Stella Bean
Foster Club
MY SWEET STELLA BEAN
A ONCE PHILLY STREET DOG
This perfect being came into my life unexpectedly just six months after starting my business. I had no idea how much this little Pit Bull would change and impact my entire world. Our Love. Our Bond…. Was immeasurable. We did EVERYTHING together! Lived, worked, road tripped and vacationed, went to appointments (hers and mine), adventured and hiked, snuggled and slept, together. It was Her and I against the world.
I never wanted to be away from Her. I never took Our time together for granted and always cherished every moment shared. I was hyper aware of the fact that I would someday lose Her and We needed to make the most of Our time together. I could never have imagined, in my most horrific nightmares, I would lose Her so soon and just as unexpectedly as She entered my life.
Our Love for One Another was extraordinary. She was My Person, My Number One.
She was My Heart, My Love, My World.
The Yang To My Yin.
Two Halves Which Together Complete Wholeness.
My Sweet Stella Bean.
She was in fact, the Love of My Life.
Just over two months after My Heart died, I brought my first foster dog home and Stella Bean Foster Club was born. I needed a purpose. Dogs are who I am; what I do. This is how I would Honor My Baby Girl. I couldn’t save Her, but I could save others like Her.
Another part of what Stella Bean Foster Club does is raise money to assist local rescues with medical bills for the dogs they save. This is done by hosting various fundraisers throughout the year. Check us out on our social media platforms to stay up to date on upcoming events and fundraising fun!
Foster Club Alumni
Sweet Chester
Chester was surrendered to a county shelter after his family got evicted. He was ten years old, had been in the shelter for six weeks, and was slated for euthanasia when I stepped in to foster him for Wise Animal Rescue. I brought him home, took him for a walk and gave him a bath. He played with some toys and was sound asleep snoring on the couch within hours of leaving the noisy shelter.
Chester spent ten weeks with me and was truly the sweetest boy. He settled in almost immediately. Every time I got back home, I would find him on the couch where he would start wagging and instantly roll onto his back asking for belly rubs. While he was with me, he underwent and recovered from surgery to remove a few growths and be neutered. He learned basic commands and leash manners while giving me a purpose and allowing my broken heart to feel something other than pain.
Chester was adopted by a childhood friend, her husband and two Pugs. He is living his absolute best life in the country; running and playing in a big beautiful yard, going on hikes, and snoozing on a cozy bed in front of a warm wood-burning stove.
Thank you, sweet Chester, for being the best possible first foster I could ever have!
LOVABLE NEESHA
I had volunteered to transport Neesha and have her stay just one night, as she already had a foster lined up. Well, by that first evening, I asked if I could be her permanent foster and the answer was yes.
Neesha, who I fondly called, Nubs, had cropped ears and a docked tail. I would often say to her. “Is your nub nubbin’?” as she would be wagging her short happy tail, and this is how her cute nickname came to be.
Nubs was also an owner surrender to a shelter in central New Jersey. She was a 90-pound Cane Corso mix about six years old, and sweet as can be. Much like Chester, she had a couple growths, so also underwent and recovered from surgery with me. She had typical Mastiff behaviors and characteristics and was very much a “Velcro dog”. Nubs was easily trainable despite her sometimes-stubborn nature, and learned quickly.
It became clear to me early in our time together that she absolutely adored children, so this became my goal; to find a home with kids of her own! Until that perfect family could be found, I was happy to have her with me. I even considered keeping her, but knew a child would make her happiest.
We found an amazing family with two girls, but unfortunately, allergies prevented that home from being her happy ever after. We were all so sad, but the right fit came along a few weeks later. So, after ten weeks with me, Sweet Nubs went to her perfect family; a young couple and a baby girl she could call her own!
Foster Club Alumni
Sweet Chester
Chester was surrendered to a county shelter after his family got evicted. He was ten years old, had been in the shelter for six weeks, and was slated for euthanasia when I stepped in to foster him for Wise Animal Rescue. I brought him home, took him for a walk and gave him a bath. He played with some toys and was sound asleep snoring on the couch within hours of leaving the noisy shelter.
Chester spent ten weeks with me and was truly the sweetest boy. He settled in almost immediately. Every time I got back home, I would find him on the couch where he would start wagging and instantly roll onto his back asking for belly rubs. While he was with me, he underwent and recovered from surgery to remove a few growths and be neutered. He learned basic commands and leash manners while giving me a purpose and allowing my broken heart to feel something other than pain.
Chester was adopted by a childhood friend, her husband and two Pugs. He is living his absolute best life in the country; running and playing in a big beautiful yard, going on hikes, and snoozing on a cozy bed in front of a warm wood-burning stove.
Thank you, sweet Chester, for being the best possible first foster I could ever have!
LOVABLE NEESHA
I had volunteered to transport Neesha and have her stay just one night, as she already had a foster lined up. Well, by that first evening, I asked if I could be her permanent foster and the answer was yes.
Neesha, who I fondly called, Nubs, had cropped ears and a docked tail. I would often say to her. “Is your nub nubbin’?” as she would be wagging her short happy tail, and this is how her cute nickname came to be.
Nubs was also an owner surrender to a shelter in central New Jersey. She was a 90-pound Cane Corso mix about six years old, and sweet as can be. Much like Chester, she had a couple growths, so also underwent and recovered from surgery with me. She had typical Mastiff behaviors and characteristics and was very much a “Velcro dog”. Nubs was easily trainable despite her sometimes-stubborn nature, and learned quickly.
It became clear to me early in our time together that she absolutely adored children, so this became my goal; to find a home with kids of her own! Until that perfect family could be found, I was happy to have her with me. I even considered keeping her, but knew a child would make her happiest.
We found an amazing family with two girls, but unfortunately, allergies prevented that home from being her happy ever after. We were all so sad, but the right fit came along a few weeks later. So, after ten weeks with me, Sweet Nubs went to her perfect family; a young couple and a baby girl she could call her own!
Puzzle
The Foster Fail
Puzzle had been picked up as a stray in Newark by the police on December 19, 2019, and taken to Associated Humane Societies Newark Branch where she would spend the next four months before being pulled by Wise Animal Rescue. I had been providing dog walking services for another Wise foster when I first met Puzzle (aka, Pebbles). We had our first walk together the day after she was pulled from the shelter.
I walked her multiple times a week while I was still fostering Neesha. Over a period of five weeks my relationship with Puzzle grew, as did my fondness of her, so four days after Nubs was adopted, we moved Puzzle over to me to foster her. She transitioned seamlessly into my routine and home.
As the days passed, it started to become clearer that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. I had no doubt that My Sweet Stella Bean had sent this dog, at that time, to help me get through the quickly approaching first anniversary of Her death. So, two months after leaving the shelter, and exactly one month before that painful date, on June 8, 2020, I made it official; I ‘Foster Failed’ and adopted Puzzle. I chose that name for her because she fit like a puzzle piece, would start to fill the gaping holes in my heart and help me begin to heal.
