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Talk to me about fostering
Does anyone have experience fostering dogs? DH and I have been talking about getting a foster dog for a few months and are strongly considering it. We have an Aussie (I?ve posted about before) and we think she would strongly benefit from a doggy pal but aren?t ready to make the commitment to adopt a second dog yet.
We have a short list of requirements for any dog we may foster. We?d prefer an older (at least not small puppy), housebroken dog who is medium to high energy but does not jump up. Size preference is medium to medium/large. It's not a huge deal but our dog would play best with a dog a similar size though she has played well with a smaller shitzu mix before. The dog must be good with kids of all ages. We have a toddler who is excellent with our dog. We?ve practiced ?gentle touch? since she was itty bitty and she knows not to hit or pull dog?s hair. However, she?s still a toddler and loves to hug and cuddle our dog. She will also occasionally not pay attention and plop down off the chair and land on the dog accidentally. So, no signs of aggression and good with kids including small kids is the biggest requirement.
I guess my question is what kind of questions should we ask? How do you prepare to foster? What has been your experience fostering? This isn't a decision we want to jump into so we may not do it right away but I definitely want to get more information.
Re: Talk to me about fostering
We foster! I love it, being able to save a dog and help someone find a new family member is amazing. We still get emails and photos from dogs and cats we adopted out 4 or so years ago. I would strongly recommend finding a local rescue you like with policies you appreciate. Some rescues let you have more input in which dogs you take or which adopters you prefer for the dog. Some limit which vets you can use, or require you to bring the dog to adoption events every week.
To be honest, you all do have pretty limiting requirements. Our rescue often gets owner surrenders and then they pull from the local high kill shelters. It can be hard to know with dogs in the pound whether they get along with kids or are housetrained. A lot of them don't get frequent enough walks to know. HOWEVER, you all might be good candidates to take dogs who are owner surrenders or to take dogs who have been in foster care awhile. Our rescue will regularly move dogs around to make space for new dogs to come in. Basically another foster home could pull from the pound, potty train, test with your kid and the dog could transfer to you, allowing them to pull another high risk dog. I will say, I haven't run into many problems pulling adult dogs from shelters. DH and I own cats, so we require a cat test for any dogs coming our way. They're usually mostly potty trained or are easy to potty train. We adopted our second from a shelter and she came perfectly potty trained.
Also be aware that some rescues may not be interested in having families with small kids foster. Lots of dogs are good with kids, but are still not comfortable having children hug them or put their face in their faces. It doesn't make the dog not good with children, those are really invasive and rude behaviors in dog land. I'm sure you can find a rescue to work with, but you will still need to supervise dog+ toddler carefully.
Thanks for your advice!
The bold is what we're thinking as far as dogs to foster. I live in a small, rural area with very few animal rescues. Our animal services is only open four hours Mon-Friday and have very few resources. For instance, if there is a loose dog the police primarily handle it as the animal control officer is rarely on duty.There are no adoption events.
I'm thinking an owner surrender or a previously fostered dog would be best. I know our requirements are limiting but I'm really hoping we can take in a dog to free up some space in the overcrowded shelters. I really think our pup would benefit as well.
We failed (not in the good way) our fostering stint. We had our short list of requirements and what we were willing to work with and not. In short we didn't want a female or a puppy. We already had a dominate female and didn't want issues between them.
They sent us a female puppy with a lot of issues. Sadly, I believe that the dog's previous foster didn't want to continue with her and they were just trying to re-home her elsewhere. She had been with a single older woman who had no other dogs. Really that was the most ideal place for this dog to be. They had a story about how the dog was too attached there and needed to learn to adapt to other settings. I bought it and we agreed to give it a try, in hindsight I don't think they were being honest at all. First mistake: we should have stuck to our short list of requirements.
Ultimately, the pup (german shepard, so "pup" was just as big as my full grown girl) ended of fighting with my dog and bit her. The rescue took her back and we never heard from them again.
I don't want to scare you away from fostering just make sure you are setting boundaries and expectations clearly. We let them be flexible and we should not have. We would foster again someday when our home is ready to and for rescues we have supported and worked with in our area. I would also recommend asking to interview one of their foster homes. Ask about support (financial and training), mission, goals, housing requirements. Ask about who gets final say in the dog adoption. Some lay with the rescue, others leave it up to the foster parent to decline if they don't feel the adoptive home would be a good one.
Thank you for this. I wanted honest advice and real life examples. Some of my requirements are just preferences but a some are absolutely non-negotiable. The dog must be good with kids. I have time to dedicate to training and exercise. We play with and do training with our dog at least 2 hours a day and usually more. I really think that if I can give a dog a temporary foster home and free up a spot in the shelter it would be awesome.
Also, thanks for the encouragement doglove!
No rescue is going to guarantee that a dog is good with kids -- not to a potential foster, and not to a potential adopter. It's just impossible to make that guarantee. Partially because, half of "being good with kids" means it is YOUR job to make sure that your child doesn't make the dog uncomfortable -- gentle petting, not hugging dogs, not laying on them/sitting on them, taking their resources (toys/food), not screaming, running at them, etc.
Even dogs that are "good with kids" have their limits, and will give non-verbal warning signs that they are uncomfortable. If people miss or ignore those signs, dogs have no choice but to move to more drastic means of communicating (snapping or biting).
Please read this: http://dogsandbabies.wordpress.com/2010/02/21/good-dogs-dont-bite/
As I said originally my toddler is VERY good with animals. The only dog she's every laid on or hugged is our Aussie and she's been in situations with easily 10 other dogs. She doesn't go after our dog's food or take her toys and she knows how to pet a dog correctly. She's not allowed to hit or poke at our dog or any of her stuffed animal toys or dolls. We have been doing "gentle touches" since she was about 6 months old.
I am familiar with non-verbal warning signs like a low growl or even a waring nip. I understand that toddlers can often be threatening creatures to dogs AND I've worked hard to teach my dog and my child to interact with each other positively. DD "throws" the frisbee to our dog, and actually throws tennis balls to play fetch. I understand that it's MY job to teach and it's almost insulting you would assume I didn't. I am an incredible responsible pet owner and spend far more time working with my dog than most people I know.
I'm not looking for a 100percent guarantee, I get that that's not going to happen. However, a dog that has been exposed to children in the past and has interacted with said children well is important to me. I don't think that's an unreasonable requirement.
Just FYI, these are bordering on the "drastic" signs that I mentioned. There are warning signs before the dog gets to that point -- averting their eyes, licking their lips, yawning, etc.
Ditto this. By the time my female growls or starts to lift her lip, she's a nanosecond away from a correction nip. she's literally 3 times the size of my toddler, I'm not letting my toddler push her to that point.
You do sound like a responsible owner, and there are easy dogs that fit your description in shelters....it's just hard to properly asses them in a shelter. Adopting one that fits the description is easier (IMO) because theyre in a foster home...but in a shelter, they're stressed and may not show their true colors (good or bad) until they're in a home.
If you want to help a rescue, I'd suggest you volunteer your time in other ways right now. You never know if your new baby might be more needy than your first. Also, not all rescue are created equally. Some take better care of their fosters and volunteers than others. IMO, to do right by their dogs, they need to scrutinize a home with a toddler and another one on the way thoroughly. and you need to make sure they take care of their volunteers. More than pets foster has been left with $$$ medical bills for their foster when the rescue has dropped the ball.
Have you seen my monkey?
I've never let my toddler push my dog to that point either, or anywhere close. As I said, I've worked with them since we got her as a puppy. The dog will lie on the living room rug and DD will lean against her and play with her princess figurines.
I think an owner surrender really might be a good option. I see at least one posting a week in the buy/sell/trade group about an owner giving up a dog. The most recent was a "small mixed breed dog, good with children and house broken. Just don't have room for her in the new place. Don't want to take her to the shelter."
This is just an example of what I see quite frequently. Also, a majority of the adult dogs for adoption (in the local shelter) are listed on pet finder and labeled as house trained, good with kids etc.
We would take a break from fostering after LO#2 arrives while transitioning. DD#1 was a very demanding baby so I definitely want to see how this LO is before committing to anything. Also, we want to take time to make sure our dog adjusts well, though I don't anticipate any problems, We may not even start fostering until after LO arrives, we're still in the "research/looking into this" stage.
Do most fosters/shelters sign a contract outlining who pays for vet bills/expenses etc.? That is something I would want as well. I suppose I am probably just going to have to go to the shelter and talk with the lady that runs it. Volunteering at the shelter was actually my original idea but I'd have to find a sitter during the day and leave my dog in the kennel and I don't really think that's the best option.
How long you have a foster also varies. I've had several fosters who took 6-9 months before they were adopted. They were all good dogs, housebroken, good with kids, but high energy and I was not willing to let them go to a family that wasn't right for them.
None of the rescues I've worked with had a written contract for volunteers. Some might though. Fortunately I did not incur major vet bills with my fosters. I chose to have my own vet see them on my dime and my convenience, and just submit my expenses as a tax deduction.
Could you volunteer on the weekends when DH can watch LO? Or depending on LO's temperament and what you will be doing, you might be able to bring him with you
Have you seen my monkey?