Rescue - foster or adopt ?

[Dymaxion]

We lost our old girl a few weeks ago, not ready for another furry housemate just yet, but wondering about looking at fostering rather than adopting in the future.

Our set up :

Someone is home all the time, very occasional short trips out during the day. so an hour or two a week.

No young children. Youngest is 15 and dog savvy.

No other pets. Next door does have cats , but they don't bother with our enclosed back garden.

Six foot fence around enclosed garden in rural area.

Downsides:

Not able to offer lots of exercise due to me working and the other adult being disabled. So breeds needing a few hours exercise a day would be out of the equation. Although as a short term decompression foster we might work, as we have a very calm home.

Just wondering if we would fit the criteria for fostering ? Wondered if anyone who has fostered before can share their experiences and any advice on the sort of rescues that are worth approaching in the future ?

Very much not the house proud type , so can deal with accidents of the wee/poo and chewing nature, have spare sofa space

Yes absolutely, as long as you're able to take the dog to the vet for a health check and to be neutered. With no other pets and someone at home you're an ideal fosterer. Lots of dogs don't need loads of exercise, particularly the oldies who really do need the comfort of a home environment.

No walks at all? That could well work for ex-breeder fostering who are generally scared of everything and just need a lovely, calm home to decompress, learn about life and people. Most dogs do need a walk though, even just a short one. Unless you have an enormous garden and foster tiny dogs, like older Chis?

I foster for a Scottish rescue. You sound like an ideal home for fostering.
For our rescue, you need someone home most of the time, especially whilst the dog is settling in, and a secure garden. You are asked to take the dog to the vets for a health check and for any further visits that may be necessary. The rescue pays the vet bills.
When you apply to foster, you are asked if there are any issues that you couldn't manage, for example resource guarding or separation anxiety.
The dogs are assessed in their own home before coming into foster. The assessor writes a report and that is shared with you. Then you decide if you feel you could foster that dog or not.
After the dog has been with you for a few weeks, you are asked to write an assessment of the dog to form its adoption profile. And then to help vet the applications and facilitate meetings with the potential adoptees.
Not all dogs need lots of exercise. We have had several oldies or dogs with health issues, who only need short potters and a comfy sofa.

@Onwardspeople I could manage a short walk ( 30mins) in the morning and longer at teatime, but a couple of the breeds we have had in the past would be doing a very good impression of the wall of death around the lounge if that was all they were offered , so trying to be realistic

I fostered cats for a couple of years.

One of the most important things is perspective. Giving them up can be really, really hard, so you have to go into fostering with the awareness that you’re preparing the dogs for their future homes, & love them, obviously, but keep that bit of distance. Fosterers who can do that & keep doing it are like gold dust.

I managed it with 8. The 9th one is currently purring at the end of my bed, & we’re celebrating the anniversary of her adoption in 10 days’ time.

Fostering is a good idea, particularly for the older dogs. Have a look at Spaniel Aid etc they don't use kennels at all. The only thing to be a bit mindful of is that some dogs won't move on as quickly as others, but it's a good in between option until you decide whether you want a full time dog. You can also decide what age, sex, type of dog you'd like to foster (we always say neutered, between ages of 3-8 etc) and read the dogs write up carefully if there's any behaviours you're not confident at dealing with .

I've fostered quite a lot for a breed specific rescue. We just did puppies (well, up to 18 months at a pinch) due to other animals in the house. I am not going to lie, it is hard, hard work - mine came in from the police, pounds, direct surrenders and even when there was a back story you soon learned that you could only look at the dog in front of you, not what you had been told. The job of the fosterer is to find out as many of the dogs issues as possible and to make them as adoptable as possible - ie toilet trained, walking respectably on a lead, and sleeping through the night, ideally not in a human bed. Most of that work is in the house and garden, so is the disabled adult able to provide that intensive cleaning up, opening the door and taking the dog into the garden?
Fostering is incredibly rewarding (and we will go back to it when our older dog passes - he's immunocompromised), but it is in no way like looking after someone elses dog as they come with a lot of baggage to work through

Thank you all so much for the very honest replies.

I think I answered the walking one.

The disabled adult is able to let the dog out into the garden as many times as is necessary during the day, cleaning up might be an issue so that's something we need to plan for.

The biggest issue is going to be letting them go I think. Need everyone to be on board with the mindset of making the dog their most adoptable self, without failing as fosterer's

You have also made me think about behaviour's that we haven't experienced as dog owners, such as resource guarding and reactivity with other dogs. Will have a read around these issues and see if it's something I think we could manage. Resource guarding bothers me more, just because I have no experience of it, I have looked after friends dogs that are dog reactive and have managed without any mishaps.

Labrador Rescue, in the southwest quarter of England, mostly uses fosterers, only very occasionally kennels. I assessed receiving homes for a few years for permanent adoptions.