Dog fostering/respite care query

teddysmum

Cyclamen wrote: »

Thank you..

the dogs trust and our local rescue require car drivers and that is ruling me out for quite a few other places also. The average stay for the dogs needing foster care whilst family escape domestic situations seems to be 3-6 months..i can't commit to that long as my health fluctuates.

It needs to be somewhere with back up if things dont go to plan.

I am starting to think i just dont have the health for doing this as much as i want to help. Maybe thinsg only worked so well with my dog because she was family and had been with us so long. I knew her habits and she ours.

This may have all been wishful thinking.

Did you not contact the two rescues I recommended to you, as both will deliver the dogs to you ?

sheramber

The OP states she can only commit for a few days, maybe a week at a time.

There are not many fostering situations that would fit in with that.

sangie595

This probably isn't the "right advice", but I am a volunteer with the Dog's Trust, and retraining in KC accredited dog behaviourism courses. And I am really sorry, but you are not suitable for fostering dogs. I hate to be that blunt, but it is true, so there isn't a better way of putting it. The best foster dogs are "needy" to say the least - they have an already disrupted life and need stability. The vast majority have come from difficult home situations and may have a range of behavioural problems - experience with difficult dogs is a must, and complete stability is more than a must. Nothing you have described says that you can provide that. Fostering isn't getting a dog for a bit - it is very hard work, and you need to be fit and able to give that dog a secure environment for as long as they need. Most foster dogs are more challenging than adoptees.

I would support two suggestions made here - because I understand how hard that dog shaped hole can be. If you can, share a dog - look after a dog from a working home. People in jobs still crave that companionship that a dog can give. But a partner who can give love and attention when at work can be a blessing. Otherwise, think about an old dog. Shelters are full of old dogs without the energy or demands of a younger dog, and they are often the hardest to rehome because nobody wants a dog that has only a few years left and isn't up for "fun". Many of these "oldies but goodies" have had loving homes, and are well trained and stable dogs - but their owners may have passed on before them or become unable to take them into care situations.

Not every dog needs an energetic home situation, and poor health doesn't mean you can't give a dog everything that it needs, if you and the shelter match your needs correctly.

If that is beyond you - then regrettably a dog in your home isn't right for you. But what about adoption - adopt a dog in in shelter. There are many that for one reason or another (often behavioural) we can't rehome. In the Dogs Trust those dogs are with us for life. We will never put a healthy dog down. It may not be quite the same as filling that dog shaped hole - but many sponsor dogs can be visited and you can send them food and toys. My darling boy crossed the Rainbow Bridge in September, and I am now working on my little four month old devil (complete with razor sharp teeth). But I have two sponsor dogs who I have been looking after for ten years - both of whom are now elderly dogs. I know that when I sponsor a dog, it is actually about raising funds to support al; those dogs we can't rehome. But I have watched my sponsor dogs grow old over the years, and I am delighted that they have been able to grow old and, if not have a family, have a loving environment in which the length of their life is not measured by the number of weeks they are cute and adoptable for.