teacherbailey

I no longer foster since I have a canine family of five but I am grateful for those of you who do. You thought through it logically and handled it well. Kudos to you for fostering. I do rescue runs on the weekends instead...

dgsmom

that is really scary, because your baby cant tell you if they are hurt. you did the right thing though, i know it was hard for you to let the other go but you have to protect your baby first. hope you get to feeling better.

damaquilts

Oh brother. I kinda freaked about mange when I first had a dog with it. Depends on the mange. Demodectic is not contagious it is connected to the immune system all dogs have the mite its usually when their immune system is low the mites take over. First thing I did with all my pups was colostrum then echinchea and fish oil. all to build the immune system. Cleared it up but they have to be careful to stay healthy. The other is sarcoptic ? that is contagious. I have had fosters with both and never a problem Ivermectin on a weekly basis is used too. I forget for which one.
She should have known her stuff though and let you know before she let you decide to take the dog. Its only fair.

The lady from this rescue came to pick up the other stuff today that was for Angel. She said Angel is going to two girls who are groomers that have experience with dogs. I guess 8 years of fostering are not enough. Maybe I was just lucky. Of course in my old rescue Angel would never have been placed in a home anyway after biting someone she would have gone to stay at a boarding facility where a trainer could evaluate her and work with her.
I was also told that if I foster I should expect fights between my dogs and the fosters. Never happened. Maybe because our dogs were very carefully screened before they went to fosters. The only foster I know of that had fights was one who took way too many animals and she had a feral that decided she would live in the house but not have anything to do with anyone but my friend. After the 5th or 6th fight that ended up with my friend having severe damage done to her hand the decision was made to put the dog down. She just wasn't safe to have in a house with other dogs or people. She would go after everyone by M.
I hope it doesn't happen but if Angel doesn't go to a proper trainer with someone who is very trained in behavioural issues I see someone getting hurt.

madamekelly

Even scarier when you know we have a malamute/shephard, (lots of hair) a blue heeler (again lots of hair), a mau, and a Norwegian forest cat (even more hair). Did I mention I am disabled? Bathe a huge dog every day, indeed!

k9dancer

As someone who has been fostering and rescuing about 17 years, I know exactly what you went through. Most of the dogs I have had were great, but every once in a while you get one that does not work out in your home. This is not your fault. For whatever the reason, it's not a good fit.

Sometimes it is a physical condition; sometimes it's pack order; sometimes it's hard to know. As a foster, your input is extremely valuable so the rescue knows how to proceed with the dog in question.

IMHO, fosters are like gold. They, quite simply, save lives. There are more rescues that need fosters than not. If you are not appreciated where you are, there is some other group that would be glad to have you.

Bottom line: your family, and this includes your pets, have a right to feel safe in their own home. It is unfair for you and your pets to feel threatened because one animal is not working out. Face it: some dogs are better off being the only dog. All rescuers know this. And people giving up their dogs don't always mention negative things about the dog, putting others at risk.

So don't feel bad at 'inconveniencing' the rescue. You did nothing wrong.

damaquilts

Thank you all for your responses and super support. Since Andy is getting up there in years and physically I am not able to handle snarky dogs anymore I have decide that for now I will not foster until Andy is no longer with me.

Unless of course a foster comes along that I feel is appropriate to have in my house. One I just can't pass up. I got the feeling from her yesterday that she won't be calling me again to foster which is fine.
I did what I could.

TootieAnn

Hey! I hope you and Andy are both feeling a lot better now. Dog fights are scary for me and I only have my own dogs to worry about. And my dogs are all about the same size. It would be really bad to have a much larger "guest" attack a much smaller family. I'm sorry those people treated you the way they did. Even if you were inconveniencing them, that is part of their job. I don't think I would foster another dog for these people. I do hope things are better now. Take care of yourself and Andy!

biscuitqueen

AMEN to all of you. I too have fostered for many years. I take the hard to adopt ones. Who have clearly been mistreated and have other issues, and rehabilatate. I've seen good and bad foster agencies in my time. It's to bad when you have to find out the hard way which ones your working for. I'm glad to hear Andy is doing well. Hugs and kisses to you both.

damaquilts

Well she called and told me they had another dog. 25lbs, had puppies and pups were adopted. This one had a burn on her back they don't know how she got it and they weren't sure she would get adopted.
I don't get it what part of Andy's size (13) or smaller did she not get.
Andy has been acting a little off the last few days. Not quite himself. So until I can figure out what is going on and get him checked out there will be no more fostering. My brat comes first.