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  • 1.  Foster help

    Posted 02-23-2022 08:12 AM
    Hello,

    We are a new rescue and just rescued a dog and placed him with a foster. Unfortunately, the foster is overwhelmed with her own situation and now we are looking for another foster home for this dog. I'm wondering if other rescues/shelters have dealt with this, and what your protocols and solutions are? It's more around time, other dogs in the home, and just giving time to adjust. I am working with the foster on the above, but in the case where we need to find an alternate, any thoughts, advice, etc. would be appreciated. Also, the dog is currently in Austin, TX so if there are fosters available, would love to know.

    Thank you all so very much!
    #FosterPrograms

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    Cindy Scherban
    Spirit Animal Project
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  • 2.  RE: Foster help

    Posted 02-23-2022 08:19 AM
    There are a couple of different things you can try and @Kelly Duer will have other ideas:

    1. Start a foster on deck program to have fosters ready to help in exactly these situations - they can even be short term fosters who can help while you seek a longer-term foster. IF you have a bigger pool of willing fosters then these situations are easier to mitigate. 

    2. ​Have the current foster write up notes and cute photos and then curate this material to help market the pup to another foster home. 

    3. Make sure your counseling is to-the-point and emphasizes the most important pieces like what to expect and basic safety guidelines to set everyone up for success. 

    4.  Have a place dogs can go between fosters for even just a couple of days. 

    I don't know your exact situation, but these are a few ideas!

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    Kristen Hassen
    American Pets Alive!
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Foster help

    Posted 02-26-2022 09:37 AM
    Hi Cindy,

    There are some great suggestions listed here.


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    Kelly Duer
    Maddie's Fund
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Foster help

    Posted 02-25-2022 01:13 PM
    This is a very common problem with rescues, especially rescue's that are solely foster based and I often see pleas for help looking for urgent fosters and then the stress it puts on the rescue is not good.

    It is also a reason I have been very hesitant to set up a foster program, because as soon as a foster starts having problems, it is immediately your problem and I know for a lot of rescues it is very difficult to find fosters in the first place. 

    I think when people are dealing with their own issues, they just want/need the additional responsibility / problem gone immediately and it can make things very difficult.

    Good luck


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    Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
    President/Founder
    Give a Dog a Home, German Shepherd Dog Rescue
    501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
    State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
    State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
    https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Foster help

    Posted 02-26-2022 05:32 AM
    Hello Cindy! Our rescue is a smaller rescue based out of cath central MN. We are solely a foster based rescue i including majority of our board members also being fosters as well. Here's some ideas for you and any others facing similar obstacles that we've been doing:

    1. I'm in charge of our social media and I recently developed a little project called foster Fridays where I wrote up a handful of questions for some of our fosters to answer to showcase different foster home environments such as multi cat, single cat,  children in the home, dogs of different numbers and sizes to show our followers  and community that fostering is possible in a multitude of different home settings. 
    2. When we're reached out to for help, we make sure to ask basic questions first like animal personality, temperament, have they been around kids and other animals. This gives us board members a foundational idea of which of our fosters homes will be best ideal for this case. It helps us to set everyone up for success vs running into a problem such as you're currently facing. 
    3. In the event something like this arises, we're currently dealing with something similar right now as well, we make a Facebook post of either urgent foster needed or temporary foster needed to buy us some time to get animals moved around if needed. 
    4. When we get messages asking for help, we will ask the owner, if there is one, if they're able to foster their animal(s) until they get adopted. We intake the animal, fully vet it if they still need it, but it not only helps to keep our current very few fosters open, but it also eases any stress on the animal. This doesn't happen very often, but we have had owners or finders able to do this which is a win win all around. 

    Hope some of these ideas help you and others in similar situations. The biggest thing I can also suggest is getting to know your fosters and their home lives as much as possible without being too intrusive to help avoid such situations.

    Best of luck, 
    Tracy Hanson 
    Ellie's Legacy Pet Rescue

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    Tracy Hanson
    Ellie's Legacy Pet Rescue
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Foster help

    Posted 02-28-2022 09:06 AM
    Great suggestions, Tracy. I especially love how you showcase different foster environments to your followers and community. That's an awesome way to help people realize fostering can be successful in multiple types of environments. Thanks for sharing!!

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    Kim Domerofski (she/her)
    Community Manager
    Maddie's Fund
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    Original Message


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