Pitfall of Fostering

Lucky Dog Rescue posted a blog about fosters backing out and sending dogs back to her.  I posted a comment and I thought I would write about it here. 

Fostering dogs is not always an easy thing to do.  I have had 17 dogs come through my house in the last 15 months.  Most of them have had intestinal infections. This is a lot of yucky cleanup for several days and a trip to the vet to see what is going on.  I have had all kinds of worms and coccidia. I have had to put my dogs on Interceptor year round because the worms are now in the soil in my yard and apparently can live for a long time.My carpet bit the dust late last fall and my kitchen floor is not far behind.  There are puppy teeth marks on most of my furniture.  I have had dogs with broken legs that required amputation and I have had puppies with severe mange that required long term treatment.  Last summer I had two pups that I agreed to take temporarily because they were becoming kennel crazy - they were not a lot of fun when they got here.  Add to that the underlying stress of always worrying about how this is affecting my own dogs and I can understand why some fosters send their dogs back to the rescues.  We have had it happen to our rescue.  Sometimes a dog is not safe around other dogs or children and they have to go back.  You never know what a dog is going to be like until you have it for several days. No one told me any of this when I started fostering, probably because no one would foster if they knew what was coming.  Some days I think I am insane for doing this.  And then I adopt out another dog to a great family and immediately e-mail the shelter that we pull from in the south and tell them I have an empty crate - send me a dog.  Not everyone is cut out for fostering - I am glad that I am.