I wanted to foster rather than adopt, but was put off by the requirement that we take the dog to adoption events on the weekends. Yes, some organizations will have a volunteer take the dog instead, but I got the strong impression it was my job as the foster parent to help find this dog a permanent home. I WOH all week and did not want to spend my weekends that way. We adopted instead.

The adopted dog is not dog-friendly, so no foster dogs for me.

I would never ever take a mature dog. I've always start with puppies. It requires a lot of time for training (and money, if you are using professional trainer). I am working full time and have children. I don't see how I can find any extra time to train a matured dog (that more likely has some issues).

Anonymous wrote:I love the hell out of dogs. What holds me back is living in a rent controlled apartment building that does not allow pets. Also, I live in a somewhat unsafe area, and taking a dog out to pee at 11pm is a bit dangerous.

Are you experienced with dogs? My dog holds his pee easily for 12 hours. I force him to go out and pee at night around 9 PM and force him to go out again when I wake up in the morning. He'd rather sleep in! Also, in a pinch he has a "pee pad" by the backdoor and probably only uses one once or twice a month but, he does know to use it. Just saying it's possible. - OP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs. I have 3 dogs already and I have teenagers. I would happily volunteer my time at a kennel type setting but trying to add more dogs into my own house, especially introducing new/strange dogs into my home, seems daunting at this point in time.

How do your dogs get their mid-day walk/pee break? Are you at home to walk them?

Would you be willing to help someone who lives near you be a foster by also walking their foster dog?

NP here but your last sentence is very interesting to me. I need to reach out to my local rescues (not DC area) and see if I could do something like this. I would love to help out other fosters with dog care like walking etc!

Yay! this is great!

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, what holds us back is the attachment to the dog. We don't feel we would be able to open our home and hearts then turn it over to its adoptive family. Even though we would be thrilled that it is going to a good home, it would be hard on us every time one left us.

+10000!

This is us.

Plus we have one dog that does not get along well with strange dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs. I have 3 dogs already and I have teenagers. I would happily volunteer my time at a kennel type setting but trying to add more dogs into my own house, especially introducing new/strange dogs into my home, seems daunting at this point in time.

How do your dogs get their mid-day walk/pee break? Are you at home to walk them?

Would you be willing to help someone who lives near you be a foster by also walking their foster dog?

NP here but your last sentence is very interesting to me. I need to reach out to my local rescues (not DC area) and see if I could do something like this. I would love to help out other fosters with dog care like walking etc!

I have young children, so I want to be careful about the breeds and personalities of dogs that I allow in my home. I also wouldn't want my children to grow attached emotionally to a dog we would have to surrender to another family. I hope to do this sort of thing when they are grown and we are retired.

We have two rescues and a toddler. I floated the idea of fostering to DH pre-kids, but he said no. For us, the reasons are:

1. DH can't handle the attachment issue. That made fostering a non-starter to him.
2. I wouldn't bring a strange dog into the house with small kids. Maybe with older children, but absolutely not while they're still learning impulse control.
3. We have two rescues already. One has a naturally shy temperament and is nervous around bigger dogs, and the other has an unknown past that makes her reactive around other dogs. We have a good balance now, and I'd worry about another dog messing up the existing dynamic.
4. Time and energy are at a premium already. Walking three dogs is harder than walking two, our schedules are VERY tight with daycare pickup and little kid bedtime. I just don't have the free time (especially time where I wouldn't have to bring a toddler along) to meet up with adopters, even if the schedule was flexible.

I love the hell out of dogs. What holds me back is living in a rent controlled apartment building that does not allow pets. Also, I live in a somewhat unsafe area, and taking a dog out to pee at 11pm is a bit dangerous.

I don't really want more than one dog. I'm partial to specific breeds, and don't want more fur all over the house--and I spend a lot of time/energy training my dog(s), and don't really want to do that with a dog that I won't have for more than a few weeks. Also, my dog is a rescue herself, and she may or may not take well to a random dog in her space.

The attachment is my problem too. My best pal fosters 2 pit bulls...she still has them 10 years later. We are so much alike I know I would do the same....and I have enough pets! Plus my little dog is scared of other dogs and would be really upset to share me. He doesn't mind sharing with our cats.

I love dogs. We have two German Shepherds now. One is a rescue. Our rescue can be dog aggressive. I could never trust her around a foster. When she dies, we may consider fostering with a GSD rescue.

I have a senior dog and know from experience that adding a dog or a series of dogs would be very stressful for her.

I may foster someday, after she is no longer with us.

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs. My own dog is really well trained. I can't deal with peeing indoors or tearing up anything.

But I would be a foster for my breeds. I have a shih tsu and a Maltese. I think most people think of foster dogs as being pit bulls who have trouble being adopted. My breeder would take my dogs back in an instant if something was wrong and I couldn't care for them any longer. The breeder didn't want them going to the pound.

If you are interested, I've noticed this group seems to do a number of shih tsus: http://www.caringheartsrescue.org/foster

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a dog and thought about it, but with work and travel, I have to board my dog several times, and that wouldn't work with fostering a dog. Even if they take the dog back for a few days while you travel, I think it would be traumatic for a dog to be taken back and forth like that. Whereas my own dog loves people where he boards and they adore him. I looked at applications and they ask if you are available to be there a lot more than for your own dog, there are demands, crating, training, separate room, many issues as well. Once your own dog is house trained and fine, you can leave him alone for more hours per day than you could a foster dog. At least, that was my observation from the strict process for fostering.

What if you were offered respite care givers? People in the foster group who would take the foster dog (and maybe even your dog) when you go on vacation?

Maybe, I was never offered this. My dog is also scared of other dogs, so this was actually the reason I was considering it, to get him socializing with another dog and help another dog. But, vet seemed to think it was a bad idea, and that we should be careful about introducing him to another unknown dog, as it might cause fearful aggression.