Hi guys!
It's Nicole and Albert here again from Relax My Dog, we're here every week answering all
of your doggy related questions.
This week we're going to be covering the facts that you need to know before fostering a dog
from your local shelter.
There are thousands of dogs that need that little transition period of fostering before
they find their forever home, and if you've ever considered it then you need to know these
basic six facts before you do.
Now there's no perfect profile of a foster family, but there are some things that you
need to know before you become one.
There are many different types of fostering and you might be having to care for a dog
with behavioural issues, a new puppy or a dog that need medical attention as well.
Now all of these things are going to require you getting some advice from your local shelter
which they will always give to you, but there are also some different things that you need
to think about.
It may be the case that you are looking after a dog who is getting over an illness.
If this is the case then there may be different types of medication that you need to give
them, or you may have to bathe them periodically if they have had any kind of skin condition.
With this it's also really important to remember if you have got any pets already in your house
you may have to keep them separate from your foster dog, as they might have contagious
illnesses.
It's always a really good idea to get in touch with your vet if you have any concerns about
these or how to keep your pets away from your foster dog.
If you're looking after a dog who has temperament or behavioural issues then you may be required
to give him basic training like housetraining him if he's a puppy, or even an older dog
- sometimes they need housetraining too.
And also giving him socialisation so he stops things like chewing or jumping on strangers.
This is really good if you have already got pets or children because this is going to
be really good for his socialisation, but it is something that you need to consider
about whether you have got the time to give to your foster dog and to teach him these
basic training skills.
Foster programmes are really important for most shelters because of overcrowding issues.
These overcrowding issues unfortunately do mean that most older dogs or dogs with illnesses
do end up having to be euthanised, because they simply haven't got the room for them
and that's why fostering is so important.
For many foster families the biggest concern is whether you are going to fall in love with
the dog and need to take him on, and as we all know as soon as you meet a dog you do
fall in love with them and you want to take them home with you.
Unfortunately this isn't always the best idea, purely because if you take on the dog and
adopt the dog, then you are simply one less foster family for the other dogs that are
in that shelter and shelters do rely on foster families so if you give up that chance and
you adopt the dog that you have been fostering, that's one less family that they can rely
on.
One of the biggest concerns for foster families is the time commitment that it takes to foster
a dog.
By no means do you have to spend 24 hours a day with the dog, but you do have to make
sure that you have got enough time to look after them, if there's training required you
need to make sure that you have got enough time for this, and as we all know dogs are
hard work - so if you have got another one in the family and you have already got some,
it might be a time constraint that you just can't commit to.
There's also no time limit on fostering dogs - you may be asked to look after a dog for
two weeks, it might be two months, it might be three months - so it's just whether you
can put your life on hold for this foster dog.
Obviously you're not going to be able to go away for the weekend or go on family holidays
while you have got your foster dog so it's just whether you can commit that time to the
foster dog for however long it needs before it finds its forever home.
Now for many people the financial commitments are also a worry about fostering dogs, usually
the shelter will pay for any vets visits or medications and even things like bedding and
crates and dog bowls if you request for them.
However there is always the dog food which isn't usually provided by the shelter, so
if you can't afford this then it's really something you need to consider before thinking
about fostering a dog.
I think we've just about covered everything, hopefully this video was really helpful for
you if you are considering fostering, if you do have any other questions then please do
leave them in the comments section below and similarly if you have fostered dogs before
we'd love to hear your advice.
We'd love to hear any advice that you have got for our other subscribers and anyone thinking
about fostering dogs so please do leave them in the comment section below as well.
If you did enjoy the video please do give us a big thumbs up, but that's it from us
for now, so we'll see you again next week - bye!