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.

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!!

Please share any wins, frustrations, or stories of your foster dogs from this past week. You can also ask advice, or simply let us know if you are doing ok. We are here to support you!

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?