Foster Care for Rescue Dogs
What is foster care for rescue dogs? It really does not differ too much from foster care for children. In other words, it is not just giving a dog a bed and two square meals a day. It includes rehabilitating the dog with affection and training it to be more adoptable.
This is what makes foster a challenge and a joy. You take a dog from a pound or from someone who can no longer keep it, and you work with it so it can fit into another permanent home. German Shorthairs are such great dogs, it is a rare occasion that you do not have success.
You get some dogs that have been loved pets, and you wonder why anyone could abandon the dog. They are quite well adjusted and are rather easy to get ready to put up for adoption. However, no matter whether the dog was a pet or was just kept in the backyard and totally neglected, you treat the dogs pretty much the same way. By the way, rescuers find that there are some dogs abandoned who have been abused physically, but more have been what we call “abused by neglect”—never trained or taught any kind of manners—then thrown away because they jump on people, dig out of yards and are pests.
In all cases, the dog is taken to your home and carefully introduced to the other dogs on the premises. I keep a leash on the dog until I know the dogs are going to get along alright.
As you basically know nothing about the dog, the first day or so you observe and test to see what it knows. You watch carefully to see if it shows signs of being housebroken. You housebreak the dog just as you do a puppy.
The dog is crated unless it is under observation so any infractions of the rules can be quickly and sternly corrected. I take the dog by the collar, march it out the back door, scolding it every inch of the way. Of course, to prevent having to correct, the idea is to treat it like a pup, take it outside frequently, urge it to “hurry up”, then praise profusely when it goes on command. Eddyce Mueller and I have trained our four year old males who were outside dogs, so do not think it cannot be done.
Those first couple of days, you will also be finding out if the dog has and any obedience training. Except for housebreaking, which starts immediately, I let the dog adjust for a couple of days before getting into obedience training.
The dogs that have come directly from their homes are usually more upset than those from the pounds. Dogs that have had homes and are suddenly deserted in a strange house are usually very confused and upset and need reassurance. It may take them a week to adjust. Dogs that come from pounds are so grateful to be released from the horrible trauma of incarceration, that they tend to cling to you every minute until the adjust, and they usually adjust a little faster.
As you are observing your foster dog while he adjusts to his new situation, you can figure out if he is a submissive or dominant animal. You have to be firm in teaching the dog the house rules, bit you use somewhat different techniques with the more submissive dogs. A sensitive dog needs milder leash corrections than a bull-headed dominant dog that has managed to get his way all his life.
I have found that the dogs learn the house rules very rapidly, as most are eager to please and you get praise. Most are starved for affection and want to do the right thing. Even dogs that have been inadequately socialized as pups and young adults become affectionate as they learn what it means. With those dogs, I try to socialize them by taking them to the dog park on a leash, to dog training classes, and inviting people over to meet them. I also have found that those dogs may not have been touched very much and do not understand how pleasant it is. Based on what my obedience trainer said, as well as what the Monks of the New Skete recommend in their training book, I spend time running my hands gently all over the dog and get is used to being touched—it seems to help the dog bond with humans.
When your foster dog is recovering from neuter surgery and whatever other medical problems that must be corrected (kennel cough, worms, emaciation), just treat it like one of your own dogs. Teach it your own house rules. Try to make it a better canine citizen that when it came out into your home. With me, that means teaching it simple obedience exercises; walk decently on a leash, sit on command, stay, and if time, to down on command, (especially dominant dogs). Dogs must sit and stay while their food bowls are put down and while their leashes are put on for walks. They also get to ride in the car, and I try to teach them to stay in the car until they are told to get out. They learn that they are not to go past the gate into the bedrooms and are not to get on the furniture (even though my dog has the privilege of sitting on the sofa with me). They learn that when I am not home, they have to stay behind the big gate and have access only to the kitchen and dining room—and yard via the dog door. Of course, I do get escape artists who feel obliged to break into the rest of the house by hook or by crook, or any other nefarious means at hand.
I can tell you that some of the young ones can lead you on a merry chase, and at times you could string them up by the ears. However, they do learn enough civilized manner that people who come to see them are impressed by their sitting and staying or downing and staying. You tell these adopters that you have done the basics, but it is up to them to continue training the dog, going to obedience classes and making the dog into what they want as a pet. Remember, because you have to care for more than one dog, you can only take the dog so far—then the adopter takes over and completes the training.
German Shorthairs are generally so affectionate, it is hard not to love a foster dog. If you are lucky and it is healthy and does not need a lot of rehabilitation, you may find it a suitable home in a month. Usually, however, it takes longer. This is not necessarily because the dog has problems, but because the time of the year, or weather make adoption slow. Also, you may have a large male, and everyone who answers our ads wants a small female.
Our reward for the work we put in on a foster dog comes when we get that adoptive home we have been dreaming for this particular dog. When you call to check on the dog and the new owner says, “Thank you for saving this wonderful dog from death”, you get a nice warm, fuzzy feeling and decide that maybe all the trouble was worth it after all.
Laura Hansen
510-235-6792