# Doggy foster parents????



## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

are there any other foster parents on the forum? I was fostering for my local humane society, and now I am fostering for the Tri State Collie Rescue.

Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs? 
Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?
Do you walk your fosters?
How many fosters do you have at a time?

I do not treat my fosters as my own dogs. I do not want the mentality in my head that they are MY dogs or I will want to keep them. my dogs are allowed on furniture and fosters are not. my dogs eat people food i give them off of my plate, but i do not let my fosters. Not everyone who will be adopting a dog will want one who thinks its okay to be on furniture, and eat people food.

My foster dog has it's own room that it stays in when I am gone, or cannot actively supervise them. The foster even spends the night in their own room. the room has a crate, tv, dog bed, a toy box, loads of bones for chewing, and that is where they are fed. When I am home I let the foster dog mingle with my dogs, and they have outdoor playtime together.

I do walk my foster dogs, but not daily like I do my own dogs. I have not mastered the technique of walking three dogs, two big dogs and one hyper dog!

I only foster one dog at a time.


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

I'm hopefully going to be fostering soon. I've been talking with this group since before thanksgiving and FINALLY getting my homecheck on monday, so I'll be interested to see other's responses.


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## .308 (Jul 26, 2009)

> I do not treat my fosters as my own dogs. I do not want the mentality in my head that they are MY dogs or I will want to keep them. my dogs are allowed on furniture and fosters are not. my dogs eat people food i give them off of my plate, but i do not let my fosters. Not everyone who will be adopting a dog will want one who thinks its okay to be on furniture, and eat people food.


We've been fostering for close to five years now.

All of our dogs are treated the same.

No dogs allowed up on the funriture, no dogs are fed from the dinner table. If you treat your "own" dogs different from your foster dogs, what kind of signals are you sending your foster dogs?



> I do walk my foster dogs, but not daily like I do my own dogs.


Our three dogs are outside, as well as all the foster dogs.

The only time a foster dog is treated differently is when the foster animal is first brought to the house to determine health, habbits and needs.

Over a period of time (time depending on the animal), the animal is intigrated into the home enviroment.


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## GypsyJazmine (Nov 27, 2009)

Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs?...Yes...My last foster ended up with us forever.

Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?...They don't have their own room but I am a stay at home mom so I am here to supervise.

Do you walk your fosters?...Before my health turned bad...yes.

How many fosters do you have at a time?...No more than 2...I foster hard tempered breeds who are known for dog aggression & already have 5 of my own so I don't push it!


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

I fostered a dog over the holidays. He was adopted last week. I enjoyed having him, but I think I'm going to take a few months off before fostering again. I really, really like the dynamics with the two I have. Plus I learned there are a few areas of training I'd like to work on with my boys. 

Anyway, I treated the three dogs (foster and my own two) the same except for having the foster sleep separately for the first week or so. They all were in the house with me. He did have to be crated for mealtimes, but I would do the same with my dogs if they were growly around food.

I took all three of them for walks together. They are small dogs, so it was easier to do that. I'm only planning to do one foster at a time, although I would consider a bonded pair if there was a need for it.


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## StarfishSaving (Nov 7, 2008)

We've fostered around 50 or 60 dogs. I've fostered for rescues, shelters, and of course, my own rescue.

_Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs?_ Absolutely. They live as a pack, we care for them the same way. All their needs are met exactly as are mine. They eat high quality food, even go to classes if I have the time and money. I love them all, but I don't decide to keep them all because I love them enough to keep in mind that I am doing this for them and not me. I've only kept a few fosters and usually related to health or behavior problems that make them a poor candidate for adoption when I know that I can give them a great and loving home. 

_Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?_ To me, fostering is a way for the dogs to learn how to be well mannered family members, so they are treated as such. I have had a couple dogs in the rescue who have been problematic (one in particular who thought my cats were snacks) and so we had to manage them a little differently, using either a room, crate, or crate-and-rotate methods to keep the peace.

_Do you walk your fosters?_ Yup. They're still dogs and they still need exercise. If I'm behind on walking, I won't lie that my dogs get priority. The reason I feel comfortable doing that is that this IS the permanent home of my dogs, where the rescues are just here temporarily. If I can't give them what I consider a perfect lifestyle, that's okay. My dogs have to come first in this regard. Currently I am living with eight dogs and so I try to walk four a day if I can, in pairs. Sometimes it's only two, and some days, sadly, I can't get them out at all. I do my best.

_How many fosters do you have at a time?_ It fluctuates. Currently, three, but two is a better number for me. I try not to take in dogs at the same time, that is what generally causes problems for me, because it's harder to train them that way.


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## ruckusluvr (Sep 20, 2009)

thanks all! I am new to this, and I am still learning how to go about doing things. I got lots of good advice here!


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## .308 (Jul 26, 2009)

On the practical side of things, do yourself a favor and create a data base for all the dogs that have/will come into your care.

Information kept in this data base should include and observed habits (good or bad), training the animal has taken, and most importantly, ALL medical information (if you have a scanner, scan the medical documents).

This way, at least YOU will always have a copy of the animals information. 

Depending on how the organized the resuce organization is, and what their expectations are of you, it will NEVER hurt you to be organized yourself, particularly if you are the one trying to find the animal a home.


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## Namrah (Jul 15, 2008)

I foster as well. For me fosters *are* treated somewhat differently than Elka, my resident dog. I treat fosters as puppies, even though not all fosters I get are puppies.

Fosters tethered to me until I know their house-training level and cat-friendliness, and at night they're crated (with random crate training throughout the day) and crated for meals as well, both my meals and theirs.

Elka, my resident dog, has earned her freedom and is neither tethered to me nor ever in her crate with the door closed

Fosters that have proven they're house-trained and won't harm my cat are granted freedom, including a collar with a magnet that activates the dog door.

Fosters are also fed kibble (as per request of the foster programs I'm involved with) while Elka is on a raw diet.

In all other ways the fosters are treated the same: walked, fed high quality food, trained throughout the day, and loved.


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

Do you ever find any problems/situations with feeding one raw and one kibble?


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## Namrah (Jul 15, 2008)

No problems at all. Usually the foster finishes first since I feed the raw frozen so it can take Elka a bit of time to get through it. If the foster is not respectful about keeping his/her distance from Elka, then I teach that respect.

If I had a case where the foster was really pushing Elka about her food, then s/he'd remain crated until Elka was done. Of course, she takes her food outside to eat on the grass, and the fosters eat in a crate inside, so there's some buffer for the first part of the meal.

So far I haven't had a problem with a foster failing to respect Elka's brief warning about staying away. All she has to do is look at them sideways and they back away.

(Elka is not in the least bit food aggressive, and I consider this warning normal doggy communication).


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## KarenJG (Jan 31, 2010)

*Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs? *

Depends on the dog. My view is that it's my dogs' home, (well, the humans rule, but they're family members), the fosters are visitors. If they can't get along with my dogs, the foster is the one separated out. If they can, we all live like a pack. I also may need to teach them different skills than my dogs have to increase their prospects for a forever home. (Although I often end up teaching my dogs the same thing, just for the mental stimulation of learning something new.)

*Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?*

Again, if separation is necessary, they are in a separate room, but it's connected to wherever we are by a crate, so they can be "with" us if they want to be. (I just described this in the introductions forum here: http://www.dogforums.com/15-attenti...hello-harumph-yipyipyip-whine.html#post725189). 

The short version is, there are two rooms the fosters use if separation is necessary. One off my office where I spend most of the day, one off the living room where I spend most of the evening. My three are always in whatever room I'm in (their choice). The crate is placed in the room we're in, up against the doorway to the room the foster is in, with the crate door open to the foster room. The foster can roam around the room (as long as it's potty-trained) or lay in the crate and be "with" us.

Also, even if the foster is potty-trained, it gets several "alone and crated" sessions a day, because not everybody who might want to adopt them is home all day like I am, and I want to train them for as much flexibility as possible when considering potential adopters. I need to know if they can be crated while an owner is at work, or if they're safe with the run of the house when alone or overnight, etc. If they can't do either of those things when I get them, I try to train them to be able to. Otherwise, their only option is an home where someone is home all day, and those are hard to find these days. 

(In fact, I adopted my second foster because our home was one of the very few that could fit all of his needs. After three months with no prospects, I knew he'd be a long term foster, and he had enough "separation anxiety" that leaving after such a long term could really traumatize him. And besides, he turned out to be the missing piece of our little family puzzle!)


*Do you walk your fosters?*

I have joint problems, so I can't walk very far. I can walk all three of my dogs at once, and go several blocks. When I have a foster, I walk half as far, walking two dogs each time, with the foster being walked with whichever dog s/he gets along best with. It's more about them getting out of the yard with new smells and experiences than getting exercise. I do that in the yard with games that require them to move much more than I do.

That said, I don't walk them every day in the winter, because slipping on the ice can really mess up my knee, and then I couldn't walk anybody anywhere. So I only walk on days where the sidewalk is clear or just packed snow. If it's melted and refrozen overnight, I don't go out.

*How many fosters do you have at a time? *

I can only handle one, in addition to my three. I tried dog-sitting over night for another volunteer's foster, and it was enough of a nightmare that I won't do two fosters.


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## BrittanyG (May 27, 2009)

Well, this is my very first time fostering, so I'm not exactly the voice of experience here. If anyone sees anything that sticks out as horribly wrong, please tell me.

Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs?
Yes. I believe they should be integrated into the family just like a permanent dog. I think the skills for adaption will serve them well after being adopted.

Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?
In the home. She has run of the house, ONLY because she proved herself. If she decides to take advantage, she will be restricted.

Do you walk your fosters?
Of course! She's still a dog. Walking 3 dogs sucks though, they all play off each other and go 14 different ways. I need to start walking each individually.

How many fosters do you have at a time?
I am 90% sure I will always stick with one. Any more seems a bit too much for me.


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## maranello (Feb 10, 2010)

I don't have my own dogs, so my fosters are treated as my dogs. They do get table scraps, they are allowed on the furniture, etc. They do sleep in crates. I always warn my adopters of those kinds of things, and I've never run into an issue. 

They live in the house, although we keep the dogs downstairs to prevent unnecessary stress to the cats (who stay upstairs). 

I don't walk my fosters daily (bad, I know!) but when the weather's nice (ie, not two feet of snow on the sides of the roads), we do go for walks. I tend to foster puppies, so I have to be wary of where we walk and how much we walk.

Right now, I have two fosters, a puppy and an adult. In the past, I've fostered multiple litters of puppies (will never, ever repeat that experience) simultaneously, adult dogs, and single puppies. I've found the best setting for my family is one adult dog, one puppy. The puppy benefits from learning adult dog manners, and the adult dog gets a play companion.


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## Melissa_Chloe (Dec 31, 2008)

Do you treat the fosters as your own dogs?

Absolutely.

Do your foster dogs live in the home with you, or do they have their own room?

They are in the home, but in the beginning they may be seperated if they have not been to the vet yet, that is just for the safety of my own dogs in case the foster has something contagious. When they get the all clear, then they are wherever my dogs are.

Do you walk your fosters?

Definitely. They are a dog too, and need exercise like any dog would. Unless they have a health problem that means they should not go for a walk then they go on the same walks as my dogs.

How many fosters do you have at a time?

Shar Pei aren't common where I live as a pet, so there are rarely any who need help. So far I've only ever had one at a time.


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## Maura (Mar 17, 2009)

I don't love the fosters as my own because they are going to be going away to a home that is BETTER than mine. Other than that, I treat them as my own, but in individualistic ways. If a dog has a strong prey drive, I cannot let that dog outside off leash because my sheep don't appreciate it. We keep dogs off the furniture, but in reality most people expect a little dog in their lap. I have had three dogs (one Boston and two papillons) that I insisted could not be allowed on the furniture. The others proved themselves to be of a character that I turn a blind eye. My permanent dog does not get on the furniture.

Each dog is crated as much as it needs to be. They are all crated at night for at least a month. During the day they are not crated unless there is reason. I've had dogs that needed to be quarantined, that had owner possession and beat up the other dogs (drawing blood), or weren't housebroken. All of the dogs are fed BARF (except our current Boston). They are walked in good weather, right now the snow is taller than the Boston. I do long line work with them, I teach them house manners. I am particular with who adopts them.

I'll also add that, by the time you get the dog to the point he/she is really a good housedog, and you think, gee that one's a keeper, somebody adopts them. I foster through an organization and they give me the "challenges". It is better to have one at a time as then I have one stable dog and one unknown.


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