Easy Peasy

It's a big day at Debby's dog house. I adopted out TWO fosters yesterday to a lovely family. Little Paco and his pal Major both went to the same family. They are chihuahuas I've had here since February. They were breeder dogs and Paco was terribly frightened. They are both normal furry kids now. They are shy of new people at first, but beyond that they are fine.
I have my fingers crossed that they will fit in okay there and the family won't call and want to return them.
That happens sometimes and it's very discouraging. You try your best to find a good fit and to determine if they people have sensible expectations of the dog's capabilities. When they call and want to return the dog after a few weeks, or days, or months, it is upsetting all around. I have two returned dogs right now -- Walter and Tootsie.
People sometimes ask me, "Wouldn't you rather they be returned instead of staying with people who aren't happy with them?"
Yeah. But I would rather the people look into some training for the dog and themselves and work through the relationship with their new family member. In our society, we expect too many things to be easy. Easy on the eyes. Easy to buy. Easy to sell. Easy to get into relationships and easy to get out of them. Too easy, if you ask me.
I miss Paco and Major. I know Slim misses them because they were his bunk mates. I'm going to look at the dogs we have right now that need to go into a foster home and choose one to bring home. I was going to select two of them, but I need to leave some space in case one or both of the chihuahuas are returned in the next few weeks.
I believe this family is committed and they aren't expecting the dogs to know instinctively what is required of them. However, every time the phone rings I flinch.