Minneapolis/St. Paul Nesties
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Question about fostering dog
We might be fostering a dog for a friend who just started up a rescue group. My dog has been an only "child" with the exception of two cats years ago. She's okay with some dogs and gets jealous or skittish around others.
Any tips for bringing in a new dog? Tips for feeding? My dog gets home cooked food and the foster will most likely get commercial food. Feed at the same time? Keep them separated when feeding? Okay to have foster dog in a kennel while our dog is roaming?
Going to talk to DH tonight and I know he's going to hound me about these things. I have some ideas but want to get others.
Thanks!
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
Re: Question about fostering dog
1) Have them meet at a neutral location
2) Feeding- much depends on the dogs. Do you have any history of the foster? Do either of the dogs have food aggression issues?
3) We never kenneled our dog or fosters so I am of no help on this issue. But, I would be inclined to say yes it is okay to let your dog roam while the foster is in a kennel.
Other random tips-
Do not feel bad for your foster dog, treat them like you would any dog. The past they had, no matter how horrible it is, is in the past. Do not give speical treatment because it will lead to bad behavior.
Based on my expierence- Our dog would get snarky after a few days with the foster (only if the foster was trying to be alpha)- they worked it out. There is a honeymoon period where your foster may be the ______ (best, sweetest, most shy, etc) dog, they will get over it and true colors will come out. Again DO NOT BABY your foster, sounds harsh, but they need to move on so they will become adoptable!
Good luck and I loved fostering. Once the kids are older I would like to do it again. It is hard for a variety of reasons, mostly to see them go, but it is worth it.
Feeding - Rusty eats raw so we separate all dogs no matter what - Rusty eats in the bathroom and the foster either eats in the kitchen or in the crate depending on the day and if I really feel like hauling dog food dishes upstairs.
Ditto to no babying the foster. Definitely creates behavior problems.
We start NILIF immediately with the foster. Sit to be petted, sit to eat (AND WAIT until they are calm), sit before going outside, sit before going for a walk. We also work on not rushing the doors when people come over and on a trick like "shake" so the dog is cute at adoption events.
We're lucky since Rusty isn't territorial so we do greetings in the backyard - foster dog gets to be in the yard first, sniff everything, pee everywhere, we play with the dog for awhile and then we let Rusty out to meet. They pee everywhere, play, etc...
We work very hard to integrate the dog into the new surrounding and to adapt to our routine. We have the exact same routine every day for a week. We do that because the fosters thrive on routine - they know what to expect from you and you know what to expect from them. We try not to throw any curveballs at them so they can calm down a bit faster if they're from a reservation or animal control.
Otherwise I say it's just like adopting a new dog - you're getting to know them, they're getting to know you and you're just the "rest area" on the way to their new home. You have to have expectations and stick to them to show your foster dog how to act.
Eep - can you tell that we've had a few fosters that have been an absolute handful? LOL.
Thanks! All very helpful.
My friend is bringing foster dog over tomorrow afternoon and said he'll hang around for a while to see how the dogs do, get a sense of the new dog's temperament and take pics. My friend met the dog today and said he's a big (80 lb), goofy lug of a black lab. Said the dog pulls on the leash pretty bad but they don't think he's ever really ran free or been on walks. Other than that, they think his temperament is fine, he gets along with the other dogs and doesn't bother the cats. They don't know much more than that - his owners are in prison on drug charges so I can't imagine he had a great life.I will try so hard not to baby the foster dog. I'm such an animal lover - I think that's going to be harder than seeing him go to a forever home. I baby my own and I think the key is going to be to pay more attention to her than foster dog, especially at first, or she'll get jealous.
I googled NILF - someone on the pets board mentioned it as well. Apparently I do this with my dog already and just didn't know it. I'll definitely work on tricks.
My dog doesn't have food aggression issues as far as I know. She sits until I tell her to eat and doesn't do anything if I take away after she starts eating. I don't know about the foster. We'll keep them separated to be on the safe side.
I think my biggest fear is that the dogs will fight and just go at each other or that I won't be able to tell when they're playing vs. fighting. I don't want anyone to get hurt!
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.