Sweet Dog Welcomes Young Foster Child To His New Home

Oct 29, 2020

A cute, 11-month-old Australian Labradoodle named Reagan, and Buddy, a young boy living in Portland, Oregan, are true BFFs. Buddy came into Reagan's family as a foster child and the dog made sure to welcome the boy with open paws. This story from December 2019 is certainly going to make you feel all warm and fuzzy. 

Reagan is the adopted dog of his human parent, Sandy Swiridoff. Little Buddy is her grandson. He was adopted into the family by Sandy's daughter Karin in December 2018, reports Today. And today, they are one big, happy family.

Buddy initially came into the family as Karin and her husband's foster child. They weren't sure how things would turn out with Buddy or whether or not he would fit in, but soon enough his foster family knew that they were going loved him through thick and thin.

The day Buddy met the dog, Reagan, their friendship instantly began to blossom. Grandma Sandy told Today, there was an "instant bond" between the pair and it was love at first sight. They played together and Reagan would even wait at Buddy's door while he was sleeping so they could play when he woke up. "They just adore each other," Grandma Sandy says. 

Noticing how well they got along and how cute they were together, Sandy started to chronicle their relationship in photos. As a photographer, she already had a keen eye for detail. She got the idea to dress the two alike and she discovered that her intuition was spot on.

The cuteness overload registered with the public and the inseparable team quickly garnered the public's attention. Before long, "reagandoodle," the pair's Instagram page, was born and became wildly successful.

Noticing the level of attention the boys received, Sandy decided to turn their story of friendship into a picture book with a very important message, reports Today. Instead of just having cute, funny, and interesting photos that people love, she introduced the topic of foster care. With thousands of children in need of foster families, Sandy made the case for needing more families to care for these children.

The money that her book raised would go to a charity – Foster Parents Night Out – that offers much-needed respite for those parents who took the plunge into foster parenthood. Her efforts brought awareness to a subject that people knew about but did not know not its dire state.

Sandy will continue to be a voice for the needs of children in foster care.

“I would have never thought that an Instagram account for a dog could turn into something so big and so helpful to other people,” Sandy told Today. “It’s great.”

There can be challenges to taking in a foster child, but many foster parents believe they are the ones who benefit. Given that there are thousands of children in foster care who need loving homes, would you ever consider caring for one? Why or why not? Talk about it in the comments, and don't forget to pass this article to all of your friends.