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Old 04-24-2017, 08:25 PM   #1
jwslam
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Does anyone / has anyone foster dogs?
Any advice / experience on whether this is a horrible / great idea?

I'm interested in this...

Reasons:
-I have never owned a dog, not sure I'm ready to make a lifetime commitment
-If I were to commit to a dog I have no clue what kind I'd get
-Cost: I've read that shelters cover vet bills, and some cover everything including food and toys
-Ultimate wing-man
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Old 04-24-2017, 09:38 PM   #2
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I have fostered dogs for a pit bull rescue - I really enjoyed the experience.

If you are honest about your skills and experience, and it's a reputable rescue, it should be a good learning opportunity for you. They will likely give you well-adjusted dogs, and if you follow instructions you'll be able to handle it. There is a need for foster homes, so you're helping.

One thing it is not, in my amateur opinion, is immediately gratifying. Your relationship with your dog, if you ever adopt one, will be affectionate and rewarding. Rescues can be more difficult - they are likely to be anxious/terrified/traumatized by the events that led to their situation, and everything is changing and unfamiliar. It's tough for them and most reactions by you will just make things worse.
If they do like you, they might be very snuggly and affectionate. That has its own difficulty, as you might fall in love and then they're gone/adopted. You should have a plan if you want to keep a foster; whatever that plan is, just be prepared.

Ultimately, you should do this, but do it to gauge your interest in taking them for walks, and not leaving them alone overnight - do it for you - and try to give to the puppers without expectation of how they'll react.
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Old 04-24-2017, 10:03 PM   #3
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I just had my 60th foster dog adopted last week. I had one dog already when I started and was thinking about getting a second. Fostering seemed like a good way to test out the second dog idea, without making a 15 year commitment.

Check out the rescue ahead of time. There are some less than reputable ones around here - and some great ones. A good rescue will provide everything for the dog. They will all have their own rules about how to deal with things like vet visits (usually you must get approval first and take to the vet the rescue works with).

Usually you are expected to take the dog to events like adopt-a-thons (often held at pet stores or dog daycares) and to schedule meet and greets with potential adopters (your house, their house, or neutral territory). If the adopters have other animals, it is really helpful if you can take the foster over there for a meeting.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I will try to answer. I think fostering a dog is great, because a home environment is so much better for the dog than a shelter and then the adopters get a better sense of the dog's true personality.
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Old 04-26-2017, 03:09 PM   #4
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What agencies are recommended?
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Old 04-26-2017, 03:11 PM   #5
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Our current dog was from a foster, and it's a cool dog.
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:09 PM   #6
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What agencies are recommended?
Pawsitive Match - http://pawsitivematch.org/fostering
AARCS - http://aarcs.ca/foster/
Calgary Humane Society: http://www.calgaryhumane.ca/get-involved/foster/

To name a few. They're all great organizations.
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Old 04-26-2017, 04:35 PM   #7
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What agencies are recommended?
I just adopted a dog from AARCS. Pawsitive match was a difficult agency to deal with. AARCS had their stuff together.
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Old 04-26-2017, 06:26 PM   #8
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I foster with Little Mutts Rescue. They specialize in small dogs. If you prefer a bigger one, I definitely agree with the recommendation for AARCS. We have worked together in the past (e.g. trading large dog donations we get for small dog ones they get).
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Old 04-27-2017, 08:35 AM   #9
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I foster with Little Mutts Rescue. They specialize in small dogs. If you prefer a bigger one, I definitely agree with the recommendation for AARCS. We have worked together in the past (e.g. trading large dog donations we get for small dog ones they get).
Hmm.. based on personal observations, the little ones are harder to handle, so I should get something bigger for my first.
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Old 04-27-2017, 06:05 PM   #10
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Hmm.. based on personal observations, the little ones are harder to handle, so I should get something bigger for my first.
I think there are hard ones and easy ones in all sizes. A good rescue will try to match you with an "easier" dog as a first timer.

Also, if your foster does have some challenges, there are a lot of dog trainers that offer spots to fosters for free.

Be sure to let us know if you get a foster dog!
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Old 04-27-2017, 06:28 PM   #11
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I have adopted older dogs and found this book really helpful as my first adoption was also my first. I think you would gain from it as any dog you are bringing in to foster is also your first dog.

Love Has No Age Limit: Welcoming an Adopted Dog Into Your Home
by Patricia B McConnell PH.D

It's $15 at amazon.ca
(my rescue org of choice: Oops-a-Dazy)
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Old 04-28-2017, 07:41 AM   #12
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We started fostering with the Calgary humane society last year because we love animals. They are great for animal lovers because you can foster most types of animals. Rabbits, birds, cats, snakes, reptiles, dogs, cats, even fish.

We have done a few but we are onto our 6th foster dog in a year. All had very different reasons for being surrendered or seized from previous owners. Two were strays from the native reserve, these two were the best, easiest to care for but both had mange. Very treatable. We haven't failed yet but very well could have with either of those two. One dog was for behaviour issues, we had to work with her and train her, we had 1 on 1 sessions at the CHS with dog trainers that really helped us. We already have 2 of our own dogs so finding dogs who are compatible is important. We always do a meet and greet before deciding to foster.

Our current foster dog was surrendered because she needed surgery and she is doing awesome now. All vet visits were covered and all toys, beds, food, medicine, etc is all covered. Need to go away for the weekend you just drop them off at the CHS and pick them up on Monday morning.

They really think of everything to make our lives easy in order to provide the best care for their dogs.

This is one of our current fosters (we have 2). She is adorable and her issues are no different than large dogs all work the same, the training is the same, you don't change training because of the size of the dog. All dogs can have the same issues just some dogs are more dangerous than others, hence you need to be more cautious with powerful breeds.



Our two fosters together, I want to keep The black one, lab shepherd mix but if we do we will have 3 dogs which makes things tough to foster more so we aren't, but she is really great. Anime liking for a fun loving, active, family oriented dog, PM me. She should be up for adoption very soon.



Our first foster, Marco. Our good friends adopted him so we get to see him regularly and get to dog sit. He is just adorable.



This is crazy Abby, super high strung and wasn't a great fit for our house. She is the one we had difficulties with but in the end was adopted rather quickly to a nice family. She was a sweetheart too.



And last but not least, her is Lily. Another lovely girl!



Anyway, our experience has been so great, the staff are wonderful, they are understanding and do everything they can to help you. I would highly recommend the Calgary humane society to any potential foster parents.

Be prepared to have a tough time returning your fosters, you will develop a bond no matter what. But as a temporary dog owner you owe it to them to put in 100% effort daily or you will have a bad time. Just like any dog or pet, you are responsible for their well being.

Definitely foster, it is extremely fun!!
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Old 04-28-2017, 06:11 PM   #13
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Oh, another thing to consider when checking out a rescue. What is the policy for when you go away? One rescue I volunteer with wants (Little Mutts) wants you to give them some notice and they will provide a temporary foster. Another rescue I used to volunteer with made you find your own replacement.
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Old 04-29-2017, 12:10 AM   #14
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I figure this might be the right place to get some advice. We recently adopted a puppy. Husky Shepard cross he about 3 months. He's great, but he's a puppy. He likes to bite at the kids feet, he loves the sock. He's still got his puppy chomps those things are needles. It's playfully but it hurts. What's the proper way to stop it. Do you put him in his crate everytime he gets excited? Do you yell at him and put him outside? I just want to understand the proper level of discipline for the dog at this age.
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Old 04-29-2017, 07:29 AM   #15
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Don't put him in the crate as punishment. If you use the crate for sleeping, or to keep him safely contained at other times, he might start to view it as a bad place and may want to resist going there.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend punishment at all. He's still a baby, so is doing baby things and doesn't really know better at this point. Make sure you have lots of things he can chew handy. When he bites the sock, just say "no" and give him the other item as a replacement to chew. If he switches to biting the chew toy instead, lots of excitement and praise. Also, try to get your kids to react as little as possible. If they are making noise,or jumping when he does this, it may seem to him like they are "playing" the game.

You might want to look into puppy classes somewhere. Those can be tricky breeds, so it might be helpful to get things off on the right foot. I recommend Sit Happens if you're in the north (have gone there myself) or dogma in the south (haven't gone there, but has been recommended by others I trust).
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Old 04-29-2017, 08:10 AM   #16
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My wife and I have been fostering dogs for almost 9 years now for a local rescue. It can be a frustrating, stressful and sometimes heartbreaking experience. We've had fosters adopted and later abandoned/surrendered. We've had fosters we fell in love with and had to let them get adopted. We've had fosters get sick and die in our care, and also had them get adopted and die shortly after in their new owner's care. We've been in what feels like a constant cycle of housebreaking and behavior modification. We've been bitten, peed on, vomited on. We've had to break up fights between dogs, and occasionally been injured in the process. We've invested countless hours into taking dogs to vet appointments, adoption events, fundraisers, training classes and all the other things necessary to give the animals their best chance at finding successful "forever homes". We've replaced carpet and furniture and clothing and kids' toys and who knows what else because dogs have destroyed. (We have plank tile in the house now. Highly recommend it) In short it can be a lot of work and stress.

We've also had the joy of watching someone fall in love with a dog that you took from a mangy, scared basketcase to well-adjusted loving animal. We've got to see dogs go from not trusting any humans at all to wanting to greet every person they meet. We've seen several dogs we thought were never going to get adopted find their perfect match and become that person's everything. We've had countless puppy kisses and games of fetch or tug-of-war, and lots of bellies to pet and snuggles on the couch (yup, they go on the couch.) Most importantly we've saved over 150 lives at this point.

If it's something you're really interested in doing be prepared. As others suggested do your research on which group you want to be involved with. Find out policies on vet care, and what other assistance they will provide. You'll also find that foster families are a very compassionate group that will be willing to help out any way they can. We're always looking for more people to foster and want to make sure they have everything they need to be successful. Ask lots of questions of the more experienced foster people, and if you start getting frustrated with something talk to someone. Start out slow. A good agency will set you up with a dog that doesn't have major behavior issues for your first time, and likely it will be a dog they view as a short term foster. Oh, and for your first one I wouldn't recommend getting a puppy.
I hope you give it a chance.

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Old 04-29-2017, 08:41 AM   #17
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I figure this might be the right place to get some advice. We recently adopted a puppy. Husky Shepard cross he about 3 months.
I encourage everybody to watch Caesar Millan's shows on Animal Planet. So many great tips- especially regarding discipline.
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Old 04-29-2017, 12:26 PM   #18
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Don't put him in the crate as punishment. If you use the crate for sleeping, or to keep him safely contained at other times, he might start to view it as a bad place and may want to resist going there.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend punishment at all. He's still a baby, so is doing baby things and doesn't really know better at this point. Make sure you have lots of things he can chew handy. When he bites the sock, just say "no" and give him the other item as a replacement to chew. If he switches to biting the chew toy instead, lots of excitement and praise. Also, try to get your kids to react as little as possible. If they are making noise,or jumping when he does this, it may seem to him like they are "playing" the game.

You might want to look into puppy classes somewhere. Those can be tricky breeds, so it might be helpful to get things off on the right foot. I recommend Sit Happens if you're in the north (have gone there myself) or dogma in the south (haven't gone there, but has been recommended by others I trust).
The hardest part is his teeth. They are so sharp.
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Old 04-29-2017, 12:33 PM   #19
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I encourage everybody to watch Caesar Millan's shows on Animal Planet. So many great tips- especially regarding discipline.
Not a fan of his methods.

Also, I don't think a TV show should be used for training. It's entertainment and all the hard work is cut out because it's boring to watch. But that's the part you need to do consistently to have a well-behaved dog.
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Old 04-29-2017, 01:03 PM   #20
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The hardest part is his teeth. They are so sharp.
Here's a link my dog trainer friend sent me on the topic. Hope it helps!

http://www.growlsnarlsnap.com/single...FROM-BITING-ME
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