# Fosters Needed (Maryland)



## MDdogmom (Nov 12, 2017)

Hi! My apologies if this isn't the appropriate place for this posting, it's my first time here.  

We are in need of fosters in Maryland. We are a non-profit rescue organization that rescues mostly from high-kill shelters, though we do get surrenders and dogs that have been saved from dangerous situations. We adopt to MD/VA/NC. Our MD chapter is small and we're looking for help. The more fosters we have, the more dogs we can rescue. 

Check out the website for more info on how to become a foster southeastgermanshepherdrescue.com 

I can also answer any questions to the best of my ability. 

Thanks!!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Welcome! I'm SO very glad to see another GSR posting here. Stick around and contribute to the conversation -- we need more experienced rescuers in the discussion here! 

I hope you find some good foster homes. One thing we've had a little success with is recruiting past adopters we love to get involved and pay it forward for the next dog by fostering one -- the dog they adopted and love is theirs only because some foster family said "yes" when we asked in the past, so that sometimes motivates them to help a dog who can make some future family just as happy. About a year after the adoption seems to be the golden time time to contact and ask.

I'll also say from one small rescue to another: be careful about growth. No one told me that when we founded the rescue. I just saw a lot of defunct rescues with burned out founders and wondered why they ran out of steam...now I get it. Growth is easy; sustainable growth is really hard with volunteer labor. 

When we are cranking on all cylinders with every spot full up to our insurance policy limit of dogs, I'm ready to pull my hair out keeping track of every dog's vet appointments, med reminders, training support needs, updating online bios, etc. The back-end that no one sees becomes really crazy. Small rescues tend to not have much division of labor between ops (fosters, vetting, pulling dogs), adoptions (app review, interviews, home/vet checks, and final adoption), or post-adoption (training support, etc) -- so rapid growth can mean pure insanity for the small number of people in the background.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Magwart said:


> I'll also say from one small rescue to another: be careful about growth. No one told me that when we founded the rescue. I just saw a lot of defunct rescues with burned out founders and wondered why they ran out of steam...now I get it. Growth is easy; sustainable growth is really hard with volunteer labor.


This! 100%

I put together a small, privately funded rescue to deal with the issue of the wanna be protection dog kennels in this area that were dumping washouts at an alarming rate, and creating a market for multitudes of GSD puppy farms. For several years it worked, then at some point I had to admit that what we were doing wasn't working. I had space for a lousy 21 dogs, in one day we took in 16. I had people leaving puppies on my doorstep and in one case tossing one over my fence. 
In the end I had 7 dogs and 5 puppies in my 700 sq ft house, plus the 26 in the other homes, 5 of us working around the clock and my 3 partners in tears. We stuck it out for 10 years.

Stick to the plan, make the hard choices and take care of yourself.


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