Fostering

[PJ's Mom]

I'm going to start fostering dogs within the next couple of weeks. I'm working with a small dog rescue here, and they're in need of good foster homes. The dogs I will be fostering will probably be Pom and Pom mixes and chihuahua/mixes.

Hubby has *almost* agreed to this, as long as my cat won't start peeing on everything as soon as a new animal comes in.

For those of you who foster, can you offer some tips and advice to making the transition smooth for both my own dogs and the foster babies? I only want to take in one dog at a time, at least for now. I'm hoping it won't be too hard on peej and Bailey.

I finally get to help homeless doggies. I can't wait!

[finn's mom]

Congratulations, Dawn! Lucky dogs.

[Jadapit]

How exciting Dawn! When do you think you will get your first foster dog? I cant wait to hear how it goes. I agree with Kari, lucky dogs.

[jenluckenbach]

congratulations! Fostering is wonderful! I foster cats so any advice I might have for introductions would probably be totally wrong for the world of dogs, but I'd say slow supervised introductions have to be the best. Good luck and HAVE FUN!

[RobiLee]

Thats wonderful, Dawn! I have no advice for you though. I am sending you lots and lots of best wishes though.

[lizbud]

I hope this all works out for you. I do believe fostering animals
is one of the most selfless & caring things anyone can do. I thank
the foster family with prayers every day for taking in my Maggie
till I could meet her at PetsMart adoption site.

People that come to mind from Pet Talk are Jen, Aly and also
Clara4457. There are probably more that I can't think of at the moment. I wish you all the luck in the world.

[Jamieejo85]

I have no advice to offer, as I do not foster but I am positive you will be great at it!! And of course we will need pics of all your cute little fosters..GOOD LUCK

[PJ's Mom]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. We met with the rescue workers this afternoon at Petsmart and met these cuties who all need homes. Of course I wanted to take them all home.

Charlotta:


Vader (as in Darth. )


Bonet:


Oscar:


More...

[PJ's Mom]

Doc:


and finally, Cheetoe:


This is the size of the dogs we will be fostering. I can't say I've go ttoo much experience with the little guys, but it should be fun learning about them.

[Kfamr]

DOC WANTS TO COME HOME WITH ME!!
Oh my gosh he is tooooo cute.
I've been dying for a black and tan Chi ever since I met my cousin's. Awwww!

Good luck with the fostering, it's something i've always wanted to do.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Daisy and Delilah want to move to your house!! So many doggies of their kind they don't know what to do. They are all so cute! We would love to take care of those little cuties!! Good luck!!

[Rachel]

Dawn, how kind of you to take on this obligation. I'm sure it will provide many surprises and many rewards.

I really haven't done any fostering but I have had many doggie visitors stay with me while their folks were out of town. What has been helpful is to introduce the new dog to my dogs outside. We have a fenced yard so they can run around together and get acquainted. That always works better than just bringing the new dog directly into the house.

Your dogs are about the size of mine, so what you might be surprised by is how quickly these little guys can zip out when you open the front door. They seem to be able to slip through the smallest of openings/between legs, etc. Also it isn't so easy to lean down and grab them by the collar like you can one of those *mejiums* we've got.

And KayAnn, I think I'll have to arm wrestle you for Doc. Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?

[Ginger's Mom]

Congratulations!!! You will be a great foster mom. The babies are adorable. I don't think you will have any problem at all, but if the newby seems sort of aggressive to or overly frightened of Bailey and Peej, take all three of them for a nice long walk together. Let them get used to being around each other in a neutral place, even if that just means walking around the block together for 30-45 minutes. Then take them all back inside, let them do a little bit of setting rules for each other. My Ginger is a pretty submissive dog, so, so far, we haven't had much problem with any fosters. They know it is her house because she gets to do things like eat first and sleep on the bed, but they get to do almost anything else. I am so happy for you and those little cuties that are going to benefit from being in your home.

[zaylagrey]

I foster greyhounds, much bigger than the little guys you're going to foster, but do introduce outside first on nuetral ground. This will let your dogs become more comfortable with a new dog and not feel invaded. Our fosters get crated at the very beginning. For greys it's calming to be in a crate in an unfamiliar inviroment. This also helps in potty training phase, dogs wont go where they lay. I also have cats so the dog is leashed around my cat until it shows no interest, usually right away since they are deemed cat safe when I get them. At feeding time, the fosters are fed last, after my two greys. They get their treats given to them last and my girls and the foster usually figure out who gets what bedto sleep on. They also don't get the benefits my girls get- (laying on the sofa or my bed.)This way the foster knows my dogs are the top dogs of the house-they are last in the pecking order. I also don't give treats to them without supervision, just in case of food aggression. And feeding time all three are fed in different areas so each one has their space of comfort. It is work to foster, not everyone can do it. It's a labor of love for these animals. We fostered a wonderful brindle boy for three weeks and he got adopted today. I loved him and feel a little hole in my life from him not being here, but I know he's going to a good home and gosh I can't keep all of them, but some do tug at the heart strings.

These are just some things I need to do in my situation with these dogs. Smaller dogs are probably different in alot of ways.
Good luck to you.

[luvofallhorses]

Yay! Congrats! and Kari is right what lucky dogs I am going to foster someday.