Comments on: 11 reasons to foster a dog

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:45:36 +0000

Thanks for all you do!

By: Shannon Rhodes

Shannon Rhodes — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:25:25 +0000

I “LOVE” being a foster parent and can not imagine not having a house full of dogs. It does not matter what breed, what sex, what age… they are all a joy to have.

By: Save lives for FREE! « Paws Humane

Save lives for FREE! « Paws Humane — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:20:31 +0000

[...] many benefits not only for the pet but also for you. Here are 11 reasons to foster a pet (the original article just talks about dogs, but I adapted it for cats as [...]

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:05:54 +0000

Thanks!

By: Dagro Pat

Dagro Pat — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:59:40 +0000

Good Information, can be helpful to someone.

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:32:13 +0000

Hi Sarah, thanks for stopping by my blog. You are right, fostering a dog is a great way for a person to see if dog ownership is right for them or not. I wish more people would foster before adopting a dog.

When Vixen finds a permanent home, it will be better for her than living with me and my three other animals. She will get the time and attention she needs and deserves.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:48:05 +0000

I think it’s great to foster instead of adopting a dog if you have time for a dog now, but you’re not sure if you will in 10 years.

We just sent our first foster to his new home, and although my husband and I wanted to keep him, we know that he will be happier in his new home.

Although we still miss him, it’s easier to let him go to a home that we know will be better for him in the long run.

Fostering can also help people who aren’t currently dog owners see what it really takes to take care of a dog on a permanent basis.

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:06:03 +0000

My Tessy girl..(Tess)…Well, she was severely abused, she had food aggression, was not properly socialized with other animals, and she was not potty trained; were the main ones. If it wasn’t for the help from the 4 Lov of Dog rescue and my stubbornness I would have given up. I will admit the first few days were rough. However, I knew in my heart she was a good dog, and it was not her fault. It took love, patience, and time.
Before I could really work with her I needed her to be comfortable in her new home. I did this by allowing her explore things in the house because she was scared of everything. Every day noises would make her on guard and ready to fight if needed. But I went with my normal daily routine. As she became more comfortable in my home these items were not so scary any more.
She needed to be kenneled when she was eating, muzzled when we went to the dog park, and I did a lot of research on dogs with aggression. I read a lot and asked Tina for advice when problems arisen. I think the biggest thing is to remember to look for small successes. As a bunch of small success lead to large ones.
For example: when walking the dogs, I didn’t worry about if they were healing, not pulling…instead I worried about if they could all walk together with out growling. I considered that a success.
Tessy now:
Tessy never had shown aggression towards people or children. She is excellent with children that have disabilities as she loves them and they love her. Tessy loves people!
She no longer has to eat in her kennel, and can be left out of her kennel for a couple of hours.
She is potty trained.
One of the biggest differences: She plays with other dogs. These are the same dogs that she wanted to fight when they looked at her. Now she plays tug-a-war, wrestles with them, and snuggles next to them. She is no longer scared of walking by a car, the dryer, phone, and shower. She loves her bed, toys, and her blanket. She ia a very smart dog as she can open the screen door and if the door is not latched she lets herself back in.
By all means we still have work, but that is okay. As we are all a work in progress.
Like I said it was not easy but it was so worth it! I look at her and I don’t know what I would do with out her as she has such a personality. She will always be my Tessy girl and I love sharing stories about her.

When you know that your foster dog has a forever home…..you will let them go. I am not going to lie and say that it is easy to let them go. But as you need to remember that if you did not care…………then you would not be a foster parent!

By: Mayra Calvani

Mayra Calvani — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:02:39 +0000

Thank you for such a wonderful and heart-touching post. I haven’t considered fostering a dog so far but lately I’ve considered volunteering at a dog shelter for a few hours a week. I think if I fostered a dog I would get terribly attached and then unable to give it away. I wish I had a larger home so I could adopt several dogs.

By: Lindsay Stordahl

Lindsay Stordahl — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:46:44 +0000

Jill, that’s so great that you adopted Tess. What were her problems and how did you help her?