Fostering

[Mongrelsrbeautiful]

I'm retiring at 55,and want to register with RSPCA as a foster carer. I think this is the ideal compromise, with DP, who doesn't want a new family dog, as he can't cope with bereavement. He does love dogs, as does our 13 yo. Has anyone done this? Has it worked out well for the dog? How long do you tend to have them?

Not me but my friend. She lives with husband and teenage kids. Worked out brilliantly as husband who so someone always around for the dog and they could take a break between dogs for holidays and had a lot of autonomy. She was careful over which she took. Most stayed just a few month, the ones that stayed longer were in court proceedings and could not be adopted until permission given by the court as the owners wouldn't agree to rehoming. She had prospective adopters visit to meet the dogs.

Oh that's very positive, thankyou. Did any of the dogs get returned to owners after court proceedings? I might struggle with that, it's very different to knowing you've helped them, before going on to a lovely new home.

I fostered with a view to adopt if she got on with my dog. She did and is still here 11 years later.

I had to make a decision quickly as others were interested in adopting her, so she wouldn't have been here long had I not chosen to adopt.

I know people who foster and it varies massively how long they have the dog for. The ones with no issues don't stay long. The more difficult ones can be there months

I've fostered dozens of dogs - I love it. Most dog rescues will appreciate a foster home so contact a few and ask what their process is and go with what suits you.

I've had fosters for as little as 2 weeks, to 12 months. I get updates and pictures from all their new owners :)

I've fostered for a small charity. Don't underestimate how much hard work it can be, and how intense the dogs needs can be. Anything you are told about the dogs background is very unreliable. Mine stayed days to months, but older/ill dogs stay with fosterers sometimes for more than a year

Have you thought about taking a trainee hearing dog or guide dog puppy, as another option?

We did an informal foster last year. I knew the dog quite well beforehand. Dog stayed 6 weeks with us.

I would love to foster dogs again, but yeah of course you have to expect the worst & hope for the best.

Thankyou everyone. Yes, I am expecting it to be hard work. I'd expect a high level of need, otherwise I don't suppose they would need a foster home. I'd expect anxious dogs/behaviour issues, I'm up for a challenge,but my DS's safety is first priority, so that would rule out some.

I imagine there's no shortage of people wanting to do this ! It's not for us though. The recent TV series made that clear - I know they are vitally important, but I think they have very strange early lives, being moved around, and then again when they retire.

A big thankyou on behalf of all those dogs you helped! Do you mind elaborating on the sort of difficulties you encountered. Is that why you stopped? I keep a close eye on local rescues, and it's definately greyhounds and lurchers who don't seem to move on, so I wondered if they feature alot on the needs fostering lists. Border Collies too - they are either snapped up quickly, or have issues and beautiful young dogs are overlooked. I've had border collies, so could be useful with that breed.

We foster for a small Lurcher rescue (Lurcher Link). We’ve had 32 I think now. Some stay for a few months, others have had homes lined up so were only with us for a few days.

We’re able to do it as I work part time, and sometimes from home, so between husband & I, the dogs weren’t left alone very often (we have lurchers of our own too, so fosters always have some company.)

We’ve fostered tiny pups, ex-hunting lurchers, ones a few months old, some given up as the new owners didn’t realise what having a dog entailed 🙄, strays found with injuries or illness (mange). Many have absolutely no issues, they just ended being a victim of over breeding for £££. Some have been surrendered due to divorce/separation, owner is ill or has passed away. Some are ill, injured, or have issues such as separation anxiety.

Fostering, for me, is hugely rewarding. With so many terrible things going on in the world, helping just one dog at a time keeps me sane. Watching a dog heal, gain weight, recover from being starved, get used to a home, TV, stairs, going in the car and playing with our dogs is just wonderful.

When they leave to find a new home, I am usually heartbroken. I know they need to move to their new life, and I’m realistic that’s one need more than we can give - more exercise, a busier home. The only way to recover is to foster the next one!

Thankyou, that's really helpful - you need a name change to LottaDogs! I need to bite the bullet and contact the rescues. I'm not retiring until mid February. I need to clarify if a 13yo in the house is a problem, soon as, incase I'm building myself up for a knock back. A few of the local rescues list dogs as suitable to live with children, but when you look into the details it says children age 16 plus (that would be an adult then 😂).

We wouldn’t exclude you from fostering with a 13 year old, as long as they’re going to listen to you about how to brave around a dog. Little children are more of a concern as they can get knocked over easily and them running and squealing is sometimes too much for a dog.

thank you for considering fostering. I’m very happy to chat to you if you need more info about how we’ve found it.

Also, most rescues won’t put a dog with an unknown background in a home with little kids for the obvious, awful reason of a potential bite. If a dog has been living with kids already, then it may be considering. But 13yo is sometimes viewed as ok.

We foster for a local dog rescue, purposely didn't go to a big charity as they get most of the money and publicity
It's bloody hard work. But enjoyable too. There are inevitably behavioural problems, especially separation anxiety in my experience. I have dogs and the dogs we've fostered have learned quickly from them, particularly about toileting.
I cry when they leave but we have input into the choice of new owner so I know, as far as possible, that they're going to someone decent.
Definitely prepare for problems, don't underestimate the damage some people have done to dogs. Love, stability, boundaries and kindness are key. Ohh and patience. And if you're struggling reach out to the charity and friends for support. It's hard work

@Mongrelsrbeautiful I'm on a pause more than stopped - building works and crazy work mainly. But our last foster was really, really hard work as she'd been critically ill and was very needy - so you got the worst of both worlds as she couldn't go out and couldn't be left.
What issues did we experience? Everything really. One who wouldn't come out of her crate for 2 weeks and who we never got to walk more than 20m down the road (happy in the garden though, and with her forever mum loved going running but took a year to go for a walk). Dogs terrified of men. Dogs who'd never seen outside a shed. Dogs with night terrors. Neurotic dogs. Puppies who'd never learnt bite inhibition. Sooooo much poo and wee. Worms. Giardia. Dogs coming back because 'we realised a dog didn't fit with our lifestyle' or 'our daughter tantrummed because we didn't get a pug'. Facing a puppy dying.

Are you prepared to retire and then be tied to the house with a dog? Some might slot right into lunch out, some might never be able to do that

Incredibly rewarding at the end, but one of the things that really worked for me was that I got to meet all the new families. A neighbour fosters for Dogs Trust and they don't meet them at all which I would find hard