Fostering rescue dogs

[BBP]

Does anyone here do this? I'm just about to complete on my first house and it's one real downside is it fronts on to a rat run road that drivers fly down. The previous owners have lost 3 cats on the road in 2 years. As a cat person I'm a bit gutted, I can't have a pet-less house but don't want to risk them with the road. One solution I've thought of is a tunnel from the cat flap to a section of garden I can enclose....but I digress!

I was thinking that perhaps a dog might suit my new set up better, the garden is plenty big enough with a gate to the road, the horses are a short walk down the road and there are plenty of local footpaths. My work offers flexible working hours and some working from home (or I may be made redundant in a month and would them be running my own business at home anyway). If that was the case I thought I might be in a position to foster animals (those who find kennels too stressful prior to rehoming).

I wondered what the realities are, how hard it is to give them the love and care they need and then still give them back when they ask you to? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

[puppystitch]

It's been a few years since I did it as my work circumstances changed, but I really loved doing it. I would definitely do it again if my situation allowed. I only had one foster dog I didn't get on with, a Yorkie that my resident lurcher thought was a rabbit so had to send that one back sharpish, but all the others I loved. It is hard work, they often have little or no training (including housetraining), but I was always so proud of them when they trotted off to their new homes (although it is heart-breaking to say goodbye too!). If you're new to rescue dogs just let the charity know and they should set you up with a couple of straightforward ones to start with. Good luck!

 

[Dobiegirl]

I foster but havnt had a foster dog since one of my dogs had a cruciate op, its very rewarding but time consuming as I put a lot of time into my foster dogs, I will take anything as my 3 dogs are exceptionally good natured with other dogs and are very good at instilling doggy manners. My male Dobermann has been grabbed by the throat and responded by pinning the dog, no teeth but the dog got the message. Ive had nervous dogs, over sexed dogs,unhousetrained dogs, everything really. It is hard work and Im always sorry to see them go but the minute I clap eyes on them I know they are not mine and try not to get emotionally involved but still cry when they go.

Im lucky in the rescue give me full rein, I arrange the homechecks and I say who the dog goes to, Im on excellent terms with all the owners and get regular updates, Ive not had one dog bounce yet as I am very fussy who has my dogs. If any were handed back the rescue know I would have the dog back to foster. I always keep my foster dogs on a longline even if they have perfect recall, they are not my dogs but they are my responsibility, if I get any problems I contact Cayla on here, she runs her own rescue and what she dont know about dogs isnt worth knowing, she is a mine of information and has been a godsend when Ive been at my wits end after thinking I had tried every avenue.

As puppystitch said the rescue will probably start you off with the easy ones, the ones that walk right in and settle immediately, dont be a failed fosterer and fall in love as this is very common.

Good luck and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Geek]

I have also fostered. It was always so rewarding and again the charity gave me full control over who the dogs went to and it is lovely keeping in touch with them all. Seeing how excited the adopters were made it easier to let them go and seeing the changes in the dog from when they first arrived with us makes it so worth while. As soon as I have the time again I will foster more dogs.

 

[CAYLA]

I don't really struggle with letting them go (maybe) the ones I put a lot of work into but it's more worrying re management o England that behaviour... but I home check myself so I do think that helps for you to get to know the adopters to ease any doubt you may have or worry being less involved. As a rescue we struggle to find fosters that will take anything that's not little and fluffy or anything with a hint of training needing to be done sadly.

 

[fankino04]

I have only fostered once and it was a nightmare but that was due to the rescue being awful and not listening to anything i said about the dog so my advice would be to make sure that you foster for a good rescue who encourage your input on finding a new home, the husky we fostered went to a home that in my opinion was totally unsuitable for her and we heard via Facebook that she bit her new owner on her first day there and haven't heard anything about her since which is upsetting and sometimes I wish we had kept her but we were only fostering to get her out of the pound and give her a chance to find a home and we weren't the right home for a hyper young husky.

 

[Annette4]

We are taking a break from fostering at the moment but mostly because two is enough. We weren't able to home check but did lots of visits and were asked for our opinions on whether they would be suitable or not. We didn't have masses of support with behavioural issues but we were lucky tbh as we didn't need any (was there if we needed it). The only thing we specified to the rescue was that we wanted something that wouldn't harass Jack and they were fab with matching us to dogs....we only failed with one dog who stayed .

 

[BBP]

Thanks for the replies, I finally managed to get back on here! My concern would be whether I have what it takes to deal with any retraining issues. I have only had one dog before and much of her initial training was done when I was a teenager, at the time I felt my parents were quite hard on her, although she was a beautifully behaved dog as a result. My horsey behavioural knowledge is pretty good but I'm no dog expert, perhaps I need to do some reading up.

 

[Merlin1979]

I have had 4 rescue dogs but always permanent homes. I thought about fostering as all my dogs had issues of some degree.
I had not done anything about it when my friend whom is a dog behaviourist approached me about fostering a dog she knew. I met him and he got on fine with my other dog.
The first night I realised this dog had serious issues. He had never been left alone in the house before or even left his owners side. He was seriously traumatised. I didn't sleep for the first two weeks I had him but he started to come round.i had to doze on my sofa. Like Cayla, my concern would be the home he would be going to ( bavk to owner in this case) and back to his previous life.
In time, his owners circumstances changed and she could not take him back. I am delighted to call him my own. It was never the intention but it was the right thing and 2 years down the line, he is a happy settled dog. He completely and utterly took over my life but I wouldn't change him for the world.
I had the full support of a behaviourist which was key to our success. I believe you need to have a good support network if you take on dogs with problems. Good luck!

 

[cbmcts]

I used to foster for a large breed rescue. Quite a few years ago now as I changed jobs and moved house!

The dogs that I got were often 8 - 14 months old and had been given up because they were now 30kgs plus of hooligan and their previous owners couldn't cope. A few were dogs that had been kept outside as guard dogs and needed to learn about house training, TVs, hoovers and the like. The young dogs were hard work (for years I had a sofa and chairs that were always a foot from the wall so stroppy dogs could be tipped off them ) but great fun as well. They were a breed that thrived on training and an interesting life so were very satisfying to work with. The rescue, while a bit difficult to please IMO really did know their stuff and were very careful about who they rehomed to so I had no worries there.

The couple of cruelty cases that I had broke my heart and I found them difficult to give up - the only times I nearly became a foster failure but I had them months rather than weeks. The only type I refused to ever have again was a bitch due to whelp - I took one in an emergency and she had 10 pups 3 days later! 8 survived and I had them for 9 weeks and nearly a nervous breakdown! Dear God, that was hard, hard work and my kitchen was a river of poo and wee (and teeth marks) by the end. She was lovely and went to a friend of mine after 12 weeks, all the pups went to fantastic homes and they were the only ones I waved off without a tear

I look back on that time with a lot of satisfaction and fondness and am sad that I can only do little bits of rescue work now due to work and an antisocial terrier. If you get a chance to foster, do it but do also check out the rescue you'll be working with carefully. Be very honest with them about what you can handle and make sure you find out in advance what happens if it doesn't work out and how long you'd have to wait for the dog to be moved on. Also, who pays for what and the only problem I came up against was which vet they insisted you use. The rescue I fostered for understandably enough, had a preferred vet that was a quite a distance from me and while it was fine for occasional visits it got wearing to spend a hour each way travelling there with dogs that needed regular visits.