It's so hard (rant/info wanted)

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

I have recently made a facebook account, and I added the organization that I got Sasha from. They always have all these postings for dogs that need to be pulled from shelters/need foster homes, and it's soooo hard for me not to volunteer. I know logically that now is not the time. I mean, I just got Sasha 6 months ago, and we have so far to go before I can even think about adding another dog into the mix. Then there's also the fact that I'm renting and each new pet is $400. Plus with a foster I wouldn't be guaranteed they'd be house broken, and if they weren't and and they wrecked the carpet I'd have to pay for that. I also wouldn't know if they were barkers and if they were I'd get kicked out. Basically I know now is not the time. It just breaks my heart to see so many good dogs, that may get put to sleep because someone can't take them. I know it's not my responsibility to save all the lonely shepherds, but it's just kind of hard to see.

So that's my little rant, now onto my question. How exactly does fostering work? I'm sure it varies from organization to organization, but on the whole what could I expect. (Not going to be doing it soon, just thinking about the future) Like for instance, do they reimburse you for food, training, etc? If they don't, that's not necessarily a deal breaker; I would just have to wait even longer to make sure I could financially support more than one dog. Anyone with fostering experience that would like to share their stories/experience would be great.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

You can volunteer in other ways! Home checks - always need people to do and sometimes coordinate them, reference checks, fundraising, transports, extra hands at events, event coordination, doing the website or Petfinder and more. Each volunteer plays their part and rescues understand that not everyone can foster. In fact, you could be in charge of recruiting other foster homes - that would be huge!

So consider those things!

The other stuff does vary from rescue to rescue. They should all cover vetting. Some will give food to fosters, formal training (in a class) is generally not done by the foster home but if there is a need for it to help the dog become more adoptable, I am sure some rescues would cover, others would not.

Helping in any way will be appreciated and thank you for wanting to help other dogs find their way home.

[CassandGunnar]

The rescue that we foster for has food available, but it's donated so you don't always know what brand you're going to get. We just eat the cost of the food and call it our "donation" to the organization. All of our vet care, flea/tick/heartworm is provided. They do have some training that is provided and I think they give a discount if you want to enroll your foster in other courses. (Our rescue is almost an hour drive so we've never looked into doing the classes with them)

Most rescues are always looking for volunteers of all kinds. You can help out a great deal in many other ways. In addition to fostering, we also help with adoption events (PetCo/Petsmart etc), we do home visits for potential fosters and adoptions. Another thing that our group is always looking for is "vacation fosters". Sometimes it's only for a few day, or less. It's pretty much what it sounds like. People have medical issues/surgeries/vacations come up and need a temporary foster.

I would contact the rescue organizations in your area and find out what type of help they need. I'd almost guarantee that they can find some way that they can use your help.

[gsdraven]

To me, fostering is just like taking on a new pet, it takes time to get to know them and how they work. Each foster is treated like I would my own dog. I make sure that fosters especially (as well as my own dogs) get separate time for training and socialization as well as group outing. They are expected to follow the house rules (and a few more since fosters don't get as many privileges as my personal dogs).

My organization reimburses for food and standard medical costs (exam, heartworm check, fecal, spay/neuter, vaccines and preventatives), anything beyond the standard costs requires board approval first. Supplies such as beds, leashes, etc are at the foster's expense. Training is at the foster's expense unless approved by the Board for a tough dog.

The best thing for you to do is ask the organization that you want to volunteer with to put you in touch with an experienced foster to tell you how things work. I know I am always willing to answer questions to people who are considering fostering because fosters are the backbone of any rescue organization.

Even if you can't foster, you can still volunteer with the organization to learn the ins and outs before committing to fostering. There are lots of other tasks besides fostering that need help to keep the rescue running.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Thanks guys! I've thought about offering to help transport for them. It's hard for me to help with events and stuff because the rescue is in a different state, but they have fosters in both MO and NE, so I could help get dogs from MO to NE. I had thought about helping with the home check thing, but I'm not really sure I'd be qualified to help with that stuff. Thanks for all the info!