I fostered a puppy this week

and had a devastating choice to make

Last Tuesday at around 9am, after my coffee and morning pages, I navigated over to Instagram for a little morning scroll when I stumbled upon a friend’s Instagram story about a puppy needing a foster. The post explained that she had been found inside a car engine by a firefighter and taken to the fire station. An emergency foster was needed because she wasn’t allowed at the station, and if no one could come that day, she’d be taken to a nearby shelter. And this, my friends, was the photo:

are you KIDDING ME????

I didn’t stand a chance. I was free that day until 1pm, so I responded right away that I could foster her for a week. By 11:30am I was at the fire station in Pico Rivera.

picking her up from the fire station

At this point I was in a little bit of a fugue state. I couldn’t believe this thing! SO cute, SO small, SO perfect… and could she be mine? The vet next door to the station confirmed she didn’t have a microchip. The firefighters made it clear that if I wanted her, she was mine. We went straight to Petsmart and in a blackout I somehow spent $150 on toys, treats, food, a harness, a leash, bags, food, a portable water bowl, pee pads, teething stuff, and more.

a face you do anything for

I had plans to record that day on a new Sylvie song, and despite all of this I was only one hour late. I went over to my friend Ben’s studio with the puppy in tow. I did my best to lay down vocals, but we were both pretty distracted.

Me and Baby Bear at Ben’s studio

I decided to start calling her Baby Bear. Not a “real” name, a placeholder name, but it made sense for her.

Over the next two days we spent all day at Ben’s studio, Baby Bear and I, recording demos of two of my new songs with my live band. She was a perfect studio dog. She’d play a little and run around, be cute and greet people, chew on her toys, and then sleep. She wasn’t even scared of the drums!

We’d break for lunch and coffee and she’d ride along with me in a tote bag, just watching the world go by. She was too good to be true, and we all fell in love with her.

Everyday, all day, I asked myself - am I keeping her?

The friend who initially connected me with the firefighters told me that she found someone who wanted to adopt. This was on Day 2. I freaked out. I needed more time. I asked if I could have through the weekend to decide, and she said yes.