Foster Dog Tips: Before You Bring the Dog Home

When you take a foster dog into your home you're saving two lives: the life of the dog you're fostering, and the life of the dog that can stay alive in the shelter a little longer because there's less crowding.  It is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it can seem like a daunting and overwhelming thing to get into (it took us a looooooooong time to get to the point where we'd consider it). I am by no means a "foster dog expert," but now that we're on to our second foster I've learned a few things that have really helped me out.

Here are my tips for things you should do and consider before bringing a foster dog into your home.

1. Get to know the rescue group. Volunteer with the rescue group a few times before offering to foster. Hold other dogs at adoption events. Do a fundraiser. Transport. Help with applications. Do whatever floats your boat, but get to the know the regular volunteers and hierarchy of the group you work with. And most of all, talk to the other fosters. Ask them how it's going with their dogs and how it works. Learn about their policies (Can you adopt your foster if you want to? How much say do you get in what home it goes to? How do things get paid for?) You're looking for a rescue group that supports its fosters and is responsive to their needs. There are a lot of well-meaning, but disorganized rescue groups that may not give you the support you need (and the exposure your dog needs) once a foster dog is in your home. If you have an uneasy feeling about a group, move on to another.

Our rescue group helped us find Winky a fantastic forever home.

2. Be picky. Think about the type of dog that you can accommodate in your home. For example, we only consider submissive, low-key, older females for fostering because we know that mix works with our current dogs and our schedules. If you have cats you might want to only consider cat tested dogs, or if you're a runner maybe a higher energy dog will suit your lifestyle better. You might have your foster for a long time so make it as easy on yourself as possible.

3. Be realistic. While I encourage you to pick the right type of dog to bring into your house, be realistic about your expectations. Chances are the dog is coming from a not-so-great place (otherwise it wouldn't need fostering) so he might be scared, or untrained, or sick - all things that can make it hard in the beginning. Understand that your foster dog will likely need refreshers on house training and obedience. It can also take a few days (or weeks!) for your foster dog to "settle in" so establish your routines right away and be patient with your new four legged boarder.

4. Read up. Learn how to crate train appropriately, how to prevent (and deal with) separation anxiety, house train, use positive reinforcement training techniques (like clicker training) and NILIF. If you have a dog already, practice what you learn on your current dog a little to get yourself use to it (your dog will be so surprised when you reinforce house training!). You don't have to be an expert at it all, but it will help you anticipate and identify problems if they arise. The more prepared you are, the calmer you will be and that will translate into a smoother transition.

We began crate training and obedience work with Heidi as soon as we picked her up from the shelter.

5. Stop looking. Once you find a dog that meshes with your family dynamic stop looking at other dogs to bring home with you. Sadly, there will always be another dog that you could take too, but you can't save them all. Don't feel guilty about what you can't do, and instead focus on what you can.

Foster homes for dogs are one of the most valuable resources rescue groups have. They allow dogs to remain socialized, trained, and healthy until a dog finds his forever home. They are also exceptionally well suited to matching the right dog with the right home. When we adopted Nemo it was actually because his foster learned about our lifestyle and thought he would be a perfect fit for us - and she was eleventy billion percent right. If it weren't for her suggestion we likely never would have found him (a thought that makes me tear up just thinking about it). I will always be grateful to her for that.

And if you're not sure about long-term fostering, many groups need short-term fosters while they wait for  long-term spots to open up or while a dog is being transported. Before Mr. T and I took the leap to foster long term, we did an overnight with 2 adorable puppies. Not a a bad way to get your puppy fix. 

p.s. I'm a dog nut so of course that's all I post about, but all of this applies to cats too! There are plenty of opportunities to foster cats if you like your pets to Meow instead of Woof!