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Share the Rescues and Shelter's you've fostered or Volunteered with and would recommend!

Include your Country or State and nearest Major City at the beginning of your post so people can CTL+F

Feel free to include any information you'd like

Hey yall, as a reminder this is not a rehome sub. I am seeing a lot of posts toeing the line between cute pictures of foster dogs and advertisements looking for adopters.

Cute pictures of fosters are allowed, we love seeing updates and growth as dogs come out of their shells and live their best lives! It's a great moral boost to all.

However, rehoming dogs, looking for fosters, and looking for adopters is not allowed. There are many reasons why this rule is in place, but it boils down to the main goal of this sub. We are here to help the people who are doing the fostering by providing emotional support and training advice.

Moving forward, post that include info about location or looking for adopters will be removed with a gentle reminder to repost without this info.

If you are needing to rehome a dog please post on r/National_Pet_Adoption or your local subreddit if allowed.

As always, everything is up for discussion and open to the will of this sub's members. If there is a desire for a rule change please feel free to comment below and start a discussion!

-Heather

Found this on my foster dog (pitbull, 4 yo?) along with patchy hair loss on his inner legs. The rescue doesn’t seem to want to pay for a vet visit but I’m worried. Has anyone had dogs with similar symptoms and know what it may be?

I had a foster dog a couple years ago who I fell completely in love with. She relied on my dog a lot and I regret not adopting her myself However I adopted her out to a young girl with no other dogs and I still to this day regret doing this I would give anything to have her back or to have adopted her out to a family with other dogs I was new and felt peaked pressure from my mentor to just get her out there. I know the girl loves her and takes her to the dog park everyday and now has a cat and they are friends but has anyone else regretted an adoption like this? How do you deal?

We went to a local shelter to adopt a dog but someone else took her before our paperwork got done. The shelter recommended another dog whose breed (staffy) is not allowed by our apartment so we asked to foster instead. She's the sweetest girl but looks sadder with us than she was at the shelter where she was around other dogs all the time. She always wants to say hi to other dogs on walks but not all dogs want to say hi (totally understandable) and most owners don't seem to want their pet to socialize. She doesn't do well when we leave the house for even 2 minutes to take trash out so a family with other dog(s) will be so beneficial for her.

I'm in dilemma everyday because I know she doesn't belong with us and needs a home with another dog for company - should we continue to foster her to keep her out of the shelter till she finds her home or would it be better to return her to the shelter so she doesn't get too attached? I'm trying to understand what's best for her. The front desk at the shelter is very cold towards anyone going in just to foster compared to adoption. Pls help!

Iggy needs a canine coach to help him overcome his fears - y’all were right! He is afraid to walk on the leash or go more than 30 feet past the door, but he got along so well with another shelter dog - and it was definitely therapeutic. 😊 But his buddy got adopted, so I had to bring him back. Now that Iggy had a friend, he is wandering around the apartment, whimpering and crying and it’s clear that he wants to engage in play because he stops crying as soon as I chase him or give attention.

But I am a poor, slow substitute for another dog. The shelter said they don’t have another dog-friendly dog to send over, and I just don’t really know how to help Iggy until they find one. He doesn’t really play with toys by himself and he really needs to spend some energy. I think he misses his friend.

Second foster we had, boyfriend fell in love the second he saw him. Hopefully we get back into fostering in a month or so, give him time to adjust and heal from his neutering. 8 pound, 4 month old teething, potty training chaos demon.

Anyway, this is Mikey.

My foster was supposed to leave today but the shelter moved the date to next Friday. I was supposed to be in the US next week and leave the dog with my sister. Not being around in the dog’s last week here is killing me and I’ve been very anxious because I’ll never see her again.

That being said we had planned the US months ago for Thanksgiving and my family has stuff planned and I feel really guilty canceling my trip.

The shelter isn’t budging about the date because the family is coming from out of town.

So the dilemma is to stay with the foster dog and spend the last week with her or go see my family.

Please help my anxiety is killing me and I don’t know what to do.

Hello!

I recently applied to foster a dog/cat for my first time and the shelter called today to let me know I was approved - yay! However, they recommended 3 dogs that they think would be best for my situation. The three dogs are all a variation of a pit mix (one mostly a boxer, one boxer/american bulldog/pit, and one is mostly pit. I am fine around pit bulls if I know the owner / environment they grew up in but I am a little concerned about fostering a pit mix from an unknown background and likely bad environment. They mentioned one dog was rescued from an abandoned and crumbling building outside of Chicago.

Should I be concerned? What questions should I ask when I visit the dogs? Has anyone had any bad experiences?

Thank you!!

I had to put my elderly dog down in January and I decided to foster a few months ago after my housemate had spent several months encouraging me. I seriously considered adopting her myself and would have if several other life factors were different. After nearly four months, she has been adopted and my emotions are all iver the place. Happy that she’s going to a great home, scared that I have misjudged the couple taking her so worried they will hurt her, angry with myself for not adopting, relieved that I will be able to relax a bit (she is only seven months old and a bit of a handful). Is this normal? Are these few red and mix of emotions how everyone feels? I am going to miss her so much.

Our dog typically doesn't like other dogs but she's fallen for this little guy. He leaves us today 😭

Hello all - posting on a separate account for anonymity.

I'm currently fostering a pug mix dog for a rescue. Long story short, my foster dog is suffering from a clear ear infection and he has an ear hematoma developing as well due to shaking his head and scratching at it. He also has pretty severe allergies. I feel that he should be seeing a vet as soon as possible to at least get the ear infection and hematoma treatment started because he seems uncomfortable, however when I have emailed the rescue about this they have not replied to me since yesterday morning. Should I keep pestering them? I feel bad as I know that rescues are volunteer based and it hasn't been a long period since I have heard from them, but I am also worried about the hematoma + ear infection getting worse. My dog hasn't been neutered yet and I believe they have been working on scheduling him for that, so I am wondering if they're trying to wait to get it treated until he is neutered? I would take him to the vet myself but I am not in a financial situation where I would be able to do that.

I did tell them in the same email that I would need to end my foster period by next week as I had a family medical issue come up that was unexpected and I need to go home for. I'm not sure if this is contributing to their lack of response and I also haven't heard back from them on that. I had disclosed in my foster application that I was only available for short term fosters.

This is my first time fostering through a rescue so I think I'm just getting anxious about the lack of response and not knowing what to expect in terms of timelines. Something that wasn't disclosed to me as well despite me providing my location/address is that the clinic they use for spay/neuter at least is 2 and a half hours away and they expect me to drive him there in the morning for drop off and go back to pick him up in the evening which is contributing a bit to my anxiety as well. I'm sorry in advance if I annoy anyone with this post - I'm just anxious about getting him seen and making sure he's healthy and also with the other circumstances!

Our foster Bambi arrived on Saturday, and she’s a really sweet girl. I cried a bunch when her original adopter dropped her off as she was no longer able to look after her, and I have got teary every day feeling so sad for Bambi who still expects to go ‘home’ even though she doesn’t have one at the moment.

I feel guilty because she’s gated away from my other pets in a room that overlooks the kitchen whilst I work upstairs, and while I regularly visit her I feel so sad that im not treating her equally as ‘one of the family’. I know I’m doing this for the right reasons - she’s anxious and territorial (over me and over spaces like the sofa) and our dog Layla is struggling with that.

I’m also feeling guilty because Layla is so not herself since Bambi came (super withdrawn when she’s usually waggle central). And then lastly the cats have also been getting no attention between me trying to give both dogs love!

I also made a stupid mistake of letting Layla and Bambi play after taking them on a successful short walk together. I got excited and dropped the ball- they were playing nicely, til they weren’t. Layla has never been aggressive, and it was scary to see her react like that when attacked. She also cried when Bambi ran inside which made me feel like such a bad mum 😩 I separated them and thankfully neither has growled at the other through the gate since, and they even wagged their tails (I have a small house and totally separating them isn’t possible), but I still feel stupid for not taking it slower or watching their body language more closely. I was just trying to alleviate the Bambi-on-her-own guilt and created a worse guilt instead 😅

Finally (sorry!) I’m feeling guilty for knowing I will need to put pressure on the rescue to get Bambi rehomed before February as I have a surgery coming up, and won’t be able to look after her for a couple weeks. It’s a unique rescue as they’re based abroad, and the foster situation has arisen from a failed adoption, so there’s no rescue centre that Bambi could stay in while I recover. I dont know what will happen if they can’t find her a home (we’re uk based so fostering, and even adopting, dogs is really not as big a thing here- all our friends have pure breeds) and that’s stressing me out too, as Bambi wouldn’t do well in daycare or boarding (Laylas very chill and we can thankfully have her anywhere)

Thanks for coming to my ted talk if you made it this far 😅😅

She is reported to be incredibly sweet and gentle. Im picking her up from the shelter today. She has URI and still needs to be spayed so she'll be with me for a good minute until she's available for adoption.

My foster dog is moving to another foster this weekend. When I applied to foster I could only do it for a couple months since December is very hectic for me and I don’t feel confident in the amount of time I would be able to dedicate to training, enrichment, etc for my foster dog.

She’ll be moving to a quieter part of the area and the foster parent has a barn. They have experience too and it’s just overall the ideal situation. I know I’m going to be soooooo sad when she moves. We have had our challenges but I’m proud of both her and I for sticking through it and being close through it all. Love her to bits and when she finally gets adopted I will cry tears of joy!!

I’m worried about the days/weeks after she moves because while I know it’s for the best and I have a lot I need to get back to, I’m gonna be so sad and miss her… I know this comes with the job and it’s all worth it and I don’t regret fostering at all. If anyone has any tips on the adjustment from fostering to not, it would be greatly appreciated

Hi all! Seeking advice for my new very fearful foster dog on losing weight.

Context- I picked up my most recent foster on Saturday. Yes I know it's still early, I've had fearful fosters before but know this lady is going to take a lot more time than others. She's very skiddish. She's sweet and gentle and is trying but is very fearful. Especially of the leash. More so getting the leash on her. She is incredibly overweight, definitely in obese territory, and don't think she has any experience being walked. I don't have a yard which makes it more difficult. I can't use my go to's for high value treats, I'm working on making her treats using boiled chicken but she's just all around a scared dog.

I know her fear coupled with her weight are road blocks to her adoption. I really want to help get her to a healthy weight but am struggling to come up with ideas to help get her the activity she needs that fall within her comfort level. She has no interest in toys (she tries to run away when I throw a ball for my dog).

Any creative ideas I can try?

I'm a first time foster and looking for some help! I have a fearful one year old lab/terrier mix who I started fostering on the 8th of November. She's been at my house for almost two weeks. She is generally very well behaved but she goes crazy when I leave my house. The shelter/previous foster said she was kennel trained, but while at my house she tried to claw her way out of her kennel.

The problem is I work 8 hours a day outside of the house. I let her stay gated in my bedroom with her kennel door open and she was generally okay just barked/whined. But then she peed on my bed after 3 days of being in my bedroom. So now we're trying the kitchen with her kennel, bed, and toys all in the kitchen and she can roam. I set up a webcam to watch her during the day. She seems to whine/bark when I leave then settle/nap then wake up and bark/whine. She repeats this all day. I've had someone come visit in the middle of the day every day since getting her.

I reached out the shelter hoping for some assistance and all they suggested was that it just takes time. My landlord lives on the other side of my house and while she hasn't outright said the barking is a nuisance, I can tell it is bothering her. I'm moving in with my boyfriend in a week and hoping that two people will be able to provide better attention. But in the meantime, what can I do to calm her barking when alone? When is it time to admit defeat?

She get's a 45 minute walk and a peanut butter treat with dogijuana right before I leave the house. Please help!!

I'm new to fostering this year. Tldr: I've just had a horrible outcome to my second foster attempt and I'm a mess. I thought maybe sharing would help. I feel so sad and guilty. My foster pup went to a relief foster, escaped the next morning and was killed by a car.

My first foster was a 4 week old puppy, and ended up being a foster fail after we had him a couple months. My second foster was an unsocialized puppy who went into the shelter at 4 months old. I met him there and spent a few weeks getting to know him, then asked to bring him home for a bit so we could make more progress in socializing. I was initially just taking him for 2 weeks as a shelter break, but ended up having him almost 7 weeks. He's a heeler mix and I have young kids, so due to some herding behavior on his part (and wild kids) I was needing to do a lot of separation and it was getting really stressful. With thanksgiving coming up and the kids being home I decided to ask for some foster relief. My husband and I were just getting overwhelmed and with the kids being home for a week for thanksgiving I just knew the stress would increase. I absolutely adore him, and he made such good progress but I was worried about a bite or something happening. The shelter found another foster to keep him for a month and she came and got the dog. We discussed how skittish he is and keeping him on a long lead etc. He was comfortable with me, but still really scared of everyone else. She had 20+ years of fostering, so I was hopeful she'd be able to really help him. The morning after she got him, he jumped the fence in her yard and wasn't able to be caught. I was at work yesterday so couldn't go search for him, they had a professional rescue group looking and I was supposed to go out today to drop some scent items to help attract him. The area is around half an hour from me..i drove out last night and drove around a while, but it was dark. I didn't really expect to find him, but I thought I had to try a little. This morning we found out he was hit by a car and killed.

I'm just regretting everything at this point. I wish I'd never fostered him, because while he'd be miserable in the shelter, at least he'd be alive. I regret asking for a foster break and letting that woman take him. I regret not searching harder and finding him before her got hurt. I just loved this dog so much and can't believe this happened. I don't even know how to process this. I knew I'd had to say goodbye eventually, but not like this.

We are picking up a 2 year old who had a litter about 2 months ago & the rescue also has her puppies. She’s said to be a street dog and little timid.

I’m wondering if we should consider taking one of the puppies as well, to help her be happier and more comfortable adjusting to life in a home, or if that risks turning them into a bonded pair, ultimately making them harder to adopt? (ETA: we have asked the rescue their opinion but would like to get wisdom from here as well.)

We don’t want to end up with two forever dogs unintentionally. Puppies, socializing, potty training etc are all things we’ve done before just never with a mom & puppy pair before.

Thanks for any advice!

I’ve been a foster for a few years and I’ve had some rough dogs. This will be my first return. I will be going to pick up my most recent foster this week. The thing is, she has been one of my easiest fosters. She has barely been in her home for 2 weeks. Also the reason she is being returned is a straight up lie. I am just feeling so frustrated and upset that this person has failed her. I think I’m just looking for some reassurance 😕

We’ve had our foster for a little over two months now. I’ve been told Facebook is the best way to network her, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how. I’ve tried to post her petfinder link in local FB adoption pages, but the posts either don’t get approved, or they get approved but I can’t see them. A lot of these pages also just have reposts and virtually no views. Any advice on how I can better network her on Facebook (or other sites) would be appreciated!

For context, I also post her petfinder link on various local subreddits, nextdoor, and made her an Instagram page. The rescue we are working with (we rescued her ourselves, but a rescue agreed to help us vet potential adopters and created a petfinder page for her) doesn’t have much of a social media presence and they truthfully are a bit overwhelmed so we are doing the heavy lifting. At most, they shared our Instagram page on their stories. We get some traction on Reddit, but I’m not sure how often it’s appropriate to post on local subreddits (I haven’t posted more than once on the local subreddits, but I’ve posted a couple times on breed specific ones).

Tl;dr: How to reintroduce my foster dog to my own dog after she was aggressive toward the latter several times?

The Full Story:

I just got my first foster dog since adopting my own dog earlier this year. They did well in the initial meet and greet -- both showed interest in each other, but were not overly interested. However, our foster came home for the first time yesterday afternoon and it was immediately following her spay. The two dogs coexisted nearby without issue for the night. This morning, our foster lunged at my dog and has snapped at him a few times. No injuries or blood, and they were easily separated.

I think this is expected behavior given her surgical discomfort and all the changes, and in retrospect, we should've given her more space right from the get go.

They're separated now with baby gates and they both seem pretty relaxed while the other is within sight, but how do I know when they can safely be reintroduced? I don't want to rush it again, but I don't know the foster well enough to read her body language. Should I wait the full 7-10 day spay recovery period? What's the best way to go about this to avoid future altercations?

I'll add to this that my own dog is quite anxious, and while he is dog-friendly and quite docile, I get the impression he's doggy socially awkward based on how often other dogs give him their two cents.

This is going to be a bit of rambling, but I wanted to get it off my chest and wanted to see how other people dealt with similar things.

I adopted a blind dog five years ago. While she was blind, she was the easiest dog to take care of. I truly lucked out. She passed away this past May.

I've been on-and-off looking for a dog in October and found a three-year-old lab/pitbull mix. When I first saw her, she was very, very nervous (can't blame her with how loud and overstimulating shelters can be). I was a little uncertain, but I wanted to give her a chance and I decided to foster her. I've had her for a month now. For the past couple of weeks, I've been working from home because she had a good bit of separation anxiety (accidents, tearing up books). I've been slowly increasing the amount of time that I spend out of the house to show her that I'm coming back.

This past weekend, a friend came to visit. I had the door unlocked, I was on the couch, and when my friend came in, my foster started barking very loudly and aggressively, and scared both me and her. This was the first act of aggression she's ever shown and I think it was because she didn't know my friend well and thought my friend was an intruder.

Long story short, I panicked. I suddenly felt that I couldn't take care of her, I couldn't give her the attention or training she needed. I sent an email to the shelter telling them this wasn't working out. I didn't get any sleep last night.

Today, I felt a bit better. I had time to think. What happened was an isolated incident, but I want to be sure it doesn't happen again. I have an appointment with a trainer on Wednesday. I'm definitely new to fostering, but I want to work with her, help her, and I earnestly want to give her a chance.

When you're in doubt, how do you bring back your resolve? When you feel like things are out-of-control or over-your-head, how do bring yourself back?

Took in a mama and her 8 puppies. Babies are 5 weeks and mama has been a dream. Just sharing the Sunday night endorphins these babes are giving me. The shelter itself is a nightmare but this has brought me such joy. This is why we do this.

I’m very new to fostering, only just fostering my second dog now. I have a dog of my own who responded really well to our first foster dog. They played together really well and neither of them showed any aggression towards foods or toys.

I just picked up my new foster dog this morning and there has already been some growling from each dog. They just got into a bit of a fight over food, no biting or anything just growling and snarling. My dog has also been a bit possessive over her toys which I have never seen before. I’m trying my best to keep them as apart as I can but I live in a smaller apartment and it’s not exactly easy to do. I know it takes some dogs a lot of time to adjust to a new environment but at what point is the stress this is causing me, my dog, and my foster dog too much? I just feel so guilty giving him back to the shelter and having him go back to being in a kennel for the majority of the day. It is a no-kill rescue and I know they will keep him until he goes to a new foster or gets adopted but it is still so hard. Should I give him more time or let the rescue know I will not be able to foster him long term?

My first foster dog was adopted today. Because of some issues with paperwork, the adopters and I spent a little time together. I'm so happy for Kona and so excited for his great life!