First foster coming Thursday

[SnuzerDog]

OK, so some of you may remember from my older posts that I have stayed involved with the rescue group from whom I adopted Deano. After I finished my work travel this past December I applied to be and was accepted as a foster home. Got a call from the lady who runs the rescue yesterday, she has an 8 month old blue female that was dumped at a shelter about an hour and a half north of us to place and would we be interested? I said of course, so in a couple days I will be a two dog home.
I have been reviewing some of my books on introducing a new dog to a home with an existing dog, thinking of what I will need and making a list. Would appreciate any tips, hints and advice you all can offer! :)

[jelly8bean]

Good for you doing foster.. I can only do babies. (with a 3 dog home adding dogs would be a mess, plus I might get too attached). I do know that the best idea is to introduce on neutral ground. If you are going to pick the new dog up, take Deano and that would be a good intro place. Then they can ride back together and go in together so you don't get Deano trying to protect the home ground. Otherwise, you can intro in the street in front of the house or something like that. 2 people will help of course. A youngin will be alot of work and you need to be sure that Deano doesn't feel neglected either while you work on the basics of house training and politeness. The puppy will have lots of puppy energy as well. I remember when I first go Sara, a one year old with my Jax who was 11. He loved her soo much, but she would literally run over him because she was so bursting with energy and he just couldn't. That is one reason I got Indigo when Sara was 7, now they play all the time. :) Enjoy, but remember that there are always more that really need you - so do foster, and try not to adopt (LOL)

[Sue J]

Big applause to you for fostering :) :)

[SnuzerDog]

Well, my first foster dobe has been adopted! Only had her for 2 1/2 weeks, but she was only 8 months old and the puppies always seem to find homes pretty quick.

There was hardly an ounce of fat on her- you could count her ribs and her hind quarters were simply gaunt. She was not housebroken, and to make matters worse, had diarrhea- a fact the vet and other volunteers forgot to mention. I found out a week after I had her that the vet had been unable to check her for worms due to the diarrhea, so I know people knew about it. Also, she had just been spayed and had her tail docked (complete with cone) was not cat-safe, so we had a pack of issues to deal with right out of the box.

So, there we were, the first week of January in Ohio, house-breaking a mal-nourished puppy with a bad case of diarrhea. Not pleasant I can attest; what made it bearable was what a sweet and lovable dog she is. Undersized for a dobe, even for a female, but astonishingly her coat was in fine shape- beautiful, really- especially for a blue. Quite rambunctious, but we started in on crate-training, outdoor pottying, leash-walking and calming right away. I am proud to say we made ground on all fronts, getting her over the diarrhea, starting to get some weight back on her, and learning manners. She still needed fairly frequent walks during the day, but was steadily improving- and making it through the nights to boot.

I was happy to help her find her new home; the adopter made a couple visits to our home, and did a trial run with 'Kitzel' in hers for a few hours, and then it was finalized this past Sunday. Man, did I learn ALOT in the last couple weeks. ;):D

[jelly8bean]

Whoo Whoo! Fostering is really harder than it appears from the outside, the dogs always appear to have medical issues of some sort and of course there is usually a complete lack of training that makes it a wild ride. Sounds like you did a great job. Thank you!