When I lived in Kansas City, MO I fostered dogs through Wayside Waifs. I went in looking to take home adult dogs that had behavioral issues that were effecting their adopt-ability. I went through the foster application and a home visit.
I went into the facility looking for my first dog. The foster care manager did not know me yet and my only stipulation was that the dog couldn't be severely prey driven, because I had a cat at home. She had two dogs for me to look at, one was a hyper active larger dog and one was smaller, scared and had bit someone at the shelter. Being a little unsure of which to choose I decided to take the smaller of the two as my first ever foster dog. His name was Betwixt, he was about 40 lbs and most likely a border collie mix.
He was terrified of people. From what I understand the person he bit had been trying to get him out of his kennel and had cornered him in the back and reached for him. Due to that Betwixt had a bite on his record, which means all potential adopters would have to be told that he had bit someone. He turned out to be one of the best dogs I could imagine. I crate trained him and did some basic obedience to build his confidence. He was slow to warm up to new people, but once he did he was friendly and loving. He was the best dog park dog ever! He was so afraid of loosing me that he had the best recall.
He would play with the other dogs, but if they got too rough or I got too far away he would break away on his own and come find me. Due to his fear of people he would not approach any human on his own. When we were home and on walks I stopped every person I could to give him a treat. I would have them ask him to sit and then toss him the treat. I had all the little kids in the neighborhood do this too, but I wouldn't let them get any closer to him. One weekend after I had Betwixt for about 6 months he went to an adoption event on a Saturday while I was at work. He was adopted! I was told it was a family with kids and that he had loved the kids. I did talk to the owners briefly after they took him home. They said he wouldn't come out of his crate, which didn't surprise me, I had taught him his crate was a safe place and in a new home I imagine it was comforting to him. I hope that he is still doing well with his family.
My second and third foster dogs were only with me for about a month each.
Next was Neo, he didn't have any severe issues, he
was just an overgrown puppy. He was mouthy, strong and rude! He jumped
on people and grabbed them.So, we ran. A lot. He needed an outlet for his energy and that I could do. I crate trained him, as I did with all of them. The one issue with him was he could never get over trying to chase my cat. He was not allowed off leash in the house, so he never had the opportunity to chase the cat, but he still tried. Even after Johnny slapped him a few times, which had always been enough for the other dogs! They got into a fight one day while I was drinking my coffee and I dumped my coffee on my computer to get them apart. So ruined 1 laptop. We worked on his basic obedience and mostly just ran! He was adopted in about 3 weeks to an older couple with a big fenced in back yard.
Annie was next. She was a Shar Pei mix that had clearly had quite a
few litters of puppies. She also hated to be touched or restrained. She had also bit someone at the shelter. She
had no fur due to a skin issue when I got her.
She
was a good dog, but the leash was an issue. She screamed every time the
collar put any pressure on her neck. Or if you tried to restrain her at
all. I worked with her desensitizing her to restraint and building her
trust. She was adopted to a single mother and her older son. I explained
to them Annie's issues and what I thought they should do to continue to
work on them.
My only other rule for my foster care manager was that I would not put the dogs I had back into the shelter, I would keep them until they were adopted. When I still had Annie, the FCM called me and said she had a dog for me. I told her that I still had Annie, but I would take that dog as soon as Annie was adopted. She found Annie's family that day.
The FCM told me that "Patty Melt" would go to me or she would be euthanized. She said she would not trust anyone else with this dog. She explained to me that she had severe issues and was very aggressive to everyone. Patty Melt had managed to get herself into puppy quarantine where only one staffer could do anything with her. I dropped off Annie to her new family and came home with Patty Melt.
She growled at me the whole time. Someone had given her a stuffed blue dog toy and she carried that everywhere. She appears to be an Australian Shepherd. She was found on the street, starving, matted and weak. A nice couple had seen her in a Burger King parking lot, gone in and bought a burger, opened their hatch and thrown the burger into the car and she jumped in after it. They brought her to Wayside. She was in bad shape at first and terrified. They put her under anesthesia (which from what I understand was a chore in itself). She fought them with all of her energy. Once they got her under they decided to go ahead and do everything while they had her down. She had a dental, exam, vaccines and was spayed. I got her about 3 days after her surgery. They estimated she was between 4 and 6 years old. She was so aggressive that if I didn't take her she would have been euthanized.
After a year of training and meeting potential adopters it became clear her issues were too severe for most adopters. I adopted her after a year and 4 years later we couldn't be happier. She still is a special dog, but I am thankful every day I have her.
