Humans of BluePath: Mary Carlin, Foster

How it All Began: We found an article in The Poughkeepsie Journal promoting BluePath’s mission and realized that fostering a dog would be the perfect way to help out another family. It would also serve a double purpose in allowing my niece Brianna to gain a better understanding of responsibility and what it means to make a difference within our community.

Favorite Part of Volunteering for BluePath: The best part about joining the BluePath team is knowing that we can help a child with autism get the companion he or she needs to be safe as well as help grant their parents some peace of mind with regard to their child’s well-being.

Favorite Part of Being a Foster: Knowing that we’re making a difference in the lives of others’ while being able to model that behavior for Brianna has been a really great experience.

Advice for Prospective Fosters: The advice I would give to prospective fosters would be to make sure you are willing to love and take care of the dog as if it were your own so that they can be successful throughout the training process and with their future family.

Fast Facts:

About Mary:

• Where She Lives: Wappingers Falls, NY

• Dream Vacation Spot: Ireland

• Favorite Food: Chicken parmigiana

About Chester:

• Puppy Dog Eyes: Chester loves attention and will place his head on your lap while giving you puppy dog eyes to get what he wants – more petting!

• Brotherly Love: Chester loves to play with the Carlins’ pug, Henry, but Henry often can’t keep up and usually opts to take a nap instead!

• Three Words to Describe Him: Loving, adventurous, and sweet