Fostering

[Wooof Wooof]

Hi everyon,

My husband and I love our boxer and we noticed the other day that there were alot of boxers who needed to be rescued whell I don't have the room or the money to addopt all of them but we thought that we may be able to help by fostering some boxers.

I was just woundering how there fostering experances are good, bad, anything. What did you have to do to get ready to foster? In genral just tell me about fostering the pro's and the con's. I am just trying to get all the info I can before we coment to something like this.

 

[heartsong12]

I am also in Texas and can say there is a need for good foster parents. I just recently got my first foster Max. The group that I help have been great. I watch my nieces that are 2 and 3 years old and it was important that which ever dog I got was good with kids and was crate train. I had a lot of restriction on which one I could take. But Boxers are such sweet dogs and I got the perfect foster. I know not every one will be perfect and that there will come a time when one will need alot of help from me. But I am honestly feel that anyone of them I can help is special.
The group that I am with provides cage, preventive meds, and food. Everything you need to foster. I prepared by (I know this sound silly) talking with my boxer and tell her what to expect and loving up on her to make sure she did not feel neglected. I even asked her what she thought..she gave me kisses. She gets along great with Max. Again that may not always be the case, but any questions or advice that I need is always answered and help is always given.

The con is it is more time and energy, but at the same time the play together so much that gives me more time too. I do have to watch when I feed them. I now feed them in thier crates or give them the same treat at the same time so there is no aggression.

You can look up the link at savetheboxers.com I am sure that will answer alot of your question and that you can find a resue in your area.

 

[chegirl]

Want to foster in Richmond, VA

How do you get involved in foster? We lost our wonderful girl, Sophie in Feb and am still in alot of pain-miss her so much, lots of memories, toys and pictures still abound and know I will never replace. There is a tremendous void here and I love these dogs so if anyone needs help anyway or anyhow I might help, let me know. Thanks!- Cindy

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

In order to foster you need to get in touch with your local rescue group. I know for the group I work with you basically go through the application and homevisit process and then they will try to find a foster that will work. The group I foster with provide medical care and heartworm meds- you provide food and love.

I think fostering is great- you get to love a wide variety of dogs. It can be hard at times and it is hard to see them go but I enjoy hearing updates on my 'kids" and seeing them change into nice little boxers.

Your local rescue and tell you more but that is step 1.

 

[ladyluck_t]

Hi, i just want to say from everyone who works with the rescue groups, what you are doing (fostering) is the greatest gift to the world. We need more people like you, there are way too many babies without good homes. I am an active member of my rescue group and have fostered a couple of dogs so far. The three that i have fostered have run the gamut of behaviors: from couch potato to loving playmate, and aggressive. So here are a few of the "lessons learned" that i have experienced:
1. Be sure to check out the rescue you are working with. The first rescue (an all breed rescue) that i fostered for didnt give the dogs their shots. and didnt tell me that this was their normal policy. also, they werent very helpful with information. needless to say, i stopped working with that group and went to the boxer rescue.
2. Be sure to ask all the questions stated in prev posts. Do they do shots? Do they offer advice on behavioral problems? do they have crates? etc. You should be as picky as they are going to be about placement. The foster dog will be staying in your house, it needs to be a good fit. maybe not the best fit, but manageable for you and your family.
3. Read books on training and such. there is a book forum on here that recommends several GREAT books, my fav is "the dog listener" by jan fennell. it will help with issues that are going to come up between your dog and the foster.
4. Find several minutes a day to spend with each dog in your house alone. One way i did this was during evening feeding times. I would feed one and take the other into a bedroom (closed door) and work on basic training (with foster) and refresher training (with my own dog) this gives each one a little personal and private attention. Also, dogs with basic training are easier to adopt out.
5. Enjoy yourself!! :D this is a wonderful service you are providing and it is very rewarding. I still cry a little when i have to "give" one of my fosters up, but it helps to know that they are going to the best home available. I like to think of it as a jeweler, polishing, cutting, and shaping a diamond!
Have fun! and Good Luck!
:D

 

[Wooof Wooof]

Thank you all me and my husband are still tossing it around and we will need to put up a new fince so it will be a wile before we foster. We live on a milatory base so there are things I have to do before we foster. We will look around and find the best place to foster with. There isn't a boxer rescue in our area so it will probably be with a all dog rescue but I am hoping it will work.

Thanks again

 

[ladyluck_t]

You might want call the nearest boxer rescue, sometimes they have dogs in other cities. we are based in ABQ but get lots of calls for boxers in Las Cruces and Sante Fe. So we have foster homes there. Good Luck and thanks again!

Carolyn

 

[Wooof Wooof]

With that being said does anbody now of a boxer rescue willing fostering in El Paso.

 

[marciafinn]

Sharon & Vasha, members here, work with Legacy Boxer Rescue. I know that they work in Northern & Central Texas. I'm not sure if they extend out to El Paso but like Carolyn mentioned they might need fosters in other cities. You can contact them & find more information at: www.savetheboxers.com Good luck! We need more people out there to help when they can!

 

[KazzMan]

Well, my wife and I thought it would be a great idea to foster. So we went through everything interviewed with the local boxer resecue to which we were immediately approved. So we got called shortly after with a foster. We were also looking at possibly fostering with the option of adopting.

So we got Autumn in and she was great dog, listened well. Somewhat leary of men, but got along with our Jackson. After having her for a few weeks my wife got a call from rescue because they wanted to take her to an event to show her for adoption. Well, my wife broke down in tears and said we couldn't give her up so we adopted.

We got foster anymore because our house is already too full, but would never regret fostering because of the addition we got.