# "Green fosters" and their expectations



## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

*Let's talk about your favorite rescue's training program for new fosters. *

Now that we're launching a new rescue, it's a question that's been on my mind. I have a handful of friends who foster who are all in their thirties, forties, or fifties, have had dogs all their lives, train together, and are great with dogs who have "issues." The key is the "train together" part -- they all get that dogs are moldable and progress from point A to point B with a plan and patience. And they all get the need for building trust with a dog, and taking things slowly.

It's the green new foster homes that worry me. I've seen a lot of them at the local shelter here. In this college town, they are typically early 20s. They grew up with a dog and love animals. They want to help save them. They've never professionally trained their own dogs, or been part of a training club, and are clueless about dog behavior. They emulate whatever their parents did to "train." ("No, no bad dog!")

I've noticed a pattern with this type of green foster at our local public shelter. They are so excited and thrilled at first, delighted to take a sad, miserable dog from the shelter and help it. And then within three days, they want to return the dog. Naturally, they didn't crate train it, turned it loose with their personal animals the first night, let it roam in the house unsupervised for hours....and bad things happened. :headbang:

*How do your favorite rescues keep new fosters on the right track? Is it in your foster contract? Do you have mandatory foster training?*


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

I always tell potential fosters that, 

- the new dog probably has many issues
- the new dog most likely has food agression 
- when introducing your new dog to your dogs do it off property
-the new dog will most likely cry all night if in a crate
the new dog with most likely get into garbage or chew if he is left unsupervised
- the new dog will take off because it has no idea who the **** you are
- i hope you like cleaning up poop because your new dog is most likely not housetrained

I like to employ the negatives about fostering and give no false hope. there are also many positives i tell them about! i just dont see a point in holding back.


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## Remo (Sep 8, 2004)

We have a system where we assign a "mentor" (i.e. experienced foster home volunteer) to each new foster home. That way they have a specific person to go to for help/questions. 

We also have a foster home manual on the volunteer section of our web site that also provides guidelines/information.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Foster mentors help. 

I like the idea of training though - a 2 hour class would be a great way to start. Cover what to feed/not, when to call for vetting permission, paperwork, adopter relations and followup, behavior, stages of the rescue dog, grooming basics. Okay, maybe 2-2 hour classes!


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Remo said:


> We have a system where we assign a "mentor" (i.e. experienced foster home volunteer) to each new foster home. That way they have a specific person to go to for help/questions.
> 
> We also have a foster home manual on the volunteer section of our web site that also provides guidelines/information.


I love this!!!! we have fb connections and support, but not a mentor! awesome fabulous ideas


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Mentors help. 

I have a foster wiki that I send them all a link to: WAGS Wiki (I wrote that almost two years ago and haven't really looked at it since, so it might be horribly outdated by now, who knows).

We also try to give first-time fosters the "easy," highly adoptable dogs who are likely to be placed within a couple of weeks even if they have no training and the foster has even screwed them up in some small way. Puppies and small-breed dogs without behavioral issues almost always get adopted within two weeks around here, so they're usually good starter dogs for new fosters.

Other rescues in our area have mandatory volunteer orientations before you're allowed to take a new pet home as a foster. One of them runs a two-hour session and the other is a pair of two-hour sessions split over two separate weekends. I think that's a great idea if you have enough personnel to make it work, but it's not feasible for my rescue because there are only a couple of people who could teach the class and nobody wants to do it. (I'm one of the possible candidates and _I_ don't want to do it, so I can't blame anybody else there.)


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

Mentors help a lot. I discovered that a new foster might not feel comfortable calling the office with what they considered "little problems" or "stupid" questions, but they were much more likely to open up to an experienced foster parent mentor who called and checked in with them every couple of days initially.

Also I think it helps to assign their first three foster picks. Those people who don't have much experience training dogs (or in some cases, living with dogs at all) tend to pick the really tough cases. Which, in my experience, is the last thing they need to start off their fostering life with. I like to pick the easy ones for them, so they can gain some experience and feel good about it.

I think that offering as much support as possible also helps to make it a success for everyone. Training classes, etc. are a great way to focus efforts and I think it is a great way to grow a cohesive group of foster parents.
Sheilah


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

Wow! Lots of great responses.

I think the mentor idea is a great one. I have never fostered with an organization that had a formal mentorship program, but I benefited a lot from informal mentoring. I have found that small organizations that have a lot of adoption events provide a lot of opportunities for the type of informal mentoring that has helped me.

I also think it is really important to have a Foster Handbook with general information as well as key contact info for the various issues that may arise. The best experiences I have had (as a foster home) are ones where I know exactly who to contact if a health issue surfaces, etc.

Finally, I have found that a one-on-one in-person orientation is better than a general mandatory training. By in-person orientation, I mean meeting-up with the coordinator at an adoption event prior to beginning volunteer activities to talk through guidelines and procedures together... this happens only after a foster application has been accepted.

In my experience, the formal (and mandatory) training sessions I have been a part of are not tailored enough to any specific volunteer role to be particularly useful... in other words the sessions cover all forms of volunteer activities at a shelter/facility. Truth be told, I think some of these facilities make these sessions mandatory only to filter out those who are less committed vs. trying to give attendees useful information for the volunteer role they will be taking part in.


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

Magwart,

Also, as you are starting your own rescue, I think one thing that is often overlooked in terms of upfront foster training is paperwork management/reporting - intake/transfer, vet check, vaccinations, application checks, adoption forms, microchip.... what are the reporting standards - what needs to stay on file, what is given to the adopter, what needs to be sent to the State and what companion documentation is required, etc., etc.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I am a new foster mom and this is is how it went. I filled out application, they had me come out Saturday(I chose to bring Midnite), they gave me food, the dog, and crate and I was on my way. I do kinda know someone involved in the rescue, so I'm not sure if all fosters are introduced the same way. On Monday I got an email to sign a waiver and a copy of the handbook. No one ever called to see how the dog is doing or how I'm doing for that matter. They haven't updated any info on him on their page, they have lots of dogs/cats now. I have no problem with the dog and he can stay as long as needed, but I feel a lack of support. I have no clue if he is suppose to be getting heartworm medicine, what adoption events if any I am suppose to go to,etc. I was told I can trim his nails and to contact them with any questions. I can see how someone that isn't familiar with dogs or fostering can be overwhelmed. They didn't even go over the waiver , it just states that basically they aren't monetary responsible for damage, injuries, or death...that is scary.


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

llombardo said:


> I have no problem with the dog and he can stay as long as needed, but I feel a lack of support.


That's a good point and I'm glad that you brought it up. I had totally forgotten about it, but reading your post reminded me that when I was a brand-new foster, I too felt unsupported and adrift because of lack of communication from that rescue group. (I don't foster for that group anymore, and actually I'm not sure if it still exists. It may well be a casualty of Small Rescue Drama.)

Anyway, yeah, early support is key. Just feeling like the rescue group is behind you and cares about what you're doing, and wants your photo updates and observations for Petfinder -- all that stuff is huge in the beginning.

It's funny to think about that now, because as I've gotten more experienced I have also gotten considerably more curmudgeonly and less appreciative of people trying to tell me how to do things. At this point I'll pay hundreds of dollars to do private pulls so I can have total control over the dog's training and socialization rather than subjecting myself to the occasional flakiness and ineptitude of other volunteers. But it wasn't always that way. In the beginning, I would have been _hugely_ grateful for more support and guidance.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

I'm still quite new with fostering but tried with various rescues plus private rescue of various breeds. Some rescues are really lose with rules and some have way too many rules to the detriment of the dog and the rescue itself. I never had any major problem with them even when I don't agree with everything. 

All of the rescues I worked with have been helpful when I have a foster dog with me. So far I haven't foster a dog that I would not want to keep. I always have a "mentor" - someone that I contact if I need to check in on something. These mentors aren't necessarily dog savvy in my opinion, but just people who are more devoted to the rescue and have been with the rescue for longer period of time. 

As a foster, I'm put off by rescues that require too much of my time doing things that is outside of fostering, like attending orientations, trainings, etc. If I don't like how they train, the numerous rules they set then I will not foster for them. There was a GSD I wanted to foster but when I saw how they want to introduce the dog to my dogs, the micro-managing, the training style and what I believe is a total incorrect read of the dog, I just decided it's not worth fostering.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

LifeofRiley said:


> Magwart,
> 
> Also, as you are starting your own rescue, I think one thing that is often overlooked in terms of upfront foster training is paperwork management/reporting - intake/transfer, vet check, vaccinations, application checks, adoption forms, microchip.... what are the reporting standards - what needs to stay on file, what is given to the adopter, what needs to be sent to the State and what companion documentation is required, etc., etc.


I see this get overlooked a lot!


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Merciel said:


> It's funny to think about that now, because as I've gotten more experienced I have also gotten considerably more curmudgeonly and less appreciative of people trying to tell me how to do things. At this point I'll pay hundreds of dollars to do private pulls so I can have total control over the dog's training and socialization rather than subjecting myself to the occasional flakiness and ineptitude of other volunteers. But it wasn't always that way. In the beginning, I would have been _hugely_ grateful for more support and guidance.


I'm that way too! I'm still relatively new to the foster world but I'm getting less and less appreciative of the number of rules some rescues set and the level of oversight they sometimes want to place on a foster family. But overall I am thankful for whatever support they provide.


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

llombardo said:


> No one ever called to see how the dog is doing or how I'm doing for that matter. They haven't updated any info on him on their page, they have lots of dogs/cats now. I have no problem with the dog and he can stay as long as needed, but I feel a lack of support.


Hi llombardo,

I wonder if this lack of communication is due to the time of year - the holidays are tough! I have fostered for the same organization (as you know) and typically they are pretty good with getting the pet info up on the site. And, in my experience, they were VERY communicative about confirming my attendance at upcoming adoption events... almost to a fault 

I will actually be fostering for them again over the holidays. So, hopefully I will meet you at one of the events!

Also, they have a pretty active Facebook page, maybe you can post updates on Batman there!


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## jae (Jul 17, 2012)

It is important to see how the potential new foster's personal dog behaves, and how the individual handles the dog. Not necessarily in all situations, but especially in public being handled 1 on 1 dog and handler, and in private handled 2 on 1 personal dog interacting with the shelter dog and handler interacting with both.

The dog's reactions should tell you more than any interview could.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

LifeofRiley said:


> Hi llombardo,
> 
> I wonder if this lack of communication is due to the time of year - the holidays are tough! I have fostered for the same organization (as you know) and typically they are pretty good with getting the pet info up on the site. And, in my experience, they were VERY communicative about confirming my attendance at upcoming adoption events... almost to a fault
> 
> ...


I can't post anything to their site. To be honest he doesn't sit still long enough for a picture. I have video but I can't send that in a message. I know they are busy, I just have no idea what I'm doing besides taking care of Batman(he is a good boy) I didn't know I had to go to adoption events. I got an email for Saturday but I have previous plans. Every Sat I have a scheduled visit at the nursing home too. Sundays are my training days. I guess I should email them and let them know about Saturday. I sent an email asking if I could promote him on Monday and I never heard back. I am not complaining, I think they are a awesome group that I'm glad to help out.


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

llombardo said:


> I can't post anything to their site. To be honest he doesn't sit still long enough for a picture. I have video but I can't send that in a message. I know they are busy, I just have no idea what I'm doing besides taking care of Batman(he is a good boy) I didn't know I had to go to adoption events. I got an email for Saturday but I have previous plans. Every Sat I have a scheduled visit at the nursing home too. Sundays are my training days. I guess I should email them and let them know about Saturday. I sent an email asking if I could promote him on Monday and I never heard back. I am not complaining, I think they are a awesome group that I'm glad to help out.


Llombardo,

They are having a big adoption event this Saturday. You don't have to attend, you can let them know that you are unavailable. Sometimes they will ask if it is possible for you drop the dog off for the event and then pick it up afterward - they have extra volunteer dog handlers on-site for this purpose.

I have to admit, I am really surprised they have not had better communications with you. I would sometimes not attend an event if there were not adopters whose applications I had already pre-screened scheduled to come see the dog.

In any event, I hope I get to meet you over the holidays. You would be the first person from this forum that I have met in real-life .


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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

Llombardo,

Okay, so re-reading your post I now understand that most weekends would be difficult for you... sorry, I am a little slow on the uptake tonight, LOL. I often have meet-and-greets of pre-screened applicants at my house because it works out better for me from a scheduling perspective, so you should let them know what days something like that would work for you.


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