Celeste: My First Foster Dog Experience

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Don’t want to miss any future posts? Are you subscribed to email updates? Click here!

One of my long-standing passions has been animals, and it’s something I documented in one of my earlier posts on this blog.

Before leaving for Italy in mid-2020, I had spent many months volunteering at a shelter in Orange County, as well as walking dogs through Wag!. While part of my Italy day-dreaming included me continuing my volunteering efforts in Milan, or better yet, adopting a dog of my very own, I knew that with all the other things life had in store for me from mid-2020 to now didn’t leave room for a doggo.

While I would have loved to have volunteered at a shelter in Milan, the lack of resources, volunteering/fostering opportunities, and accessibility to the very few shelters that existed were all hurdles. But at least it wasn’t a far-off dream, especially when moving to Austin began to materialize…

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

When I first started volunteering at the animal shelter in Orange County, I truly thought I was a “small dog” person. When I was younger, I used to picture myself with a Pomeranian, a “purse dog” a la 2005. But my shelter volunteering experience helped me realize I am a “big dog” person, with a soft spot for Australian cattle dogs/blue heelers.

As I began to settle in Austin, I also had to go through a rough life change. Going into June, I was so severely impacted by an incident that I wasn’t even sure if I could be happy in Austin anymore, a doubt which I hated to harbor.

Then I figured, perhaps now was the time to bring a shelter dog into my life. A puppa to help me heal, while I could heal him or her. And as luck would have it, a “teen mom” had entered the doors of Austin Pets Alive, a local, well-known shelter in Austin.

Her name was Celeste, a bright-eyed Aussie cattle dog who had just nursed seven puppies at 2 years and 3 months old. So yes, it was a teen pregnancy lol!

By the time I found out about her/notified the shelter of my interest, she was at the stage where she could separate from her healthy, potato-like pups. After five weeks of nursing, I was sure that this young mama was ready to start a new life, just like me, haha!

APA has a well-developed foster program, and since Celeste would be the first dog I ever had in my life under my full responsibility, I agreed to undergo a “foster-to-adopt” process, in the likelihood that if things worked out, I could easily transition to adoption.

My sister was probably more excited than I was leading up to pick-up day, and she offered to come with me after work to pick up Celeste/help her settle in. Along with moral support, my sister came with a huge “starter pack” in tow, full of toys and treats her own foster dog didn’t care for, lol! I whole-heartedly appreciated it all since I honestly felt like I knew nothing about having a dog, even though I did spend time volunteering with them in the past.

APA has a gargantuan foster shed that we were able to get donated leashes, dog beds, toys, etc. from. Thanks to donations from other animal lovers, it was easy to get started with the essentials. What I wasn’t prepared for was the trazodone (anxiety medication that Celeste was apparently taking), and that I’d have to give her two doses daily. To be honest, pick-up day was a bit of a frenzy for my sister and I: we interacted with at least five staff members who told us different things at different times. At one point, one staff member told us Celeste had already left with a foster (but she was referring to me, LOL).

Once we left the shelter, we made a stop at PetsMart since I didn’t even have dog food ready–-I know, I’m such a bad mom 😂! I could tell something seemed off with Celeste, since she was drooling quite a bit. We summed it up to anxiety from rapidly changing environments and people, but she was a gentle girl as we walked through the store.

When we dropped off my sister so she could meet me at my place from her car, I still noticed Celeste wasn’t in the best of shape. Unfortunately, she did vomit in the backseat, but at least I was well-prepared with bedsheet draping over the car seats. I again summed it up to anxiety, but it was possible she could also be prone to motion sickness too, which would put a damper on any car trips to dog parks or hikes I had planned…

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

My first night with Celeste was a learning curve. While she found some comfort in my spacious 1-bedroom (she was “spoiled” in that she never had to stay in a kennel at the shelter, as she was a nursing mama and was lucky to have a whole office for her and her seven pups), she did not like the dog bed I fished out for her from the foster shed. I tried getting her to get cozy in a crate, but she whimpered at the thought, even with a trail of peanut butter-flavored treats.

She didn’t jump on my bed or bark, and in fact, when I went to bed, she tried to sleep on the ground next to me. But I think she was still restless, and I found her embracing her “dingo side” when she decided to pace around the apartment in the dark that night.

As we entered into the next 48 hours, things got tough. I knew cattle dogs were high energy—that’s why I was so excited to finally have one in my care—but the fact that Celeste never ran out of energy threw me for a loop. Our first run together was a chopped 2 miler, and I saw that she loved the opportunity to connect with her dingo roots in each stride. We didn’t venture to any parks or trails, as I was still nervous about her possible car sickness.

One thing that also complicated things was she had tested heartworm-positive. I had read about the treatment online and knew it would be an intensive procedure which would involve injections and almost a month of bedrest where she could not absolutely under no circumstances run (or even walk normally) at risk of elevating her heartrate. It’s one of the major things that was on my mind during my “trial week” with Celeste—could I commit to a dog (albeit beautiful, sweet, and full of life) who already had a major health condition?

She was also not spayed yet, and before realizing that the random blood spots I’d find all over my apartment was her “period” (lol, technically, this happens when a dog is in heat), I thought she had an internal issue like an ulcer or something!

All of this, plus the fact that she was indeed prone to car sickness left me frustrated my third day with her. I wanted to go on long hikes with her, to take her to parks and to have her have the best time ever, but being on vomit alert crushed all my excitement. After wiping down the backseat of my car, I hoped to have a quiet evening walk with her in a new-to-us area, but the rampant squirrels wouldn’t even let me have that. At one point, Celeste might as well have been a cheetah, as that’s the strength and fervor she had when chasing down one squirrel. Her intensity literally ripped the leash I was holding onto so tightly from my hand, leaving a deep gash in my index finger.

TL;DR, it took about a month to heal.

Before things got better, they got worse. Since Celeste was a cattle dog from the streets (lol), she was one smart cookie, which didn’t help me in trying to help her. She soon associated the scent of peanut butter with her trazodone, and would have nothing to do with it by the time I hit a week with her. This added to my frustrations, as I didn’t have the confidence to force-feed her twice a day with her new food aversion. This also contributed to my nervousness about committing to adoption, as it seemed like I would have to make a lot of sacrifices for the particular needs of Celeste.

Fortunately, the shelter gave the OK to stop trazodone since she didn’t have wild withdrawal symptoms in the 24 hours I wasn’t able to give her her medication. At this time, I also let the staff know that I wouldn’t be able to proceed with adoption, but I was happy to foster her until the right adopter came along.

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

After the “first week blues”, things did begin to look up and Celeste and I developed a routine. She’d wake me up along with the sunrise, but if I shut my bedroom door, she’d wait patiently in the living room until I got up to go to the bathroom. I’d have to wrestle with her just to get to the toilet, but she eventually knew the clues that signaled walk or run time: Pink leash, belly rub, and the sound of the front door opening. Her scatter at the sound of the front door was comical, but a challenge I had to face so early in the morning: make sure neither she nor I injured ourselves tripping over each other.

Despite the quirks, she was the perfect running buddy. The most I ever ran with her was 10k, but it was a one-time miracle. All my other runs with her were sporadic 2-3 milers, intercalated with squirrel chases and arm workouts for myself trying to reign her back from said squirrel chases.

The funny thing was, even with these intense morning runs, she’d want to go out two hours later. Sometimes a tennis ball I’d throw would send her darting to the kitchen, or a pig ear would keep her occupied while I took some work meetings, but it was our lunchtime stops at my apartment’s dog enclosure that would really tie her over. I liked to say she was enamored with a large tree in this enclosure—the Tree of Life—but it was really the rustling of squirrels that mesmerized her.

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

Evening runs were tortuous with the Texas heat, but if I was able to make her hold out long enough, we were able to enjoy sunset walks around the neighborhood. She wasn’t too crazy at this time of day, except that one time she decided to chew on a squirrel carcass…that wasn’t fun.

After confirming my foster status with her, I knew I would at least have her for a couple more weeks due to the 4th of July holiday. My dad was also visiting that weekend, and was able to meet/share the couch with her during his stay. He immediately fell in love with her personality, even if she did “steal” his spot from time to time!

On the 4th, I drove over to Petco to see if I could find a festive bandana for my girl. We had fun taking pics, and I think I was able to capture her energetic personality.

Who you callin’ mama now?

As if on cue, I received the first inquiry about her adoption the Thursday after 4th of July. The potential adopter lived on a ranch an hour out of Austin, and thought Celeste would make the perfect pal for her mini Aussie shepherd. Hearing this, I knew that in theory this would be a great fit for Celeste, and we set up the first meet-and-greet: a walk around my neighborhood in the sweltering Texas heat after work.

The potential adopter fell in love with her immediately—much like I did—and I knew the days I had left with my dear girl were numbered. Even so, I was truly excited for her, knowing that her life would indeed be spent where it should be roaming free on a Texas ranch.

The next step was a meet-and-greet at the shelter, where Celeste met her potential brother. I was asked to stay far from the pen so she wouldn’t try to look for me, but my dear girl couldn’t resist. She did well interacting with her new family, albeit with some hesitation, but the shelter was quick to give the go-ahead for adoption, and I was asked to bring her for her spay surgery in two days and for the new family to pick her up at the end of the day post-surgery.

Besides spoiling her with a few extra treats, my last day with her did not avert from protocol. We kept to our routine of 3x a day walks (with a few miles running in the morning, of course), a few extra cuddles, and then that was that. Bright and early on Monday morning, I brought her back to downtown Austin in heavy commuter traffic, and I let my baby girl go.

I felt sad thinking she didn’t know I wouldn’t be picking her up at the end of the day, but at the same time, I wondered if she would remember me at all.

Her new family was incredibly kind, offering to keep me updated on her happenings post heartworm treatment:

————————————————– 𝕊𝔾𝔻 ————————————————-

Celeste indeed brought me an incredible amount of joy, while also unearthing hidden frustrations and exhaustion that come with caring for a dog. If you’re doing it right, I guess this is how it’s supposed to feel!

I haven’t fostered another dog since Celeste, but I absolutely want to. Even with the demands cattle dogs have, my heart still yearns for one, and I’m still leaning towards adopting a cattle dog in the future.

One day, when I have a house with a nice, big backyard, full of trees and plump squirrels.