Foster dogs

[Lastminutebride]

Has anyone had a foster dog? Is that a thing and if so how does it work?
we’d love a dog and would be happy to adopt but would prefer to have a trial on a short term basis to see how they and us get on.

Any words of advice or useful tips?

I was a volunteer for a breed rescue charity. It was a matter of course that dogs went to their potential new homes as a 'foster' for a minimum of a month before a formal adoption happened. The probationary period could be renewed if people were unsure. I would ask if this is the process with any rescue organisation you contact about a dog.

Thank you, that’s really useful to know

Yes it's a thing; in theory fostering is an alternative to kennels until they're adopted.

It's far from uncommon to adopt them; it's affectionately known as a "foster fail"

You should however consider that the dogs which need fostering are often those with an unknown background requiring assessment, those needing somewhere comfortable to recover from medical treatment, the very young and the very old (palliative foster is a thing - the rescue pays all the medical expenses for all foster dogs, but palliative foster is for those with short life expectancy).

Those dogs which are the most appealing - e.g. known to be child, cat and dog friendly - tend to skip straight to adoptive homes.