Wasn't sure where to put this but hopefully this is okay and will get a fair amount of attention.

I know there are a number of people who are involved in fostering both dogs and cats so thought I might be able to get some advice from you folks. I have been giving some serious thought to fostering but I've never done it before and want to know what are all the ins and outs involved in fostering before I take this consideration any further and contact my local shelter(s) and/or rescue. When you foster a dog, what is the foster family responsible for aside from giving the foster pet a home to stay at? Would we responsible for paying for food and veterinary care as well? Do we need to also provide additional accessories like leads, crates, harness (for walking), bowls, treats, etc?

No I'm not thinking of fostering a husky if that's what anyone is thinking, hubby will not go for that. But we would consider fostering a Chihuahua since my husband absolutely loves the breed and they are a lot smaller and easier to handle (generally!).

I'd appreciate any and all help and advice to help us make a decision before talking to a shelter or rescue. Thanks in advance!

Really all depends on the rescue/shelter. When I used to work at the humane society, they took care of everything... including food. The Sibe rescue by me takes care of everything. I think the one in N. Fl takes care of everything but food. It's a rare occurrence that you're responsible for vet care, but you are responsible for transporting the dog to various events/adoptions.

Pretty sure you would have to supply leashes/collars/bowls... I've never been given those prior to fostering. It's a great thing, fostering.. I've really enjoyed all the dogs i've fostered. And while it's hard to say goodbye it's always a good feeling when you find them the perfect home

I've fostered kittens from a rescue and a shelter. Both supplied food, litter, litter boxes, and bowls. I really like fostering and love seeing pictures of the kittens after they go to their new homes. It's hard for a lot of people to say bye to the pets, but I've lived with dogs coming and going my whole life so I'm used to it. I can stay on that thin line and not get too attached. lol. It's a little bit harder for my boyfriend. He always finds one he really likes. But if we kept all his favorites, we'd have 10 cats now!

One con is they are sometimes sick. All but one litter I've fostered came to me with upper respritory infections and the one who didn't had somethine else. So it can be a little messy at first (expecially with kittens who don't know how to use the litter box yet!), but then it gets fun. Also it's great if you can use petfinder. Luckily I can post the ones I foster on petfinder and it really, really helps!

Great thread! I'm interested too

Hubby and are also going to foster if our rescue comes across a male that may be a fit with Ginger. But we're fostering to test the waters to find a male to become a permanent family member.

Thanks for the wonderful advice guys! The issue of getting attached should not be a problem for me since I have put my foot down and said no more dogs. Plus, Chihuahuas are not my breed of choice so that makes it easier for me to not get attached. My hubby has already commented that we need another chihuahua to which I said "No way!". But I would not mind fostering until we can find them good homes. Now if it was a husky foster I'm sure I would not be able to let them go.

Both of us would be willing to foster a chihuahua but it would not be for at least a few months as we've got a lot going on at the moment. I have extra leads, bowls, blankets, dog beds and crates so that part is not a problem. The major concern as far as cost would be vet care and food...especially vet care. Food is not the biggest concern but we do shell out a lot per month on food just for our 3 as it is. That's something we'd have to figure out later I guess, but assistance on food for a foster would be a huge help and would make us more able to take on another.

All the feedback is great and I hope to hear more from others because I know each place is different.

Well I'm new at the forstering thing and so far the only con is seeing how sad Sierra is as Maui is taking jack away from her. Maui was delivered to us with a cage short leash collar and a small amount of food. We went out and bought a new collar water bowl food bowl. We will keep the 2 bowls for the future. We are also usings jacks prong collar and sierras old leash for walks. The rescue will cover em.vet visits but we need to get approval for reg. Visits unless we want to pay. We can also be paid back for food but I'm not going to worry about that its not that much money and the rescue could use the money for more important things. I will say as maui is warming up to us I can't help but getting somewhat attached to her. I do know that I think she would be better in a new home and that makes is somewhat eaiser. Now we play the waiting game to see how long she will stay with us, I will miss her when she is gone and we might try again with a male. By the sound of it I might have to compete with claudia as we are looking for the same thing!

Jenn have you tried walking just the 2 girls together? Without Jack? As silly as it sounds it really helps them bond. I did this with Cheyenne and Mishka in the beginning (when Cheyenne hated her) and now they're attached at the hip... I'm not saying Sierra will LOVE Maui, but she may begin to enjoy her a little more

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Guess you just need to talk to rescues and shelters near you. I've never had to pay for food or vet bills. If they get sick, the rescue/shelter supplies the medicines and both had their own vet techs to check out the kittens.

I did end up buying my last litter's food, just cause I didn't like what the shelter feeds. I fed them a better quality food and gave the rest back to the shelter.

I checked with my local SPCA who has an active foster program and they supply food, cat litter for cats, medication and veterinary care. They also supply crates, litter boxes and toys if they have any available. Fosters generally only have foster pets for a short time, often ranging from 2 weeks to 2 months before adoption. This really sounds perfect for us. Maybe in a couple of months we can seriously look at our situation at the time and talk to the shelter about our possibilities.

I got involved with Ferret Rescue about 5 years ago. My best advice for fostering. Don't be taken advantage of. This is what has happened to me and my family. Don't let it take over your lives. We allowed ourselves to be pushed around, to the point where my house was fostering about 80 plus ferrets. I don't know how I let it get that out of control but I did. We have gotten our numbers down to 30 now, and I have closed my doors.

Ferrets I know don't seem like much of a pet to people. I call them the disposable pet. Ferrets make just a good of pet as a dog or cat. They love and need their people just like any other pet.

I have seen the worst of humans doing this, just when I think I cannot be surprised anymore, bam, here comes another case that breaks my heart.

My home has become a hospice and behavior center. I also take the ones that are to old to be wanted. I still cry at every death, I always say if I stop crying I need to quit this immediately. I still like to be able to hold a ferret while it is leaving this world, sadly that is not always possible.

Why do we foster? Because it is the most fulfilling job in the world. To see the hope of these animals. To see how they can forgive and still give you love. To have this hope that things are going to be okay now.

We pay for food, bedding, pellets, and some medical procedures and prescriptions, thats because its our way of donating.

I love it!!!! I love my babies!!!! I have met the most wonderful people doing this. Heck it encouraged me to get a vet tech degree.

I did not want this post to be negative at all. I just wanted to give you the ups and downs of fostering. I went into it blind and ended up getting a very bad case of shelter breakdown in October. Until have space I will not take anymore in. Kind of had to get it across that I cannot save them all, thats the heartbreaking part.

I wish you luck, I say go for it!!!

Jo

Well I have been fostering since I was 16 years old. I first got into rescue after I adopted Coal my lab mix when he was a puppy 2 months old from my local animal shelter. I researched and found out how terribly high the kill rate in my area is the number one victim are always pit bulls, rotties and other working breeds. Big dogs are my passion and pit bulls are my favorite breed of dogs besides siberian huskies and labradors. I adore them. They are such wonderful dogs. My first foster came off of craigslist it was a woman needing temporary housing for her staffordshire terrier who had demodectic mange. So we fostered her for a while until the woman took her back. The woman covered all the medical bills and food. The second dog we fostered was a male pit bull named Bosco. My mom worked for a car towing company and it wasn't in a very good neighborhood. This dog walked into the yard his face was covered in dog bites, his ears were shredded and his face was swollen, he was covered in ticks, he was emaciated, and worse yet covered in car oil. We took him home, pulled off his ticks, gave him a bath, took him to the vet and got his wounds cared for and we got him fixed. We covered all of his medical bills. We found him a wonderful home where he lived for 3 years until the people turned out to be complete jerks and we took him back when they decided their expensive furniture was more important than their 2 dogs. We found Bosco, then 7 yrs old another PERFECT home where he is now spoiled!

We got into fostering for rescues by chance. The local animal shelter here used to just kill pit bulls it was shelter policy unless rescue pulled they killed them. They no longer do that now but before they changed the rule they got in a heavily pregnant pit bull. Her owner actually used her for breeding and when she got tangled up with a mutt he abandoned her. He actually went to reclaim her the day we set up to pull her but he didn't want to pay the fees for her we had a rescue pull her and we offered to foster her and her babies. A day after we pulled her she gave birth to 10 babies. The rescue later got angry at us for not taking pictures of the newborn puppies and driving them down to them 30 minutes away so they could start trying to find them homes I was soooo busy between going to school (tech college at time) working 38 hours, and taking care of my pets AND the 10 babies and mom I was trying to tell her I could arrange it the next month when they were older. So she basically said Forget you, do what you want with the puppies make sure you turn in proof of spay to the shelter for mom (they required a proof of her spay after so long). So we were stuck with 10 puppies and mom. Luckily another rescue offered to help us and they handled food, medical bills, and everything. We fostered until the puppies were 8 weeks, they all met potential adopters, got fixed and then went home! Their mommy was adopted a month after they all went home We fostered quite a few dogs through them including a boxer mom and her 8 babies, a mini poodle, a border collie, and 2 plott hound puppies. We had a falling out over something they blamed me for that was their fault so I no longer foster for them unfortunately However now that I work for the Animal shelter one of the ACO's fosters and pulls for another local rescue so I get to pick and choose puppies, cats, and small dogs to foster in my house, and I coordinate foster homes for bigger dogs since I cannot foster more big dogs in my house. They give me free food for not only my fosters but also my own dogs, they also give me treatments for any illnesses that my animals may come down with (for example providing Drontal to deworm Loki). They cover every thing even food dishes. I cover the space, dog/cat crates if they don't have any, collars, leashes which I always have extra ^_^

I love fostering, I couldn't work at the shelter unless I could do SOMETHING its way to heartbreaking. We have fostered a male pit bull (before we moved to smaller house), 2 cats, and a puppy with severe sarcoptic mange who was going to be put to sleep but I couldn't let them put her down she was just so weak and adorable. So we pulled and got her better. All these animals have been adopted. Currently I am working on pulling 2 cats to foster, and coordinating a foster home for 2 dogs due to be put to sleep tomorrow, so I am meeting a potential foster and hopefully pulling them today

I live a busy life but I wouldn't trade it for anything! However I would like to own my own house in the country so I can have some more space to foster! I would love that, that is my dream to eventually be able to foster and own however many pets I want. I have no desire to adopt more animals but I would love to foster more!

Here are some of the animals we have fostered...

Bosco





Ari, rescued cruelty pit pup



Vash, rescued rottie foster



Buke (now karma) and her 10 pups





Buke/Karma pregnant she was soooo emaciated!





Buke/Karma now in her new home





Gus at the shelter



And Gus now





I have a TON so I will stop for now! Sorry for the book! I am very passionate about fostering and rescue. All my current animals are rescues and I adore people who rescue and foster dogs. Its hard, sometimes you witness the most horrible cruelty, sometimes you get so attached and cry when they go home (Bosco, Buke, and gus ) but in the end its sooo worth it when you witness an animal find its true home

JO, I used to help out at a ferret rescue out of a ladies home, doing all the cleaning and water and food. It is a ton of work, more then dogs I think. I had 3 ferrets and they were the best little pets ever. Thank u for the work u are doing

Thanks Jo and Amber! I really hope that we can get into fostering in the near future.

Jo, we fostered a guinea pig named Rocky that came from a bad home. We paid for everything, food, cage, bedding, vet care and his neuter. We fell in love with Rocky during his time with us and ended up keeping him. Up until recently I always told my husband I can't foster because I could not let them go but I really think I'm ready. And we do still have Rocky the guinea pig.

Yay! Great thread

So, I guess I'll be a 'foster' parent to another Husky. I will be picking him up sometime this weekend. The reason why I have quotes around the word foster is because the owner is having her house built and will be moving into an apartment for the time being so she wants a place for her boy, Sully, to have a yard in the meantime. The owners will still be paying for food and vet care.

The owner will sign over authorization for me to take him to the vet as I see fit, and will be getting his medical records to me to take to my vet.

Sully is 10 years old, and I hope he's mellowed out some with age, and he is a little overweight. He's currently on Science Diet (and I want to get him on better food, but I guess I'll have to make sure it's OK with the owner since it would cost more than SD!).

I'll ask for a couple of his favorite toys, his bed, and his food bowls, leash and collar. How is he with other dogs and/or at the dog park. Is he a digger or chewer? Or any other specific quirks I should know about.

Other than that, any thing else I need to ask the owner? Or need to know?

I have pictures but it's in a word document and I can't convert it so I'll post pictures later.

My hats off to you for helping her and her husky out. I'm sure Ginger will love having a playmate around. Sounds like you've got the major issues covered, I don't know how much you know about him but I'd want to know about his personality (is he mild-mannered, shy, outgoing?), not only how he does with dogs but also how he behaves around human strangers, does he have any resource guarding issues either now or in the past, does he pull on the lead or walk on a loose leash, how much exercise does he normally get? I'm sure you'll be keeping in touch with the owner throughout Sully's stay so any issues or concerns that might pop up you could easily ask her about.

Good luck with it! Have Ginger and Sully meet before already?

Ginger and Sully have not met yet.

I left a message for the owner to arrange somewhere to meet since she lives about 1 1/2 to 2 hours north of me.

I thought about bringing Ginger with me when I pick him up to meet on neutral ground before I bring Sully home, but then thought if they got into a tiff while on the way home, that would be bad while I was driving.

So I thought I'd meet Amy (the owner) to pick Sully up without Ginger, bring him back to my place and before I brought him in the house, I'd bring Ginger out to meet, and then take them on a long walk around the neighborhhood together before bringing him into our home.

If you want to bring ginger with you have enough room for a crate in the car. Venting him without her is fine too but I would want 2 pairs of hands available when they first meet, just in case.

And as much as it seems this will just be temporary, be prepared and know what you're going to do if it doesn't happen. Its always a possibility with stuff like this.

arooroomom wrote:

If you want to bring ginger with you have enough room for a crate in the car. Venting him without her is fine too but I would want 2 pairs of hands available when they first meet, just in case.

And as much as it seems this will just be temporary, be prepared and know what you're going to do if it doesn't happen. Its always a possibility with stuff like this.

That''s why I was thinking not to bring Ginger when I pick up Sully. Hubby may not be able to come with me. However, he'll be home when I get home with Sully. I'll also have hubby with me on the walk. I'll have each of us walk one dog side by side, and then switch off dogs, and then I'll walk both dogs (while hubby is still with me just in case I need an extra body).

Here's 10 yr old, Sully, that I'll be taking care of while the owner's home is being built. The owner admits she hasn't been able to exercise him much lately so he's a little overweight, but he'll be walked at least 3x daily with me, and we'll also take him on hikes depending on what he can handle.
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He looks like he could use a comfy couch

Sounds like you've got a great plan all figured out for bringing Sully over. He's so cute, he really looks like a black/white version of Ginger as far as markings!