# Questions for the foster parents



## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm so excited that my family has been accepted to adopt from a GSD rescue. The forester parents of the first two dogs we are looking at will be contacting us soon so that I can ask some more questions before they/we decide if we should go ahead and meet. The first two dogs we are inquiring about are both puppies, one male and one female. We have two young children in our house and an elderly female silky terrier, when it comes time to meet a dog we will all go as a family to see if it's a good match.

These are the questions I have come up with so far, please feel free to give me any type of suggestions you feel will be helpful.

*Before meeting the dog:*

Is the dog fostered with other dogs or children?

To what extent is the dog house broken?

Is the dog crate trained? Does the dog sleep through the night?

Does the dog have any behavioral issues or aggression? How does the dog do with young children, other dogs, does it chase cars, dig?

Does the dog have any medical issues?

What is the dogs energy level?

What is the dog like with other dogs? Pushy, submissive, dominant, playful?

*After meeting the dog:*

What type of food does the dog eat? Do they need any type of special diet, any allergies noticed? What are their eating habits like?

How does the dog like to play? What is the dogs favorite toys?

How does the dog do on a leash and in a car?

Does the dog have a schedule, if so what?

How long did the dog take to adjust to your house?

When the dog has needed correction how did you correct them, how did the dog respond to that correction?

Have you been training the dog, if so what commands does the dog know?

I know that's a lot of questions, I have split them into questions I should ask before meeting the dog and during/after meeting the dog. I will do my best to work them into a normal conversation about the dog and not just fire them off.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time,

Bubble


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

How old are the pups your looking at?


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## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

The female is a 9 week old puppy and the male is a 12 week old puppy.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Aww they are both baby babies I would ask all the questions you posted. I would also stress to them that you have a small dog and it's sex/age. Most of the time the better combo will be male/female. Male/male can work and female/female can work, there can be issues with any combo but male/female is least likely where female/female is more likely.


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

When my parents adopted from a rescue we all went to the foster home. They decided they wanted a puppy. Before they released the dog the foster parents had to go to my parents house to see how their other dogs would be with the puppy as well as the child in the house. 

It all went well and they now have the puppy. I was happy the rescue did what they could to ensure the puppy would be successful in her new home.


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## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

Thank you for both of your suggestions. I will be sure to stress the age and sex of my dog and bring the whole family(our dog included) to any and all meetings

I've heard that about female/female matches before, for that reason we have been looking at mostly males. We did want to give this girl a visit because she is being fostered with younger children.


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

I would want to know how much dog experience the foster parents have in general. A less experienced dog person is going to miss a lot that a more experienced dog person would pick up on and be able to use to make the best match possible. 

Good luck! How lucky that there are two puppies available to choose from!
Sheilah


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Bubble said:


> Thank you for both of your suggestions. I will be sure to stress the age and sex of my dog and bring the whole family(our dog included) to any and all meetings
> 
> I've heard that about female/female matches before, for that reason we have been looking at mostly males. We did want to give this girl a visit because she is being fostered with younger children.


Sometimes the age difference helps with the females. It works fine in my house but I would be hesitant to bring in another female now. That's why I have a houseful of boys and two females 7 yrs apart. I'm going to guess the little one at home might not be to thrilled in the beginning with anything that us going to be high energy and bothering her


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

sit said:


> I would want to know how much dog experience the foster parents have in general. A less experienced dog person is going to miss a lot that a more experienced dog person would pick up on and be able to use to make the best match possible.
> 
> Good luck! How lucky that there are two puppies available to choose from!
> Sheilah


I agree with this. I've been fostering for years and can place a dog pretty well now. There are other foster homes in groups that I volunteer with that do not know how to place dogs so well.

Also, keep in mind that at that age, the answers to those questions could be vastly different from the dog when it comes to your home or later down the road. Puppies change a LOT.

eta; I would not be concerned about same sex dogs in the same house with the age and size difference. Typically one of those variables makes it much easier to have two get along. Add them both in and one starting from a puppy and I highly doubt you'd see an issue.


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## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

sit said:


> I would want to know how much dog experience the foster parents have in general.


That is an excellent question, thank you.

llombardo and DJEtzel my silky is about 11/12 pounds and almost 13 years old but she's pretty high energy still. People all the time think she's a puppy, she just loves to play with dogs who aren't pushy and aggressive and love on people of all ages. She is very patient and gentle with my 2 year old and almost 7 month old, I never leave them alone together. I also teach the children to approach dogs correctly, watch their body language for unhappiness and pet/play with them correctly.

Do you think that age gap would be an issue, she's not a dominant dog and does excellent with her female doggy cousins.

These are the first two dogs we will see, if either of them aren't a good match there are three others we are interested in. A 3 year old and two 10 month olds. We are only being put in contact with two fosters at a time, which makes things more manageable.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Bubble, are you already approved with this rescue, and just selecting a dog at this point, or are you yet to be approved?


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## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

Magwart I have already been approved, if I don't find the right match in six months we can choose to reapply. Once approved they suggested a puppy for me to consider and asked me to look at their website to see which dogs if any I am interested in. When I read about a dog I am interested in I email them and they will give me some more information, answer questions, arrange a meeting and put me in contact with foster is applicable. All of their puppies are fostered.


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Bubble said:


> Do you think that age gap would be an issue, she's not a dominant dog and does excellent with her female doggy cousins.


While you can never be certain how any two dogs will get along, I would not hesitate to add a female GSD pup to your house. Wouldn't even give it a second thought if that puppy was the best for your home otherwise. 

Coming from the girl with 3 male dogs of breeds very likely to be same sex aggressive under the age of 5.


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## Bubble (Jul 17, 2014)

DJEtzel said:


> While you can never be certain how any two dogs will get along, I would not hesitate to add a female GSD pup to your house. Wouldn't even give it a second thought if that puppy was the best for your home otherwise.
> 
> Coming from the girl with 3 male dogs of breeds very likely to be same sex aggressive under the age of 5.


Thank you.


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