Fostering a Dog in Qatar

I’ve never fostered a dog before.  Fostering pets is a regular happening for pet lovers here in Qatar as there are so many cats, dogs…horses even, that once had a home and perhaps were horribly abandoned by expats leaving the country or the expensive, shiny new “toy/pet” lost the shine, losing their appeal, brought to the desert, abandoned there and left to die.

Animals/pets are not viewed as part of the family here as they are in North America. And yes, there are expats who abandon their pets instead of taking the steps to re-home.

Back to some good news…..

We’re now “fostering” a saluki (from royal blood lines) and golden lab mix.  He’s 5 months old.  Pees like a girl.  Pees when nervous.  Was never on a leash.  Not house broken.  Lived outside on a farm with a small herd of cats and another dog!

He’s all legs and love!

This story unfolded like this:

Thursday was a day off of work, so with a bag of apples in hand, I went out to the stables hoping to go for a hack ride.

I didn’t go for a hack, instead I came home with a puppy!  This puppy needs a home.  He’s an “accident” resulting in the breeding of one of the owner’s of the farm (a sheikh) saluki and the golden lab owned by Peggy, the expat manager of the stables. Two puppies were a result.  One was adopted out.  The girl.  The boy was in need of a home. Peggy asked me on Thursday if I would foster him.  I agreed!

Put into a crate that was given along with him, we made out way home.  He peed and pooped in it.  As well as drooled (from nerves) all over himself and it.

Here he is about 10 minutes after I pulled him out of the crate….still drooling and exhausted from stress.

His crate all cleaned out, drying in the sun:

About 15 minutes in, he calmed and stopped drooling….accepting a treat and water:

And here he is……we’ve named him Fizal.  Pronounced Fi (strong I), zal ( like cal in calorie).  Fizal!

Fizal is here, living with us until we can find him a new home.  I’m torn because I would love to keep him.  But Michael isn’t so sold.  So for now we’re “fostering”.  Just taking this journey one day at a time.

So far Fizal has been a joy!  Lots of work yes as he’s not housebroken, doesn’t understand the concept of a walk on a leash as an opportunity to pee and poop, (he holds his pee as long as he can until he can’t anymore!), doesn’t understand call commands so he’s a flight risk if he gets off leash, (he’s part saluki and is FAST so catching him would be a challenge), he gets along with our cat Bob Jazeera – but loves the chase – scaring Bob, as well he gets along with our little dog Pooh Bear….but we have to be mindful around toys and food as we get through the adjustment phase and sort out the pecking order.

But this big, galloping goof is so fun to be with!  He trips over himself because his legs are so long  and slides all over the ceramic tiled floor while chasing Bob or a toy!

Here are a few fun moments……

His reaction when I turned the TV on……..

Loves to be with us…..

And chew as five month old puppies like to do…..

And sleep on his bed……with a toy in his mouth!!!!

And hang out with his foster mom in the morning while she blogs……

I love being a foster mom!!!

***Update – we didn’t end fostering Fizal. There were two reasons:

I just couldn’t take care of him without getting emotionally attached. With the recent loss of my dog Marlow – I wasn’t ready for another emotional connection with a dog.

We were not a good match for this farm raised puppy as Michael and I both worked all day. Fizal was cooped up all day in the villa, boredom resulted in destructive behavior.

We returned Fizal to the farm, where Peggy would hopefully find another foster parent – someone who is home all day and able to spend the time with Fizal to properly train him, love him and transition him into a well-behaved family dog!

S, 🇶🇦