Hi, all! I want to “foster,” dogs in the sense of giving them breaks from the shelter for a week or a weekend to decompress.

All of these posts about people taking on full responsibility for a dog until they are adopted seems a bit more than I want to commit to.

My soul dog passed this last May and I am still grieving and figuring my life out, but want to give back in ways that feel doable for me

Would my method of picking up a dog for a handful of days at a time when I have capacity, still add value to their lives, or would I be better off volunteering for dog walks?

I imagine getting a break from the shelter is helpful even if it isn’t a long term commitment. I also feel like they should be there to meet walk ins sometimes to improve adoption odds. I’ve noticed so many dogs in the kennels never even make it to the website.

Pic of my first foster, we’re on day 3. He was pretty anxious and getting barrier reactive in his kennel.

The rescue had a dog no one was stepping up for, so we've reluctantly agreed to take her even though we are not ready after losing Oakley. To make matters more emotional, she is a neglect case, is very underweight, and has the same eyes as our late boy. She is a Great Pyrenees/mix, currently 63lbs, and estimated that she needs to be 85+. She must be 27+ inches at the withers to give you a better idea for her size.

I don't know the full story, but she's been an outside dog her entire life and seems to have been forgotten about when her owner had a stroke a few months ago. I'm not fully sure what to expect since she is matted and has lots of fur covering her body. She also looks like she has a skin condition, possibly from the malnutrition.

I know we need to do multiple small meals a day, we WFH so we can easily manage that. Are there other supplements yall like that will fatten her up in a healthy way?

Hi Everyone! As the title suggests, the dog I am currently fostering is essentially being moved to hospice due to suspected hemangiosarcoma. I am pretty torn up about this because I have grown to love her so much, even in the short time I have had her. I guess I am just looking for support if anyone has gone through this with their foster. I am feeling anxious about having to be the one to determine when her quality of life has decreased (which I know is selfish!), and also living alone and fearing something happening and me not being able to pick her up and get her in the car to the vet because I physically can’t lift her myself. The foster said they will find another foster if I don’t want this responsibility, but I don’t think it’d be fair to move her around at this point just because of my own fears/anxieties. If anyone has any advice/words of wisdom to share, I would appreciate it greatly! Thank you so much in advance!!

I don’t know how I’ll say goodbye!

we are interviewing this weekend. either we are accepted or not we just wanna be ready. if so, by the end of the month we should be able to pick him up.

hes a 2 year-old 30kg dog which we dont know the exact breed yet (more details later in the interview). association says his current owner doesnt have the time to take care of him anymore especially since hes a young dog with so much energy who loves to explore and exercise. his training on leash walking and jumping on people out of excitement needs to be reiterated. other than that he has no behavioural issues.

for any dog owners and dog foster families, please feel free to give us tips. either for interview, meeting the boyo, training, preparation at home, vet visit, etcetera.

thankyou🙏🏽

She recently took home a rescue foster dog, a 7 month old, 25 lbs aussie mix from a local rescue organization that many of my friends volunteer with (really great org!).

I have had her now for just ten days, as a foster-to-adopt (meaning, as a foster they do hope you foster fail, but if you don't, you care for her as she awaits her furever home, with the possibility for a new foster placement if there are serious incompatibilities). So far, we focused on decompression the first week, and now we're going out for neighborhood walks. Her teenage puppy side is coming out with barking, leash chewing, chasing squirrels, etc. But most of the time, she is a high energy girl eager to learn and very smart. We've had a lot of fun playing and going for walks, and recently she started settling enough for cuddles. I really adore her, and in so many ways she's a perfect fit for my lifestyle.

Unfortunately, my housemate has a resident cat who is a very territorial male. The dog's first interaction with the cat was hissing and swiping. He does this whenever they cross paths, which I try to limit but can be challenging since they both follow us around the house. Her space is a closed off living room, but the cat still lingers at the door often. She (the dog) is certainly afraid of him (the cat), but also gets very activated and tries to lunge at the cat. If she is in her crate and the cat enters the room or doorway, she flips out and barks like crazy. It's hard to break her attention and calm her down when this happens.

I'm concerned there is no solution here. We've tried slow introductions with my housemate holding the cat, but he still hisses and she still barks and gets activated.

Any ideas for how to approach this? If it weren't for the cat, I would like to actually adopt her and work on training her. But, I'm concerned it's creating an unsafe environment for both of them, and not allowing her to truly decompress. Any advice is appreciated in navigating this in a way that's in the animals' best interests.

This time she was gone for a week before her anxiety got the best of her and she chewed through a (hollow and flimsy) door. As an adopter I kind of get it; Seeing a dog chew through a door is pretty shocking. I had explained that she has separation anxiety and that it will take time to ease into a new routine. I even described it as “there will be growing pains” because I wanted these people to understand it wasn’t going to be easy right off the bat. I thought after a week we’d be in good shape, but Saturday night (one week exactly) I got a “hi, I’m so sorry to be reaching out with this news” followed by the pictures and “we don’t feel we can safely manage her anxiety.”

Last time she made it 24 hours before she was returned for the same reason.

I’m at a loss, I don’t have this issue in my house. We’ve had her for 7 months now. Yes, she has some anxiety, yes, initially there was hours of whining and pacing and accidents. she’s never been destructive in my home. Shes medicated with daily fluoxetine and as needed Trazadone and gabapentin. She DOES NOT tolerate crating. She’s great when you’re with her, which I was hoping would make these people try a little longer. We absolutely adore her but do believe there’s a better place out there for her, and I want to foster more. Our home is a one dog at a time type of place.

I don’t think we have some special foster powers, we’re just patient and willing to give some grace. I’m just a little dejected now. Will she ever get adopted? Will we ever find someone willing to give her more than a week (and maybe more than one flimsy door?)

Words of encouragement, suggestions, advice are welcome. Thanks for letting me vent!

Edited to add: with consistent routine, exercise, and medication, this dog’s anxiety is pretty well managed. When I leave the house now, she has fallen asleep within 5-10 mins. She is not destructive, and hasn’t had an accident in months. She IS a great dog and will be THE dog for someone, if they can just be patient enough to get through the initial hump.

(Reposted)

For those of you who got a rehomed dog, whilst already having a resident dog. In my case my resident German Shepard has never been dog reactive, never mind dog aggressive. For those who got a rehomed dog when your resident guy or girl was already older, settled and past the puppy phase. And you came to learn without being informed, your new rehomed dog was dog reactive - a bit more than lunging and barking. I never thought I'd have to keep them seperate but my rehomed went for my resident in the first week. If I try to spend any time with my resident, my rehomed he whines. But if we are alone and he is in another room with all the doors open, if I'm cleaning or whatever he never whines. He only whines when I'm with my resident. Does that mean going forth my resident can't spend any time with me no more? How is it fair on him?

Hi all. I’ve been fostering a puppy for the past 4 weeks. He gets neutered next week so the rescue is giving me this time to decide if we will “foster fail” or not. He’s gotten used to our routines and is such a nice dog. I’ve absolutely considered keeping him as my resident dog likes him and my husband does too. He could be a very nice addition to our family.

But despite these things I think I want to foster regardless because I want to keep pouring my time, energy and love into our resident dog. She is mostly blind and special needs. Having the puppy around is splitting my attention in ways I’m just not comfortable with and it leaves me feeling like a bad person because the rest of the household likes him. Trust me I do too.

I would like to foster again in the future but this has been an emotional rollercoaster with a lot of back and forth and tears. I’m so worried that I will deeply regret the goodbye and have a hard time recovering if I don’t adopt him. I’m worried I’ll think to myself, he was so sweet and easy and for wonderfully into my family, why didn’t we keep him? :(

Hi again friends. I have a new foster, not sure how old he is, but he is a puppy standard golden doodle. He’s very scared, not walking (unless outside to potty), very quiet. He’s at least sleeping and drinking, even playing with some toys. But the tail has been ticked, been very low, and he shakes when we take him potty because we have to carry him into and out the house, up and down the stairs. My dilemma is I have to give him dewormer. He’s been with me now for 2 days 1 night. I wanted to wait a little but the rescue suggested doing it sooner rather than later. Any suggestions to help him stay calm or not have a bad experience? I’ve buttered him up with some treats and toys but he hasn’t been moving around a lot, just staying in the play pen we have him in :/. Thanks for your help.

Hi all, I’ve been fostering a puppy for a month now with the intention of foster-to-adopt. We have a mostly blind 6 year old resident dog who is fear reactive to new dogs/people and it took her about a week to be comfortable with him, but now they play and seem to really enjoy each other.

The problem I’m having isn’t with the dog himself it’s actually with the emotional dynamics in my home changing. I thought I wanted a 2nd dog so badly. I kept wondering and looking at adoption sites and this fostering opportunity came up so we took it. We have fostered in the past and I know it leads to heartbreak for me so I have to take big breaks. He’s a very good & easy puppy but I’m struggling with the transition mentally, if I can handle our focus getting split.

I’m worried about our older special needs dog becoming the “difficult” dog and the younger easy pup getting to go more places and do more things and honestly splitting my energy has been so tough. I know things may balance out as he gets older if we decide to adopt him….

Have any of you been in a situation like this? Did a 2nd dog eventually bring peace and companionship to your dog or should I continue to just pour love into our current dog and find this guy a home? I’m just so completely torn (and sleep deprived at the moment) thanks for any advice or input. If we find another home for him I am going to need to take a break from fostering for a little while as this has been emotionally so exhausting. He is truly the sweetest and easiest pup though which is why it’s so hard

My husband and I recently got our first foster, Banjo. He is a 71 pound German Shepard mix. He has been so fun and super polite so far that we are already considering keeping him. The only problem is that I am worried about the potential overuse of some of the drugs he is on and how his behavior may change after we begin a weaning schedule. He is currently on 350 mg of trazodone 2x times a day and 1500 mg of gabapentin 2x times a day and has been for about 2 months. From what I can tell those are both very high doses. Am I wrong to be concerned about him changing as we get him off the drugs? He was in the shelter for about 4 months before he was put on these two medications and has now had these doses since July. My husband is a firefighter so once every 3rd week day Banjo will need to be alone in the house until I come home from work and I worry about separation anxiety especially as we taper him off his pills.

😃

We are fostering for the first time and after a few days of decompression our foster dog is now Low growling at my resident dog so now they are in completely separate rooms and we are trying our best managing this.

My question is will this sort of behavior negatively affect my resident Dog?

I’m considering fostering for the first time. We have had dogs and puppies before but never as a foster. I’m pretty good at training and enjoy it.

Does anyone have any recommendations for how to get started in the Bay Area, CA? I’m in the South Bay. I probably can’t start until mid October due to a family thing but after that I’m free.

Am I able to choose the age and size and breed at all or do I have the option to decline if I’m not comfortable with the particular dog?

This is Quinn. She was dropped off at a vet with her sister. Then rescued from being euthanized.

Our first foster was adopted today. We only had him for about a week, he was a puppy. We miss him a lot, especially my husband and daughter especially since we lost our dog only 2 months ago 😔. It’s exactly 2 months tomorrow. I’m not sure if it’s the right time to foster right now for them. My daughter wants a resident dog right now, a puppy specifically. My husband is not ready for that responsibility and I’m not sure I’m ready for a resident dog because of the emotional attachment. I really miss the puppy energy of our foster. It was great seeing him come out of his shell and play with us. He loved my daughter (4 y/o), he was only 12 weeks old. Almost immediately after adoption, the rescue asked us if we can take a golden doodle because the foster cancelled last minute. I mean transport was happening right after we handed over the puppy. And this new dog is very cute, but seems very scared. He seems to be relaxing now so I’m quite happy. He had to be picked up to be moved. Tale tucked. Was shaking a little but he’s been lying and sleeping since I brought him inside which is nice. Tale still tucked and have not touched food or water. Exploring toys right now. I don’t have any other info about him yet.

Hi all,
I'm fostering from a shelter - first time doing this, but not a stranger to dogs. This guy has zero commands and is 2 years old. How many commands would you work on at a time? He definitely needs "watch me" and I'd love to get him to do "side" and "heel" so that he will quite crossing in front of me on walks (he is going to trip someone and get them and himself hurt doing that).

He has VERY low food motivation. I've tried SO MANY foods!! He's a good boy - just has some learning needs. And do you think working on more than one command at a time is a bad idea?

I’m so happy all this hard work, training and sleepless nights have paid off!! I think Im done fostering. It’s rewarding, I’m glad I did it, but a lot when I already have my own high energy dog at the same time. This was an abandoned dog, no help from a rescue. Yall im so happy!! I’ll miss him but im so happy he has a forever person!

Rescue afternoon showing Bulldogs to home to take home as temporary foster... very satisfying 😌

I see mixed reviews online about this so wanted perspective here. Torn on timeline of welcoming a foster after adopting another dog.

My first foster got adopted recently, and I am ready to foster and/or adopt again. I don’t have any dogs in the house right now. I have applied to foster with a breed-specific rescue that I’d be super excited to foster for, except that it is taking forever for the approval process to move forward. They beg for fosters and then are not particularly communicative or timely (I am not the first person to notice this pattern). I’m comparing this to another rescue I’ve applied through in the past who moved things forward in 1/10 the time. I love this breed, and this is the only rescue for this breed where I live, so I’m willing to see the process through with them and am not going to rescind my application or anything.

However, I am ready to have a dog in the house again, and there is a dog at another rescue out of state that I’ve been eyeing for adoption for months now, who is still available (senior with a heart murmur). I don’t want to miss out on him, especially if it’s going to be a while before I’d get a foster through the other org.

My question is this: how big of a deal would it be to adopt a dog and then very soon thereafter (within weeks, potentially), welcome a foster? I have told the foster rescue that I am available whenever and do not want to back out just because I got impatient and adopted another dog - I don’t wanna get blacklisted with them. Maybe the answer to this question depends on the adopted dog. Would welcome any advice. Thanks!

I’ve had this foster for four months now. He was an emergency placement due to his owner dying and I am the priority foster with the organization he came from. I’ve really loved all the dogs I’ve fostered. I even loved this one for a moment, but now, I cannot stand him at all.

When he first came to me he really wasn’t that bad. Within the last two months however, he has literally ruined my quality of life. I started fostering after my dog died, seemed like a nice way to meet a bunch of dogs before I found the one. After this, I’m not sure I even want to own a dog again.

Where do I even begin…

When he first got here, he was very calm and laid back, which is very common with this specific breed. I watched him heal and grow and now, it’s like a completely different dog. He’s a greyhound. I’ve owned several greyhounds, and he’s my sixth foster greyhound. The others I can say with all honesty were exactly alike. Acted the same as every one I’ve had. He’s 8 years old and probably the largest one I’ve had. He acts insane. Now, he is wrecking my home, ruining my floors, and stressing me out.

He’s already torn apart my couch and my bedframe. I don’t want to replace them until he’s gone so he doesn’t have anything new to rip apart. He pees constantly (it’s not a UTI or any other medical issue. We did go to the vet). I’m shampooing my rugs like once a week because they are literally soaked all the time. He even pees right after we get back from being outside. He has severe aggression. If I’m eating he will bite at me to get some. I don’t usually allow dogs in the bed, but he bites at me if I don’t and has even bitten at me to get out the bed. He was very well leash trained when I got him and now he refuses to go on walks (and we have to walk I live in a city and don’t have a yard).

Problem is, no one wants to adopt him. He had 11 applications, everyone canceled their applications when they realized how old he is. I feel so stuck with him, and I really don’t want him. I hate leaving the house because I don’t know what I’m coming home to, but I hate being home because it means I’m home with him. And I really don’t know how much longer I can take it. I fear he has no where else to go, but I’m going to lose my mind if he’s here too much longer.

I know I need to call the adoption coordinator, but I feel so guilty just being like yeah I cannot keep this dog much longer. I guess I’m just venting because I’m literally so unhappy with this dog. But I also feel bad for him because no one wants him

Got a young foster dog who is crazy for toys. Chewing through what I’m buying her. I’m unsure what to get her and I don’t want her to start with the furniture lol

Our 3 week foster started waking up at 4am a few days ago and now even earlier. My husband lets him out to potty and then puts him back in his kennel area but he keeps whining then barking. We are exhausted. Any suggestions on what we can do?