Need help picking out puppies to foster!

[Zife]

The vet clinic where I'm currently getting puppies to foster won't allow me to post pictures. But, I'll describe them. I'm willing to take 3 at most, because most of them are litermates. I'll just type down what was on their papers at the clinic. The pups that I don't take go to my best friend Vicky. There was a puppy boom after Christmas, so there are a lot, plus a dog hoarder that was mentally unstable has had her dogs surrendered to the shelter, and the vet clinic has offered to take some to help the shelter stay less crowded.

Puppy # 1 (unnamed)

Age: 10 weeks
Breed: Border Collie Mix
Gender: Male
Coloring: Black with tan points and white muzzle.
Personality: This puppy is very shy, and is not accustomed to loud noises. He is frightened easily and appears to have very little human contact.
Notes: We suspect this puppy was beaten, because he's terrified of a human hand and flinches at any noise a human makes, or sudden movement.

Puppy # 2 (unnamed)

Age: 10 Weeks
Breed: Border Collie Mix
Gender: Female
Coloring: Black and white
Personality: This puppy is clingy and likes attention. She dislikes loud noises and shouting, and is very nervous around other animals. She is a bit more bold than her siblings.
Notes: We suspect this puppy was beaten, because she often flinches when a human hand is moved, even slowly.

Puppy # 3 (Pepper)

Age: 14 Weeks
Breed: Labrador/Beagle/German Shepherd
Gender: Female
Coloring: Brown with dark brown patch on right side of face, legs, tail, back and chest.
Personality: Pepper is a good puppy, and has been at the shelter since she was born after her mother was surrendered to the shelter. She needs proper socialization, however, and is seems to have a growing dominance problem over toys and food.
Notes:
DOB: October 2nd, 2007

Puppy # 4 (Diesel)

Age: 5-6 Months
Breed: Mastiff Mix
Gender: Male
Coloring: Chocolate Brindle
Personality: Diesel is aggresive, and very stubborn. He will not let anyone touch his brothers, food or toys, and other animals. He dislikes human contact. He is tolerant of other animals.
Notes: Aggresive, but does not bite. Barks and growls.

Puppy # 5 (Tyra)

Age: 10-12 Weeks
Breed: Cocker Spaniel Cross
Gender: Female
Coloring: Light fawn
Personality: Tyra is a good puppy, and likes attention. She suffers from a severe bladder problem. Her bowl movements need to be monitored around the clock for the next 2 months.
Notes: n/a

There are 7 more pups left to be fostered, but I want to know what you guys think.

 

[Paige]

How experienced are you with aggressive dogs/fearful dogs? Because I'd take one difficult one personally, then if you want to help more take some more level headed pups. Puppy #4 struck me as one that you should take simply because he sounds like he needs a lot of work to make him into a great companion.

 

[darkchild16]

personally i would take 4 too but i have experience with that type of dog and the breed.

 

[Paige]

If he'd be too much puppy #5 sounds like she could use a break the poor pup.

 

[SharkBait]

well since the 1st two are littermates and both timid and shy of humans, maybe it would be best if they were kept together.
Maybe you could take those two and Tyra, since she is a closer size to them and age, plus could be a good influence- she seems more confident and it may rub off on those two and make them open up a bit.
It's really nice of you to foster these pups whoever you decide to take

 

[Lizmo]

Talking about the Border Collie pups:

What are you looking for? Do you have enough time to spend with this pup to over-come and wrok through the problems I see with those two pups? Border Collie's are a LOT of work, especially since they've already got these problems so young. You're going to have to be very diligent in the training, but slow and easy.

I would personally take those two because I know the breed.



I think -if you haven't already- you need to sit down and figure out what you can and can't handle in a pup (including over-coming the problems you've listed for all the pups). Then it will make your decision a lot easier.

 

[AgilityPup]

I would take number 1&2, or if I didn't have ANY dogs, number 4....

Good luck, and good for you for fostering!

 

[Zife]

It's a tricky one. I went back to the shelter today to find #5 and #3 gone to someone else that's fostering. My golden retriever (well she was forced upon me when my uncle died and my brother didn't want her, but I love her as my own) Maya would set a good example for pups 1 and 2, but the vet says if someone doesn't take Diesel soon, he'll have to be PTS because his aggresion problem is growing.

I think that if I took Diesel, I'd learn something new, but I'm not used to the larger breeds like mastiffs and danes, and think I need a little bit more experience with them before I take them on.

I'm going to look up some fosters and see if any have an open spot for Diesel. If not, then I'll have to do some quick thinking because he is just a very handsome pup! I'd be very sad if his time ran out.

I think I'm going to end up with pups 1 and 2, because Maya may set a good example for them. Living on a farm and spending most of my free time with Maya, I think I'll have enough time for them, and I don't want to seperate them because they're scared enough.

...

Sound good?

 

[Lizmo]

Do you have farm animals? The only thing that I could see going wrong with the BC pups is them being allowed to "stare" at the livestock when not working, therefor creating a HUGE HUGE problem (I just read about a lady that had a BC that had a huge aggression problem because of this). You just have to be careful because it could scale into a big problem (the problem I was refering to that I had just read about - the dog ended up being PTS, the problem was so sever). You just have to be careful - if you do foster them, please PM me, I'd like to give you a link to a GREAT BC forum with huge amounts of knowledge on how to raise these two pups - and un-do the problems they've already got.

Honest, I am not trying to discurage you from getting the Border pups! I would love for you too, cause then I get more puppy pics