# First Time Foster HELP!!!



## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Do you segregate your foster from the resident dogs? Or...Do you just throw them all together?

I picked up my first GSD foster yesterday. He is a big (78 pound, but underweight) sweetheart. He is 8 years old, but has no trouble getting around. He is good in the house - housebroken, not destructive, etc. He is good with other dogs. He is not at all aggressive.

The problem is that my dog, Natty Boh only weighs 28 pounds. They want to play together, but the GSD is so big and very rough. He mouths Boh and Boh's whole head fits into his mouth. Boh has yelped a few times. Boh has his crate in the kitchen. There is a baby gate between the kitchen and dining room. The GSD stays in dining room. I had each in a down stay, earlier yesterday. By evening, the GSD was rushing the gate and barking at Boh. He can't see Boh, when Boh is in his crate.

I have a crate coming for the GSD, but don't know how he will take to it. Right now, I have the GSD in a bedroom and Boh in the kitchen. Or - Boh in his crate and GSD in the dining/living room.

Perhaps I am being too overprotective, but I think the risk it too great to allow a lot of interaction. I know some fosters keep the resident dog and foster separate. Is that such a bad thing?

Advice please. Thank you!


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## NTexFoster (Jul 18, 2013)

Not sure how much help I'll be:
With that much difference in size I'd keep an eye on them when they are together. When we adopted Kaiser we were still fostering a 5lbs chiweenie puppy. They loved each other but even without actually being rough a gentle pawing from an 80lbs puppy can be a bit much. We kept a constant eye on them and would calm them down if their playing got too enthusiastic.

When we left the house both puppies were crated. Finely was still being house broken and we didn't have a good gauge yet on Kaiser.


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## kelseycub (Aug 1, 2013)

You should observe some things... this may or may not help you not really sure.

You say that the GSD plays rough and mouths on your smaller dog, and your dog yelps, correct?

So when your dog yelps, how does the GSD react.

We actually yelp to help train our puppies to not be too rough with us, and help with the bitey behavior.

Part of bite inhibition is that yelp means OW TOO HARD, so its actually teaching the both of them to play less rough. If the GSD stops immediately at the yelp, thats good. And also make sure youre dog doesnt seem bitter. 

Most dogs forget it as quick as it happened.

I would keep them together assuming that what I said are facts, with some alone time. Spend time with each of them solo, them together, and make sure they both have calm, relaxing crate time. 

Maybe work on relaxation training with the two of them in the same room to make sure that they can be calm and comfortable around each other. 

GOODLUCK!


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Thanks guys! My foster is just a big cuddly teddy bear. I LOVE him. He responds so well to praise - something I doubt he has gotten much of. He would totally crawl into my lap. Praying he finds a forever home who will truly appreciate him. He deserves it.

I intend to take it slow. I am just more comfortable that way. LOL!


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

Depending on the dogs, I just throw them all together and supervise very closely. New dogs are never left unattended with resident dogs for a while.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Stevenzachsmom said:


> Thanks guys! My foster is just a big cuddly teddy bear. I LOVE him. He responds so well to praise - something I doubt he has gotten much of. He would totally crawl into my lap. Praying he finds a forever home who will truly appreciate him. He deserves it.
> !


Heh.
I sense a fosture failure already.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Sounds like natty Boh is giving the new guy some feedback re behavior. The advice I got here when bringing the girls home to Lucky was two week shutdown. We kept everybody seperate for the first 4 weeks. We had some health issues w/ chevy that made the seperation go longer. My problem was maybe we waited too long in that Lucky took maters into his own paws and went downstairs to the basement and that became a fight.I think its a balancing act. Sounds like your doing pretty well with time alone time ,time together balance. I really worried re time together w/ our three. I wasn't in favor of crates before but next time there will be crates. Really liked Kelseycub's idea about learning to be relaxed with each other.we did some of that especially after we got to the new house. Thanks for fostering Red he sounds like a sweetie.


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

When I foster and I have two GSDs, I segregate for the first few days. Usually, I get a Lab mix or a hound or something large to foster. Lately, there have been some Chihuahua adults and puppies, a Dachshund, a Schnauzer x Yorkie mix, terrier puppies, etc. With these little ones, I keep them separated from my one year old active GSD. They get to meet the senior ten year old male GSD who is much calmer and they get to meet the young adult female, but she is always on a leash when they are together. When you have a 70+ pound difference, it is just too easy for an accident to happen. 

When I have the larger dogs to foster, they are usually segregated for a day or two and then I start introductions one by one or in small groups. After a few days, everyone is usually together.


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Gharrissc said:


> Depending on the dogs, I just throw them all together and supervise very closely. New dogs are never left unattended with resident dogs for a while.


This is also what I do, BUT I've been fostering for a while and my dogs are very used to strange fosters coming and going, and I know exactly what to expect from my own crew so I can pretty much ignore them and focus on how the foster is responding.

In the beginning I was a lot more careful about keeping them separated until I had a good read on everybody, and I think that's the more prudent course if you're not quite sure how to handle things.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Thanks again, everyone. King's crate came today. I just set it up. He hasn't been in it yet. We will try it out later. Actually, I got two crates today. No idea why they sent me two. I ordered one and paid for one. I tried to call the company and got a recording. They are welcome to have one back, but I'm not going to knock myself out to get in touch with them.


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## NTexFoster (Jul 18, 2013)

Sunflowers said:


> Stevenzachsmom said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks guys! My foster is just a big cuddly teddy bear. I LOVE him. He responds so well to praise - something I doubt he has gotten much of. He would totally crawl into my lap. Praying he finds a forever home who will truly appreciate him. He deserves it.
> ...


In my opinion if we ever get to where the dogs we are fostering aren't potential foster failures we'll stop. Every one of the dogs we've fostered I was sad to let go. However, I'm kind of addicted to the feeling that comes from knowing that we helped find a great dog a great home that will take care of it for the rest of its life.


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## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

Merciel said:


> This is also what I do, BUT I've been fostering for a while and my dogs are very used to strange fosters coming and going, and I know exactly what to expect from my own crew so I can pretty much ignore them and focus on how the foster is responding.
> 
> In the beginning I was a lot more careful about keeping them separated until I had a good read on everybody, and I think that's the more prudent course if you're not quite sure how to handle things.


With my Krissie, I was always able to just throw pretty much any dog friendly dog in with her and they'd be fine. Also, puppies, she is great with them, gentle enough to help them, yet enough bark to keep them in line. We didn't foster since we've had Koshka, so based on his behaviour with other dogs, he'll probably be very easy going, but maybe too much for smaller dogs. 

Of course, I also tend to just drop new cats in with my cats without much in the way of intros too, because they are so accustomed to them. Not so much the dogs though, they can play too rough for the cats, and new cats often don't care for dogs. However, I'd never recommend that others follow that method of intros, because it often will cause some pretty big issues.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I've gradually become a strong believer in segregating for at least a week. All my fosters come straight from a public shelter where illness is rampant, so part of the reason is to give any illness a chance to break if it's going to (kennel cough is typically at least 5 days before it breaks).


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