The first night as a foster can be exciting and stressful. You bring home this dog that you know little or nothing about. You just know there has to be something wrong with him. Good dogs don’t just end up at the shelter. There must be some reason he was left there. Against your better judgement, you leave him in the living room confined by baby gates. You feel guilty that he’s already spent so much of his life in a cage so you forgo the crate for one night.

He has a big comfy dog bed, dog toys and rawhides. He also has an expensive television, your new couch and end tables. You fear for their safety. All night you toss and turn. You wake each time the cat runs through the house, thinking it must be the dog destroying something. You just know he’s going to chew something up or use the bathroom throughout your living room. Forcing yourself to stay in bed till at least the sun is up seems like torture. But you get through it. Eventually, you creep from your bedroom towards the living room, expecting the worst. You turn the corner and find your new tv where you left it, your furniture all in tact and the dog that you expected the worst from, laying on the dog bed. He looks up at you, thumps his tail and almost seems to smile at your presence. Then, the cat comes running through the room and attacks that thumping tail like it was a moving feather duster. You freeze. Now it’s going to happen. He’s going to try and eat your cat. He stops moving his tail, cocks his head to the side while looking at your precious kitty and pounces. They roll across the floor like two long lost best friends. You relax.

And then it hits you. Maybe good dogs do end up in the shelter. Maybe it was never their fault to begin with. Maybe, why he ended up there in the first place just doesn’t matter anymore. He has a new start and you have a little different view of those naughty shelter dogs.