Susan and Dean Wooley have fostered more than 300 dogs, including Rudy who played in the 2008 movie “Marley & Me.”
Just about anybody who saw the 2008 movie Marley & Me with Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson would recognize Rudy, who played the older dog in the movie.
Rudy has since died, but his foster “parents” Susan and Dean Wooley will always remember him as the fun Lab who would troll their counters and tables for something to play with.
“Toilet paper, paper towels or anything that would roll fascinated him,” Susan Wooley said.
When the Wooleys heard of the casting call for a yellow Labrador retriever, they answered it with Rudy’s photograph. He was “hired” and flown with a trainer to Hollywood, where he would make his movie debut.
The Wooleys have had more than 300 foster dogs since they entered the Labrador Retriever Rescue program, and Susan is the current president of the local chapter that covers Hillsborough County and several bordering counties.
“We were fosters for 14 years when we lived on the West Coast,” Susan Wooley said. “I love Labs. People have to have a larger area or a place outside for dogs that large, but they are wonderful dogs and have good characteristics.”
She blames puppy mills and “back-door” breeders for the exploding homeless dog population and stresses that the larger the dog, the harder he or she is to place.
Merrianne Furlong and her husband Michael are also foster parents to large dogs, mostly Labs. They said they’ve found most people are afraid to take a dog that has had health problems, especially heartworms, but once the treatments are given, if the prescribed preventive is used, there shouldn’t be any more problems.
“We need foster parents for big dogs now,” Merrianne said. “We never have enough.”
Merrianne and Michael sometimes go the extra mile with their fosters. They have taken their current foster dog, Teddy, through AKC Good Citizen School, and he has a certificate from them. “His Good Citizen Award means he has been evaluated by his teachers and has passed all his tests,” Merriane said. “After that, we took him through Pet Partners program so he could be a therapy dog.”
Now he visits patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa who have requested a canine visit.
“This can be very good for patients,” said Cheryl Stine, who is area coordinator for Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida Inc. “Most of our dogs come from the streets or from city or county shelters, and without foster parents to care for them and teach them good behavior, they won’t ever find a forever family.”
Foster families get attached to their dogs but say they are always happy when they see a dog leave with people who will keep and care for him as part of the family. “It can be sad, but it is more rewarding than sad,” said Merrianne. “Once we got Annie who had had heartworms, the roots of her teeth were all exposed and she had been bred way too many times. People are afraid to take dogs that have bad problems, but once they have received treatment, they’re usually healthy. She was a fabulous dog.”
Before someone can become a foster parent to the Labs — or other big dogs — they receive a home visit from someone from the Rescue.
“We need to make sure they have enough room, there’s either a yard or a place for exercise or even long walks and places where they can socialize,” Stine said. “We could use some foster parents now. In fact, we always need more.”
People who want to find out more about it may visit www.lrrof.org or email Stine at labluvrz@aol.com.
