I have always had a love for animals....especially dogs and have made attempts in the past to give some of the small amount of spare time I have to try and volunteer in my area. I had put in a couple volunteer apps with a couple different shelters and never got a follow up email or call.. A little disheartened, I checked out 1-800-save a pet and saw that you could put a volunteer application in and it would be sent out to a variety of different rescues and shelters and if one was interested I would be contacted. Sure enough....within a day or so of putting my app in I got an email from Kate about being a foster parent for PBRSD. I thought....she's crazy...i can't foster and i'm not fostering pit bulls!!! I didn't know much about the breed except for what i had heard (like everyone else) and was unsure about fostering. Wanting to help so badly and having an open mind i ran home to the hubby to ask if this was doable. Come to find out he loves pit bulls and we decided we would do it.

My first foster was a male brindle pit named Stevie. He was so sweet and had a head that was way to big for his body. Stevie came to stay with us and he got along great with our other dogs. Stevie wasn't with us long until we were fully attached to him. So loving and gentle and loved any attention we gave him. He was with us only a couple of weeks till he was adopted. The homecheck was tough and I had some reservations about his adopting family but didn't voice them. He wasn't with the family long and they contacted us to return him to rescue. He is now with his new forever home and this time we got it right! I learned then and there to always voice your opinions as a foster parent...go with your gut....it's usually right!!

Our second foster came to us only a short time later from the Bakersfield trip. I had heard there were a lot of puppies and was excited to hopefully get to foster a puppy. It was decided that we would take this adorable tan and white pit who we ended up naming Buster Brown. He was 7 months old. We knew he was special when he barked at the motorcycles on the freeway as we drove home. He was kind of skinny and seemed a little dumb (in a cute way) and seemed to get along great with our other dogs. He has these beautiful eyes and this cute face that melts your heart when you look at him. We had him about 3 days till it was pretty much decided that we were keeping this one. Now 3 months later he is an amazing part of our family and every morning when he climbs in bed with us and puts his head on me I'm so thankful we got to foster him and save him from being euthanized. We love you Buster Brown!!

Our next set of fosters came a few weeks later. They were from a litter of six and we ended up with 3 eight week old puppies. Two little girls and one little boy. The girls were Max and Lila and the little boy was named Jake aka Butters. such a little roly poly!! These three kept us up at night and made me the most tired I have been ever in my life. But they were a joy....the innocence of puppies and puppy love are two of the most wonderful things a person can experience...in my opinion. We watched these crazy pups grow up for about a month or so until Lila was adopted by a nice family. Lila was very mellow and loving and he daddy is spoiling her rotten. No reservations on that one!! We had Max for another 2 weeks or so until a nice guy adopted her. She was so spunky and she will make him very happy. she'll get to be a beach dog and last time I checked on her she is doing great. Jake..my lone ranger had a ton of applications but they all seemed to fall through. We were starting to think it was meant to be that he stay with us forever. He had grown to be such a handsome well behaved puppy and with his adorable tri color face it was hard to think of our home without him. I looked at his face every day and knew it would be the hardest thing i've ever done to let him go. He was different and special. Eight weeks had gone by and we got an app in for him that was solid. We met and she loved him...home check went great and we took him to stay with his new forever home. My husband and I sobbed as we walked away from him.....We miss him so much and I think we left a piece of our heart with him.

That brings us to now.....We just recently started fostering Zeus, our 6th foster since the beginning of April...a 7 month old pit/shepherd mix who is awesome. He is very quiet and a little shy till he gets to know you. We've only had less than a week but he is doing amazing and is going to make some family very happy.

I am now the Foster Parent Coordinator for PBRSD and am more involved then ever. Our fostering experiece with Pit Bull Rescue San Diego has been amazing and we are truly thankful for being involved. It is by far one of the hardest things we've ever done but it is by far one of the most rewarding. Seeing the faces of the families that adopt your fosters and knowing that you had a part in finding that dog a forever home is what makes this all worthwhile.

The team of volunteers and fosters are amazing and hard working. This rescue and being a foster parent has opened my eyes to the breed and to the discrimination it suffers. I have come to see that this is one of the most lovable and sweet breeds i've ever come across. It is our job to promote responsible ownership and to try and rescue and adopt out the ambassadors of the breed. We have a big job ahead of us but my husband and I are looking forward to the challenge!!

I have fostered Aries the one eyed rascal and without a doubt an old soul!!! When i picked him up for Kate directly from the shelter I was in shock! I never thought a dog could say Thank you in the way he did! It will be burned into my memory for life!! He jumped into the back of my SUV and proceeded to jump into our hearts! He played with our guys and just showed how grateful he was to be in a safe place! There were trips to the vet and an operation etc etc and it was work!! I'll tell you though....I'd rather do that work any day than any other! The look in his eyes was priceless. i cannot express how fullfilling it is to be of service - they certainly deserve better than what the world gives them and I am proud to have been his firend! Bringing him to his new home was very tough - tougher to say goodbye!! I know though that I cannot keep every one and my job was done! I will always have his little face in my mind and it has brought many smiles to my face!

I also briefly fostered Lizzy and do transports and various things when i can. Fostering will change your life and however you can help - you will never regret it!! Whenever Kate says a big Thanks!!! ....I always secretly think - Thank You!!!...my day has been blessed to give love in anyway I can to these precious souls!!!

Fostering for Pit Bull Rescue San Diego has been everything I thought it would be and more. As a huge animal lover with a special place in my hearts for pit bulls I want to do everything I can to help. I started off by rescuing two pits of my own, but I felt there was still more I could do. So I contacted PBRSD about fostering and I was welcomed with open arms. Ironically, none of my fosters have been pit bulls but that didn't make it any less rewarding. Knowing that I was saving these dog's lives just by letting them live with me was heart warming. It is so inspiring to see them change for the better just by giving them a normal life.

As with any household with multiple dogs there is going to be a certain amount of work involved to ensure everyone's well being, but my dogs took to all my fosters wonderfully and made them part of the family. I'm not going to say that fostering dogs that have training deficits is easy, but the love you get from these animals surpasses all of that. They know you gave them a second chance at life and they will not fail to let you know this. PBRSD board members, volunteers, and fosters would never hesitate to help you out if the need arises. We are all dedicated pit bull lovers who are passionate about our cause. I receive wonderful thank you cards in the mail and they always tell me how much they appreciate my help. I also get to play a big part in helping my fosters find the right home, which is great because I love them as my own and only want the best for them. I feel like I am making a difference by saving lives and that feels awesome. I think about my own two pits and how amazing they are. I love them more than anything and my life is so much richer now that they are a part of it. But they would not be here today had they not been rescued from the shelters and placed in foster homes. If I can do the same for someone else, that's all that matters.

We bought our first home 2 years ago and I was eager to find a dog to bring to our new home. After living in apartments for so long I just wanted to feel normal, and seeing as I had ALWAYS had pets growing up, getting a dog of our own seemed the logical decision. Months before we moved into our new home I would spend hours every day searching www.petfinder.org for our perfect pet. I did not put in a breed, just that I wanted a female dog. After seeing so many cute dogs and puppies of all breeds, this one dog just caught my eye. The picture of her was terrible, but I saw something in her eyes that no one I showed the picture to did. I had to have her. The rescue that she was at had her in a loving foster home and they said that she was a pitbull/bulldog mix. Our Mia is the absolute best dog in the whole world. She has such a great personality and temperament and I could not imagine our lives with out this amazing dog.

After about a year and a half with Mia I realized that we would not have this precious dog if it was not for the rescue and most importantly, her foster mom. I went online and searched for pit bull rescues in San Diego. I found San Diego Pit Bull rescue and filled out a foster parent application and sent it in. I got a really quick response but my husband and I got a little freaked out. We had so many questions..."Will this effect our dog? Will her personality change? Will we get attached? Will our dog be jealous? " And we never followed though with it.

One day I found Jessica on Myspace and she said that the same rescue that I had previously sent my foster parent application to needed foster parents for 9 17 day old puppies. They needed a little special care because they needed to be bottle fed every few hours, but were healthy. I realized that this was it. I needed to help out these puppies. Someone had done it for my dog, and I felt like I needed to do something positive.

I picked up three little girl puppies the next night. When we got home my husband and I did not know what we had gotten ourselves into. "Could we actually do this? Their little lives are now in our hands!" Once again... freaked out!

We have had these little girls for 1 week now and we have never been so happy. We have such a great time with them and it feels great to be doing something positive for something else. We know that we have already become attached to them and we truly love them so much. While I am at work all I can think abut is getting home to see all 4 of my girls and laying on the bed a snuggling with all of them. Everyone says "Oh, you're not going to be able to give them all up" but this is something that we talk about every night. We know that they will eventually be adopted and that makes us happy! We are going to raise to sweetest puppies ever! Their forever homes are going to love them. And that just reassures to us why we are doing this, its all for the dogs. There are so many dogs, of all breeds, that are sitting in shelters through out San Diego and the whole country that just need a chance to prove themselves to you and to show you how amazing they are and how they will make your life so full!

Give it a chance... What have you got to lose?

I have been around animals as long as I can remember. We have always been the house on the block where the strays show up and end up never leaving because we take them in. My Mom got involved a couple years ago in a local cat rescue. I noticed a significant change in her for the better.

In February, I came across a neglected dog, Ruby, that was in dire need of a home. I took her temporarily and contacted PBRSD for the first time. They asked me if I would continue to foster her while they took the necessary steps to find her a permanent home. I ended up keeping Ruby who is an amazing dog.

I have had a little bit of extra time and have been wanting to do something positive. I wanted to stop complaining about the problem and be a part of the solution. I contacted PBRSD since they had been so quick to help me in my dilemma with Ruby. I told them I wanted to help in any way I could, but was still leery about fostering.

I recently got an email that had been sent to everyone and my heart melted when I read it. His name was Baxter and he was a gorgeous 3 year old APBT who needed a foster home asap. Ironically, Baxter is also my cats name. The part that really grabbed my attention was he had been in the shelter for nearly 4 months! His time was up. I knew I had to do it.

He is an amazing dog. I have no idea why he never got adopted. I have no idea why his owners never came. But this is typical of the dogs that come through the group. They are amazing and all they really need is love.

The dogs that need fostering vary from puppies to older dogs, healthy to special needs (deaf, blind, needing surgery), and not all of them are Pit Bulls.

Fostering is an absolutely amazing oppurtunity and experience. I feel priviledged that I GET to foster. It is not a chore for me or any other foster 'parent.'

It is great if you are an animal lover and want to help but aren't quite sure what to do.

It is also great if you aren't ready to commit to be an owner but would like to have an animal in your life. The advantage to this, is that if you DO decide you want a dog and find one you just fall in love with you have the option to adopt him or her!

There are so many dogs in shelters and others that are owner relinquish that need somewhere, anywhere besides a shelter to go. The fate of the shelters are grim to say the least. Not to mention it is incredibly traumatic for the dog. The longer they are at the shelter, the worse their chances are and their mental state seems to deteriorate.

Fostering is the most helpful and rewarding thing you can do.

This is the best way I can sum it up; Have you seen the face of a dog who is being let out into the yard after 4 months in a shelter? It is priceless.