Wynn MedingerPhoto for Equestrian Living by George Kamper.
Georgina introduces two of her favorite foster rescues at her home in North Salem, New York.
Gloria (left) came to us last fall. A good friend of mine lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and she had seen Gloria a couple times at a rescue where she was volunteering. She was actually coming up north at some point that summer and said, “Can you take her for a little while and try to get her into a rescue up there?” We, of course, took her and then fell in love with her. We didn’t want her going back into another rescue and being bounced around, so we were going to try our hardest to find her a good home. But in a worst-case scenario, she’ll stay here for the rest of her life. She’s just such a love! She’s incredibly sweet with kids, with other dogs, cats, and horses. She deserves a family and a bed and couch to sleep on. We think she’s around 4 and a half. I think she may be some sort of bloodhound/Lab mix. I’m not really sure what she is, but she is everything you could possibly ask for in a dog. She’s sweet, well-behaved, loving, and gets along with everybody and everything.
The other dog is Igor (right). He was at Miami-Dade Animal Services, and I had seen him on Instagram through the group Urgent Dogs of Miami, which tracks dogs who are most at risk of being euthanized. He was on that list. He was very, very timid. Unfortunately, a lot of dogs like Igor never get a shot at getting out, because people walk by them and they’re either barking and aggressive or timid and in the back of their cages.
Neither Gloria nor Igor are something that people jump at when they’re looking to adopt, especially in a large pound like Miami-Dade that is just slammed with dogs coming in from all over the community.
Igor was there, and he wasn’t thriving. He wasn’t going to get adopted because of his character and nervousness. We decided we would get him out. When he came here, he was very, very sweet. We had a dog trainer working with him in Florida, and he’s come a long way, but he still needs a little bit more. We’d love to find him a home with the right person, because I don’t think it’s fair to stick him back into a rescue and go backwards with everything we’ve been able to accomplish with him. We want to make sure he goes to the right home that understands he’ll need a little bit of time. He actually thrives and does better when there are other dogs around. He’s much more comfortable with dogs; people are what makes him nervous. He’s obviously been through a lot.
We think he’s around 4 and a half too, and we don’t know what breed he is either, but he’s a big sweetheart and well-behaved. He just needs somebody who will work with him and make him feel comfortable and understand that he needs to recover from whatever has gone on in his past. Given some time and the right family, he would really come around. I think he would be a great barn dog for somebody, because he’s been so good here. He likes having space to run, and he likes having other animals around.
We do what we can, and we always try to have at least two foster dogs at the barn here. I always say that everybody should be doing as much as they possibly can. If there is a tack room or a stall that we have that’s empty, we fill it up, whether it’s a foster dog or a rescue horse, or whatever it is. It doesn’t matter how much you’re doing, you just have to be doing the most that you personally can. If you can write a big check and fly dogs, great. If you can go and adopt a dog or adopt a horse, awesome. If the most you can do is go and volunteer for half an hour to walk a dog at a rescue, that’s great too. Doing the most that you can do is what matters.