She Fosters Diapered Dogs with Love — Now One Special Bulldog Needs a Forever Family

A shelter can a be scary place, especially if you’re a pooch coming from a former home where you had people who loved you.

There was no concealing the fact that this English bulldog puppy — who has been unable to control his bladder or bowels since birth — was scared at the open-admission Agoura Animal Care Center on Saturday, when a rescuer from the Southern California Bulldog Rescue came to bring the pup, surrendered by his owners that day, to his new foster home.

“I helped the rescue clean him up and get him ready to go. He was trembling, confused and scared,” recalls shelter volunteer Tim Ellis. “Once I started petting him he calmed down and buried his head in my lap while the rescue lady cleaned him up and fitted him with his diaper. She picked him up and he just melted into her. I think he knew he was safe at last.”

The dog’s new foster mom is Tami Leckie, a court reporter who has a passion for fostering dogs — some of them in diapers.

“With diaper dogs you have to find the right food that works for them, so they’re not sitting in a diaper getting UTI’s [urinary tract infections] and rashes all the time. Diesel is already 80 percent there,” she tells PEOPLE of the 7-month-old pup, who has spina bifida, a congenital disorder that can cause incontinence. “Once you get the poo more manageable, you don’t have to worry about house-training. They train really quickly. He’s still adjusting to me putting the diaper on him.”

Leckie has fostered over 90 bulldogs and about seven or eight of them have been “diaper dogs,” as she calls them.

“They’re harder to place but we do have people that adopt them all the time,” she says. “Diesel is young, that’s in his favor. But because of the diaper, it sometimes takes us a little bit longer.”

It took about 24 hours for the sweet pup to realize that his foster home was a safe place to hang. “At first he was kind of in the house just observing,” she says. “It’s like kindergarten — he’s part of the crowd now, he’s in the in-crowd now!”

Look past Diesel’s diaper and what you have is a puppy who just wants to play (Leckie is caring for seven dogs right now, five of them fosters).

“He’s doing great,” says Leckie, “Typical puppy, he’s comfortable now, he’s chewing on my hands and feet. He loves the other dogs.”

The bulldog, whom Leckie has renamed Chopper, will wear diapers for the rest of his life — which isn’t as intimidating as it sounds. Leckie says that with diaper dogs there is no worrying about rushing home to take the dog out, and once the dog gets used to it, it’s easier all around. .

In a few days, Chopper will be neutered and have part of his tail amputated to make diaper issues easier. Hopefully, a permanent home won’t be far behind.

“He would have been an incredibly difficult adoption for us,” says Robin Kahrs, a volunteer for the Agoura Animal Care Center. “We love Southern California Bulldog Rescue because no matter the situation, they always are there for their breed. We so appreciate their support when we have special needs animals.”