Are you ready to begin fostering dogs but not sure where to start? Whether you’re planning to foster for a short period of time or a longer duration, there are some tips you can follow to make temporary (or not so temporary!) accommodations more manageable for everyone involved.
Consider Short-Term Fostering to Start
To start, you might want to begin fostering dogs for short period of time. This allows you and any other family members (furry or otherwise) to get used to the idea while providing a life-saving resource for an animal in need.
As we’ve seen over the past few years, extreme weather events can cause emergency evacuations, which in turn lead local rescues to remove animals already in shelters so that pets affected by the storm can have safe harbor while they wait to be reunited with their people.
The animals already in shelters need to find short-term foster homes or an additional shelter space to stay. Bigger shelters can absorb a couple dozen pets into their facility without too much difficulty, but when 50-100 animals are expected to arrive on one transport, they have to recruit as many foster homes as possible in a very short period of time.
Short-term fosters may also be needed for animals who need to be isolated from other cats or dogs. For example, if an animal enters a rescue with kennel cough or the flu, it will need to find a home with no other pets in which to recover without spreading illness. Temporary isolation periods usually last up to 21 days.
Understanding Your Foster Dog’s Needs
In most cases, prospective foster families will go through vetting and training before they take in their first pet, so you’ll be fully equipped to understand what your foster dog needs and what you’ll be asked to provide for them (usually just your home, patience and care—the rescue will provide everything else!).
Once you find a shelter you like and are matched with a dog, you’ll want to prepare yourself for fostering. Some dogs will have been in the shelter for an undisclosed period of time. Others might’ve been in transit for hours, with only the occasional potty- or crate-cleaning break. No matter how uneventful the ride, that is going to take a toll on even the most bomb-proof pet.
That is a textbook definition of over-stimulation, and very few creatures can handle that kind of upheaval with perfect composure.
With all of that in mind, you can see that the most important thing to do once you begin fostering dogs is to give them the time and space to safely decompress from their experience. Remember that you won’t know very much about the dog’s history and that you’re embarking on this relationship with very little useful background info other than a point of origin and a breed mix guesstimate. It’s not a lot to go on.
Tips for Dog Fostering Success
All that said, here are a few tips to keep in mind that’ll set you and your new houseguest up for success:
Management: Gates and crates will be your best friends for the first few weeks. Use them to provide a separate space where the new arrival can go to recuperate from their ordeal away from other animals in the house (human and otherwise). Don’t be surprised if all they want to do is drink a little water and sleep for a long time after you get them home. Unless there are symptoms of illness, the best thing you can do is let them snooze in a safe, quiet space.
A separate room with a gate is ideal, but you can also use a pen or an appropriately-sized crate with a partial cover over it. Set them up for success by making sure they know what is off limits (the kitchen, the furniture, the flower bed, etc.) and being consistent with reinforcement.
Safety: Until you’ve had a chance to observe behavior and properly introduce them to other pets and children, keep them separate from your other pets so that you don’t have to worry about a fight breaking out or someone getting hurt. Separation will also help you keep communicable illnesses or stowaways like fleas from colonizing the rest of the house.
Give your new foster time to get used to kids and babies, and teach children how to act appropriately around them. Never assume “all this pet needs is love,” because that can be a dangerous assumption. This means no hugging, no playing with their food or taking away their toys and certainly no little faces pressed up against the pointy ends. Even a polite, deferent, friendly dog is going to struggle to remain on an even keel after days of upheaval. Let ‘em be.
Respect: Allow the foster to trust you and to build the relationship on their own time. Every dog is different, and the dog is the one who sets the timeline for trust, not you.
Becoming a ‘Foster Fail’
As a side note, if you’ve been hesitating about fostering dogs because you don’t think you’ll be able to send them back to the shelter, don’t worry about it. May people jokingly refer to themselves as “foster failures,” but you don’t have to adopt to do a world of good for that particular animal. Not every pet is perfect for every person (and that’s ok!) but offering a safe, warm haven is one of the most precious gifts you can offer pets while they wait for their forever homes.