.

I love dogs and could easily foster any breed, size, or age of dog.  I decided to volunteer to be a collie foster home, to put my efforts toward a specific and attainable goal–with the work of many–helping an organization that’s mission is to make sure not one collie is left in an animal shelter or euthanized because it does not have a home.

To learn more about dog rescue organizations, check out these sites:

NorCal Collie Rescue

Collie Club of America

American Kennel Club Breed Rescue

ASPCA

Best Friends Animal Society

There are many, many more organizations devoted to the wellbeing of dogs and animals.