Foster's first day tips???

[Sudilar]

Ok, I have the 8.5 yr. old male GSD, Killian and the @5 yr. old female, Shiloh. Tomorrow a 7 yr. old male owner surrender, Gaylord, will be added for fostering. They have all met at the vets and everything went well. Now my question is: how do I get the foster into the house with the least amount of trouble? Do I bring them all outside to meet again? in front of the house or down the block? Bring the foster to the yard and then bring my two out (with help and on leads)? I have a fenced yard and also a fenced in area in case I want to block the dogs from the main yard. Do I intoduce them in separate sections? Do I bring him in the front door??? This is my first foster and I want to get it right with no fights. Thanks for all hints and tips!
http://www.gsdrescue1.org/frames/gaylord.htm
He is a red and black, it doesn't show up in his pic.

[mugsy]

I'll have Mike answer that one. He does most of the intros at our house. Usually we introduce outside first and then bring them in and we bring them out slowly. I would bring Killi out first and let them get to know each other and then bring Shiloh out, so he's not overwhelmed. Mike can definitely add more to it...he's better at it than I am.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Oh Sue, Gaylord is so handsome!!!

I am not sure how territorial Killian and Shiloh are of their yard, so it may be a good idea to introduce them at the end of the block and have them walk home together. Or perhaps have them in the yard and then bring Gaylord in. You do not want Killian and Shiloh to come and see him in their yard. They may feel like their territory was violated. This is how it is with Drake. However, Drake won't let any dog inside the house yet :D

Be sure you have someone there to help you incase something goes wrong. And I would introduce them outside as opposed inside.

[Sudilar]

Molly, tell Mike that all three have met at the vets office already, so he won't be a complete stranger. My husband will be with me to help out in the intros.

Souraya, I hope Killi and Shi will let him in!!:eek:

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Sue, how accepting are Killi and Shiloh of other dogs in your home?

[Sudilar]

Souraya, no other dogs have come into our home!! Killi is so good natured, I think he will be fine (I hope, you never know for sure). Shiloh will be fine unless he growls at her, she will not tolerate any lip. (UH, OH) Yesterday, when he came too close to her mouth to sniff, she raised her lip and unlike when he did it to Killian, he had to be told to leave it, with Shiloh, as soon as she raised her lip, he backed off. Maybe he already knows she is gonna be boss. (Well, I'm going to be boss and she will be my helper LOL). I am so paranoid. GSDs are large with big teeth, don't want anyone hurt!!

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Originally posted by Sudilar
GSDs are large with big teeth, don't want anyone hurt!!

That's what I was thinking. I have only one set of those big teeth to worry about. You're gonna have three!!

I would let them play outside and see how it goes before you bring them inside. Your dogs are well socialized and I think they will be OK. Is there anyway they can see Gaylord (mouthfull of a name! Reminds me of Meet The Parents :D) again today and get to know him a bit more?

He is so handsome!!

[Sudilar]

He's being neutered today. It's just the first time jitters. My husband thinks it will be fine. It's just me. I am such a worry wort. Gaylord listened to the rescue lady and he only just met her. He did bark at another dog at the vet yesterday. There was a GSD with a husky, too. He was really barking (but not a mean bark), so I thought that when I brought my two in, he would bark at them, but he didn't. It must be a GSD thing. They stick together?

[Logan]

Sue,
I think I can finally respond now! My internet connection has been terrible since last week.
First of all, congratulations and "thank you" for agreeing to try your hand at fostering.
Secondly, just from my limited experience, I have had no problems with any foster dog that has come through our doorway. Of course, both of my girls (I should say "all three" since Murphy is now here, fulltime) are very sweet, docile dogs, and are very submissive to any other dog that is around them. But there has never been any problem. I just have walked in with the "visitor" and once all the tail sniffing is overwith, everyone has been fine. I hope your luck will be as good as mine has been.
Keep us posted!!!

Logan :)

[Sudilar]

Thanks, Mike and everyone for the tips so far. I hope I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill and everything goes smoothly. But, I always think of all the possibilities.

LOL Mike, I hope he doesn't mark my newer double recliner couch and matching chair. I think I'll put a plastic tablecloth on the legs of it, just in case!!

[aly]

A big part of my job is dog introductions and counseling new owners on a smooth transition of introducing new dogs into their household and you seem to have a grasp on the situation!

It almost always works best to have all the dogs on neutral territory and then walk them into the house together. That way your dogs won't be in the house looking at a strange dog coming into their territory. Even though they've already met, when they meet for the second time, be sure to keep their leashes LOOSE (if they are on leash). Holding the leash tight and not giving the dogs space to greet properly can cause fights.

I wouldn't leave them alone unsupervised together for at least 2 weeks, maybe more. You never know if there's just one thing they might choose to fight over.

Definately feed the foster dog far apart from your dogs. Food aggression is pretty common (well more common than I used to think anyway).

Thats just a couple of the main points. I'm pretty sure you know it all already.

Congratulations on your first foster! He's gorgeous! Please keep us updated and feel free to contact me if you have any other questions :)

[aly]

Oh yeah, its important to let them correct each other. I wouldn't stop any of it because if they think correcting is bad, they will stop correcting and then just go straight for the fight. They can usually work out their relationships very well by correcting, unless you have 2 very dominant dogs.

Also, when taking off the leashes, I leave the leash on the most dominant dog for the longest. That way the submissive (or scared) dog doesn't feel trapped and can walk away from the dog thats scaring him/her.

[Sudilar]

Originally posted by aly
Oh yeah, its important to let them correct each other. I wouldn't stop any of it because if they think correcting is bad, they will stop correcting and then just go straight for the fight. They can usually work out their relationships very well by correcting, unless you have 2 very dominant dogs.

Never thought of that. Great point. I would probably tend to stop the corrections that they give each other. Glad you mentioned it.

[lizbud]

Sue,

Sounds like you are getting lots of excellent advise &
tips on the intro period. Gaylord is one gorgeous GSD...

Wishing you the very best on this first of many (hopefully)
successful fosters. :) You'll do great !!! Love & hugs from
me & Moki man. :)

[Sudilar]

Well today's the day, at 1:00. Guess what dh picked up for the three dogs to share: a whole rotisserie chicken. Hrummmph! Guess whose gonna like dh best! LOL

[aly]

WOW!!! Don't be surprised if Reece and Lolly come knocking on your door inviting themselves to dinner! :D

(psssst, what does dh stand for? I see people using it and I assume its your husband, but I never knew what it meant or stood for! Excuse my ignorance :o )

[Sudilar]

aly, dh is dear husband, you were right!

Well, he's in the house and in his cage. Shiloh already snapped at his nose through the fence at intro time, but they were ok on leads in the big yard. At this point, I really don't know who is gonna be boss. I think it will be Killian. From his cage, he gave Shiloh a low growl and she gave him her fast bark. Hmmmm, I'm going to have to watch them carefully. However, I am getting a lot of lovin' from Killi and Shi now. On the way home, I sat with Gaylord in the back of the Suburban and he was leaning on me a lot. He is soooo skinny. He is only about 68 lbs. now. He reminds me so much of Killian when I first got him. He also had a tumor removed. The results aren't in yet. He favors his left rear leg, too. Killian dragged out his favorite partially stuffed wolf and is suddenly more playful. LOL Shiloh just stands in the distance and gives him a little bark now and then. Ok, now he's giving her the growl from the cage. Oh this is fun....

She's getting closer and barking at him more....he is growling a bit........and Killian is sleeping.........

[Pam]

Originally posted by Sudilar
Killian dragged out his favorite partially stuffed wolf and is suddenly more playful.

This could be a good thing Sue! ;) Maybe Gaylord will wind up being a blessing while he himself is being blessed! He is just gorgeous. I read his bio and it says he prefers to be the "only dog." Well, I think after he settles in with your two he may just change his mind. I commend you for what you are taking on! This promises to be an interesting Thanksgiving!! LOL! Keep us posted! :)

[lizbud]

Sue,

I agree with Pam . Could just be a blessing in disguise.

Maybe they said Gaylord wanted to be an only dog, b/c
he had no history with another dog? Was he the only dog
rescued from wherever he came from? From the way you
describe the exchanges between all of them, sounds pretty
much like "getting to know you" kind of stuff.:D This is so
great getting to experience this from your point of view.

I wish you the very best in this Sue. You can make a real
difference in the lives of each & every dog that needs to
learn what a "real family" feels like. Bless you .:)

[aly]

Originally posted by Sudilar
Killian dragged out his favorite partially stuffed wolf and is suddenly more playful.

AWWWWW!! That brought tears of happiness to my eyes :)

[Cincy'sMom]

Gaylord is a beautiful dog! I'm sure once they all have a change to get adjusted things will go smoothly. My parent's oldest dog was 12 before a new dog came into the house (they now have 4 total) The cahnges in her over the last year have been amazing...she plays more, she tolerates humans more, she'll go for car rides now, and she is learning to play with other dogs! That's not to say everything has gone smoothly...there have been some small fights here and there, but overall, it works :)
I agree with everyone else, if Killi is acting more playful, this could be a rally good thing!

Hope your Thanksgiving goes well. Hugs to all three dogs!

[aly]

How are things going today Sue ?

[Sudilar]

Hi, everyone is off to Grandma's house except me and the dogs. Gaylord's leg is hurting him so I have to keep him separate from my two. The crate they gave me is fine for a well dog, but he was uncomfortable and moaning in there, so I let him out. I am using baby gates. He was working out with Killian, but he and Shiloh need more work. But since he is not well, I best keep them away from each other. He goes to the vet tomorrow to remove the drain from his tumor site. I called the rescue co-ordinator and asked if it's ok to have them check his leg. She said yes. Good, cause I was going to have them do it anyway. This poor skinny baby. How could he get like this? He is beautiful. Pray that the tumor is benign and his leg is fixable. Compared to G/L, Killian, with liver disease is fat!

[lizbud]

Sue,

Glad you updated a bit. I was wondering how things
were going. How did they like the chicken?:D
Where was the site of the tumor? on his leg, or is the leg
pain probably something else. I'm glad the resue group
gave the o.k. to have it checked out. I'm like you in that
I'd probably do it anyway. LOL. G/L is just beautiful and
if Killian accepts him being around, then maybe Shiloh will
work out her own reservations. Best of Luck. Wow, now
you've got three gorgeous Shepherds in the house.:D Liz.

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Sue, you're soooo lucky!!!! I'd love to foster a dog! Hope everything goes well!:) ;)