Foster Dogs?

[nightsrainfall]

Anyone here foster dogs? I'm just curious about it and wondering if anyone here does or not.

[thepennywhistle]

I have in the past, but with one last failure (i.e., adoption by me) I am at the legal
limit for canines as dictated where I live, and I cannot foster until someone goes to
The Bridge.

[chay]

hello! i know a number of the posters on this board do foster dogs, so i'm sure they'll be able to offer their anecdotes shortly i have not fostered myself, though i did look into it extensively last year after losing my little soulmate dog, gremlin (at a ripe 17.5 years of age <3).

it is a big commitment but one that i think can be very rewarding for both dogs and foster carers, if it is right for both. a few things you need to consider:

- is your lifestyle really compatible with fostering? at the time i was looking, myself and the OH were both working shift work so there was always one of us home during the day/night. if you have a 9-5 job where your foster dog will be left by themselves all day, is this really fair for the dog who is (often) in foster care in the first place so they have access to trustworthy human companionship?

- similar to the above, are you able to provide the foster dog with the means of getting medical assistance, should they need it? often (i'm in australia, but i'm sure its similar) the foster group will pay for the vet expenses, but they may require you to take the dog to a specific vet practice that they are associated with that might be a bit out of your way, etc

- are you able/willing to take the dog back to the shelter, or have prospective adopters come to your home to meet the dog? are you willing to do this repeatedly, for as long as it takes to find the dog the perfect home? rightfully, shelters are often very discerning about who their dogs are adopted out to and some dogs can take months before they find the right match for them.

- are you really ready to take on ANY kind of dog? the foster networks i came across all worked really hard to pair foster dogs with appropriate carers, but keep in mind that many dogs in rescue have had a really hard start to life and won't always be simply a fun little dog you keep in your house for a few weeks before they find another home. they may be abused, underweight, damaged psychologically/emotionally - are you able to not only care for this dog but actively assist it in recovering and learning to trust the world again?

at the end of the day, i think fostering would be a really rewarding and challenging thing to do, i still hope to be involved one day. i think it would be amazing to be involved with rehabilitating a dog who has had a rough start, and seeing them go to their forever home where you know they would be loved and cared for, would be so fantastic.

it is not all flowers and rainbows though, and in doing fostering you will probably come across some pretty horrible things. i remember a call out for a carer for a dog who had been rescued from a puppy mill, in terrible condition, still with one puppy living (the rest had died)...i won't go into her story but needless to say it was absolutely horrible and really bought home how much dogs suffer at the hands of humans, every single day, in every city, state, country...i have so much respect for people in rescue, how they don't just completely lose their faith in humanity with what they must see every day astounds me.

(sorry for the long post, its something i am really interested in obviously haha!)

[emmabeth]

I have done in the past - not doing currently as my own dogs need space/certain issues ironing out (Ie the troublesome Tibetan person... ).

When it goes well its really rewarding, when you get shafted by a dodgy rescue or person, quite a bit less so and I have been on the 'dumped on' side of things more than I care to be.

Go into things with your eyes wide open, if you are doing this for a shelter or rescue get a contract written of some kind, that sets out your responsibilities and their responsibilities, if you are doing it independantly of a rescue, make sure your contacts are as good as you thinkt hey are and anyone helping you is rock solid and reliable.

When it goes well... it is brilliant. My best ever foster was a little ginger and white whippety terriery cross thing called Cindy - she had lived next door for years, until they moved and sold her! I had known her for a while and really clicked with this little girl who didnt have the nicest life there (free fed along with three other dogs and always last at the food bowl and bullied off it!) and I was gutted to find she had been sold in a free ads paper... but clever Cindy ran away! I came home one day to find her outside the houses, and since tey had moved I let her into mine.

The problem was I couldnt keep her as I was up to the limit the council (who then owned my house) allowed, so had to find her a new home - we fattened her up and got her much more confident and finally got a family interested.... and then the da they were coming down to meet her she slipped out of my garden (I now know lured by one of hte former owners children) and she vanished... A day and a half later after i had been frantically searching for her, someone found her tied up deep in the woods, to a tree,presumably to starve to death! Poor love, she hadnt yelled her head off because shed been quite close to home and had heard us calling her, and assumed we knew she was nearby!

Anyway, the new people came to see her the minute I phoned to asy we had found her and they fell in love with her, took her home and she slept on the little girls bed from then on, so pleased and happy to finally have her own little girl (rather than nasty mean boys who tie dogs up in the woods and leave them!).

She lived with them until she passed away of old age, and is now buried in their garden.

[wvvdiup1]

You might want to ask Mattie about this because she still does foster dogs!

[nightsrainfall]

Thanks for all the replies. Right now I'm not able to foster, but it something I'm trying to think if it's every possible. I already volunteer at a shelter and so I've learned that if I foster I'd most certainly want to make sure I like and can work well with who ever it is I am assisting (shelter, rescue group, etc).

Everyone brought up a lot of good points and for the most part I think I will have the right attitude for it (I hope). Work schedule... that is going to be probably the biggest problem of all. I do know personally I don't do my best with highly anxious-energetic dogs just because at this moment in time they still effect my own energy level from time to time making me feel anxious too. I'm hoping more experience and knowledge will help me improve with interacting and not being as affected.

[shackybracky]

hi nightsrainfall. I've fostered dogs for nearly 2 years, from 2 chihuahuas to mastiffs. It can be very rewarding seeing them have fun in a home but very stressful also when things don't go smoothly. The rescue I foster for is great and we all work together and do what's best for the dogs. I have had a couple of dogs that didn't settle in at mine due to problems with my cats or separation problems and they had to go to a different foster. I think it's important for the rescue to closely support the fosterers and be able to offer a back up plan if something doesn't go smoothly.

Since I foster the dog, I do the home check and get the final say on whether the dog goes there or not. I think because I know the dog the best it's a good way to work.

Have you got a rescue local to you that are looking for fosters?

[BuddhaMom]

hi nightsrainfall. I've fostered dogs for nearly 2 years, from 2 chihuahuas to mastiffs. It can be very rewarding seeing them have fun in a home but very stressful also when things don't go smoothly. The rescue I foster for is great and we all work together and do what's best for the dogs. I have had a couple of dogs that didn't settle in at mine due to problems with my cats or separation problems and they had to go to a different foster. I think it's important for the rescue to closely support the fosterers and be able to offer a back up plan if something doesn't go smoothly.

Since I foster the dog, I do the home check and get the final say on whether the dog goes there or not. I think because I know the dog the best it's a good way to work.

Have you got a rescue local to you that are looking for fosters?

Shacky,

Cool story. I have tried my hand at fostering as well but became aware that the lively commitment is not appropriate for everybody. When all was said and done I was happy that I tried it, but I also felt bad because I knew I wasn't the best foster parent and had to send the puppies to another home.

Therefore my opinion on fostering is the following:

Please make sure you have time to dedicate to the animals, and treat them as if they were your own. Somehow I got in to a bad situation and still feel guilty about it.

[nightsrainfall]

Have you got a rescue local to you that are looking for fosters?

I'm currently a college student and my school schedule is not appropriate for owning a dog by myself. That said, I will be graduating here shortly. The shelter that I have volunteered at the past four years would be amazing to foster for just because I have a working relationship with them already, I know all their rules, I know the shelter's needs, and I know how they work and treat their animals and adoptions... I just might be moving after graduating depending where I get a job at - so I'm just investigating fostering in general. I already know it may be unlikely for me to volunteer at another shelter. The shelter here usually needs more volunteers for weekdays, and only a few of us are allowed to claim weekends.

I just like dogs and am trying to find ways to keep learning, interacting, and giving something back to them.

[shackybracky]

BuddhaMom...

don't feel guilty. I'm sure you helped the dogs out as much as you could do at the time. Maybe in the future you'll be in a better position to be able to foster.

Anna...

I also got into fostering to gain hands on experience with dogs. It's proved to be very educational. We get attached to virtually every dog we foster but when the right home comes along and it's time to part company I always tell myself that there is another dog somewhere needing to come into the rescue from a bad place and we'll get attached to that one too. And meeting the dog a few months down the line after they've been rehomed and seeing them settled is amazing!!!

You're doing a great thing helping out at the shelter! Maybe there'll be a shelter near to where you move after graduating? What are you studying at college?

[nightsrainfall]

Maybe there'll be a shelter near to where you move after graduating? What are you studying at college?

Learning more is exactly what I want. You can only learn so much from written - hands on experience is better so I'm really hoping there's a shelter or a rescue group to where ever I move to. I think most likely their will be one within the area just because of how many there seems to be out there. Else, I may try to volunteer with dogs some other way (training, assistance, etc). Funny enough, I'm actually studying chemical engineering and environmental studies. Ideally I want to go farther with dogs, either getting my own, helping others with theirs, learning to train, volunteering at the shelter/rescue, or a mix of that. I am just going to need to figure out options and strike a balance.