Fostering to adopt

[Hillside]

I have been thinking about getting another dog and have pretty much settled on another breed. My question is, has anyone here fostered to "test drive"? How did it go? Did you end up with the first dog the rescue sent or were there several? I have heard that some rescues frown on the idea though, but I'm sure if I was up front about my motives I could find a rescue that would work out.

 

[SizzleDog]

I've fostered a few dogs, and I wanted to keep them - regardless of breed! If I'd been ready for another permanent addition at the time I fostered Patrick... I would have had a 5 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever right now!

What breed are you looking at?

 

[Maxy24]

I know our rescue will not let you adopt your FIRST foster but every foster after that is fair game, they don't frown upon it though I don't think.

 

[Lizmo]

I've fostered a few dogs, and I wanted to keep them - regardless of breed!
What breed are you looking at?

What she said

 

[Hillside]

I'm actually looking at a Malinois. It won't be for a while, because I want to wait until after we rebid on hours at work and I want to whip Django into a little bit better shape before I even think of adding a second dog. I had seriously considering Mals before I decided on an Aussie, but I wanted to get a little bit more expierence under my belt first.

 

[Laurelin]

We never really 'fostered' technically, but we watch a couple breeder dogs to see how they fit in. 'Babysitting' er... yeah.

Needless to say we still have those two dogs and they never left. I'd fail at fostering.

 

[Saintgirl]

The resuce group that I have worked with always gives first 'dibbs' on the foster dog to the foster parents. I think fostering is a great way to not only see if the new dog will work as a new part of the family, but an excellent way to keep a dog out of a shelter or rescue until a home is found if it is not yours. However, when you do decide to foster keep in mind that the reason you are fostering the dog isn't to test drive the new dog, but to keep the dog out of a shelter. When you bring the dog into your home on a foster basis you have to be prepared that even if the dog isn't the perfect fit that you first hoped that you will continue to foster the dog until the right home is found. And this can sometimes take a very long time.

My first foster almost became a permanent fixture here, but the perfect home for her was found and it would have been selfish of us to keep her from him. We still see her often and she couldn't have ended up in a better home to suit her needs.

 

[drmom777]

Uncle Fred started out as a foster. He is never leaving. I still think I could successfully foster, but Uncle Fred is special.

 

[Dekka]

We have fostered many times, only once was I tempted to keep the dog. But he only clicked with me (7 year old JRT boy..oh he was nice) And a great home was found for him.

I know many rescues will be fine if you want to foster knowing you will be looking. But if you don't word it right they may doubt your commitment to fostering. They might be worried you will get in a foster dog, not want it and say 'next' instead of waiting till that one is adopted.

 

[BostonBanker]

That's exactly what I did. I'm lucky, because the rescuer is my best friend, so that makes everything easy. I fostered three dogs total; one for just a few days (would have been a great dog for me, but I wasn't personally ready); the second for over month (I was in love and ready, but it was the wrong dog); and then Meg, who I had for about a week before I decided she was a keeper. It worked out great for me, because I wanted to be able to test a dog at the barn, around horses, etc.

 

[RD]

I'm fostering to adopt right now. The shelter I'm fostering for usually does let people foster to adopt. I don't know why rescues would frown on it.

I won't take in a dog (with the exception of pups under 6 months) unless I can take him/her home for a while without commitment, to make sure the dog will get along with mine. Sometimes it takes a couple weeks for a dog's true color's to emerge, and I don't want to adopt a dog right off the bat, only to see a dog-aggression issue or something pop up as the dog settles in.

 

[Hillside]

See RD, that is pretty much exactly why I want to do it this way. If the dog just doesn't click, at least I can help the dog to click elsewhere and pick up some extra manners/etc on it's way.

 

[darkchild16]

The resuce group that I have worked with always gives first 'dibbs' on the foster dog to the foster parents. I think fostering is a great way to not only see if the new dog will work as a new part of the family, but an excellent way to keep a dog out of a shelter or rescue until a home is found if it is not yours. However, when you do decide to foster keep in mind that the reason you are fostering the dog isn't to test drive the new dog, but to keep the dog out of a shelter. When you bring the dog into your home on a foster basis you have to be prepared that even if the dog isn't the perfect fit that you first hoped that you will continue to foster the dog until the right home is found. And this can sometimes take a very long time.

My first foster almost became a permanent fixture here, but the perfect home for her was found and it would have been selfish of us to keep her from him. We still see her often and she couldn't have ended up in a better home to suit her needs.

Thats exactly the way our greyhound organization was. We only failed with one completly foster situation which was our Saint Patches. we were doing a foster situation until we could find her a new home and she never left. We didnt get her through a organization though. Our greyhound was the only one we knew before unless anything went wrong we were keeping him. Mom saw him in the kennel and called the lady right away and told her the second hes out of the vet from his neuter hes mine and hes been here ever since.

I was going to fail on our first too he was a gorgeous dark brindle male. God I lvoed that dog he was the only grey I think i ever truely loved. I love Scirracco but not the way I did tequila but he needed a home with kids and we didnt have any so we found him a nice retired lady to dote on him with grandkids that came around everyother day.