Fostering saves lives, but after working with several different rescue organizations over the years—some truly amazing, and some outright draining—I’ve realized something critical: Your experience as a foster comes down almost entirely to the integrity and infrastructure of the rescue backing you.

When a rescue has solid protocols, fostering is rewarding and collaborative. But when a rescue is disorganized, over capacity, or prioritizes turn-and-burn optics over long-term care, the foster parent ends up paying the emotional, financial, and logistical price.

Currently getting burned by a rescue group that I should have done better due diligence on had me come up with this list.

1. The "BYO Supplies" Trap (Financial Dumping)

Every foster contract says something like "Supplies provided depending on donations/availability." A good rescue genuinely covers the essentials: properly fitting collars/martingales, leashes, a crate, appropriate food, and preventive care.

• The Red Flag: You receive a dog with a half-used bag of random kibble and gear that physically doesn't fit (like an ill-fitting collar or a broken leash). Over the next few weeks, you find yourself out of pocket for an appropriately fitted harness, a dog bed, digestive supplements/probiotics for stress diarrhea, and post-surgery gear because the rescue goes radio-silent when basic needs arise.
• Why it matters: Rescues run on donations and volunteer labor, but if they cannot supply baseline safety gear (like a harness or properly sized collar) and proper nutrition, they are likely operating beyond their actual budget.
• What to ask beforehand: "What specific supplies do you provide at pickup, and what is your reimbursement process if safety or medical needs (like a no-pull harness, vet-approved probiotics, or recovery cones) arise?"

2. Passive Communication and Lack of Support

A foster shouldn't have to chase the rescue just to report health issues or check on protocol.

• The Red Flag: Beyond a casual text asking "How’s she doing?", there is zero structured onboarding, no designated foster coordinator check-in, and little follow-through. When you report minor health issues (like skin conditions, GI distress, or surgical recovery concerns), responses are slow or minimal.
• Why it matters: When something serious happens—like a sudden medical emergency, a bite risk, or severe separation anxiety—weak communication leaves you on your own to handle the fallout.
• What to ask beforehand: "Who is my direct point of contact, what is the protocol for after-hours vet emergencies, and how frequently do foster check-ins occur?"

3. Marketing Abandonment: Outsourcing Placement to the Foster

Rescues have marketing channels, email lists, Petfinder/Adopt-a-Pet access, and community adoption events. Fosters should provide updates and photos—not carry the entire promotional burden.

• The Red Flag: The rescue never requests updated photos, bio updates, or behavior notes. They don't post the dog on their main social media accounts, leaving you to write and distribute Instagram posts, design flyers, and market the dog yourself. You realize that if you don't find this dog a home, nobody will.
• Why it matters: A dog stuck in a foster home without visibility stays stuck. While foster parents capture the best day-to-day moments, an ethical rescue uses its platform actively to get that dog seen by vetted applicants.
• What to ask beforehand: "Where will my foster dog be listed (Petfinder, social platforms, local events), and what is the standard timeline/process for updating their adoption profile?"

4. "Puppy Mill" Rescue Mentality (Churn Over Commitment)

Rescuing puppies matters, but puppies also have fast adoption fees and minimal behavioral baggage.

• The Red Flag: The rescue continuously brings in truckloads of new litters while adult, adolescent, or behaviorally complex dogs sit unpromoted and ignored. Attend an adoption event, if puppies are being handed out in a parking lot with vaccines being given on site.. HUGE red flag.
• Why it matters: Fast turnaround funds rescues, but ethical rescues balance incoming intakes with active commitments to the adult dogs already in their care. When an organization prioritizes easy, high-turnover intakes over following through on older or higher-needs animals, they treat their foster network as free permanent boarding rather than a transitional stepping stone.
• What to ask beforehand: "What is your average length of stay for adult dogs, and what support do you provide if a dog takes several months to place or is not a good fit from my situation?"

5. Ignoring Behavioral Reality & Transparency

When a dog decompresses, their true personality and challenges show up—fear, reactivity, resource guarding, or separation anxiety.

• The Red Flag: You document clear behavioral notes, triggers, or specific adopter requirements (e.g., needs a confident dog friend, not suited for high-density apartments, startle-prone around certain triggers), and the rescue waves it off, fails to include it in the bio, or tries to paint every dog as a blank-slate family pet.
• Why it matters: Glossing over behavioral issues sets both the dog and the adopter up for failure, leading directly to adoption returns and trauma for the dog.
• What to ask beforehand: "Do you have a contracted trainer or behaviorist on call if a foster exhibits decompression stress, reactivity, or fear-based behaviors?"

Trust Your Gut Early

If you feel like an unpaid boarding facility running an independent rescue out of your living room, you are working with the wrong organization.

Good rescues exist. They will hand you a crate and properly fitted safety gear, give you a responsive coordinator, bring in professional training support when a dog needs it, and aggressively market your foster dog until they find the right match. Don't be afraid to ask tough questions before taking in your next dog—the right rescue will appreciate your diligence, not shy away from it.

Estuve pensando seriamente en comprar un perrito, abrí debate para saber que se necesita para atender bien a un perrito y las razas recomendables que sean cariñosos con los niños (hasta ahí todo bien) pues surgieron algunos comentarios que me han puesto a pensar un poco más de la cuenta y viendo paginas de adopción encontré una que menciona que buscan casas disponibles para recibir algun perrito en lo que consigue su dueño final en adopción, y pues me parece buena idea para ir viendo la realidad de lo que es tener un perrito y ahí como que completar mi toma de decisión.

No sabía que tal cosa podría ser posible y creo que sería lo ideal para tener una mejor realidad de un cachorro y todas sus atenciones.

Gracias a todos por sus comentarios!

Han sido de utilidad para mi.

Hello! I’m fostering a malinois from the shelter (not my first mal). She’s a sweet girl who has had a huge disservice done to her by her previous owners. She doesn’t know anything, the only “training” I can tell she has is potty training. This isn’t the biggest problem, I can tell she’s going to be easy to train once she decompresses more.

The issue is that she is horrible in the crate, she does not relax. She moves the crate everywhere, barks, pants, she’s having a meltdown. I had her in a wire crate initially but she would move the crate and then pull items inside to shred so I bought her a ruffland which has worked well, she can’t get out, can’t bring anything in, but she can still move it around the room.

I’ve stopped crating her at night after a neighbor complained about the noise. I WFH so I’ve started crating her during the day as I do with my resident dog. I feed her all her meals in the crate (door open, she voluntarily goes in). She is also very attached to me, she wants to be with me all of the time. I try to keep it strictly business with her to not make this anxiety worse.

This isn’t my first malinois but it is my first foster dog, my other two mals were also from the shelter. One was a total mess and aggressive around the crate and the other way easy, average crate training experience. I’ve only had her for a week now and I do feel like every day is a bit better in all aspects besides the crate. Here are the things people commonly suggest for crate training that don’t work with her:

-music
-tv
-covering the crate
-staying in the room
-kong/high value - she wont eat it, too stressed
-noise machine
-eating her meals inside (she does this)

And no she can’t just be left outside of the crate, she is destructive and I have another dog and cats that she doesn’t need to interact with. Also, being with me 24/7 will only make her worse. Please share any advice or hopeful stories, I did not think fostering her would be this hard. 🫩

TLDR; Foster mal horrible in the crate, common fixes aren’t working. She needs to be crated daily, I have other animals and work. Too destructive and dangerous to be left out. Has separation anxiety. Please share advice or stories of your experiences. Thank you.

How do you like to integrate your fosters with your resident dogs?

The foster I just took in was attacked by a dog a year ago but also has shown she can get along with other dogs with slow introductions. My resident dog is very good at giving space and is friendly but also can be aloof with other dogs, so he’s really not paying her any mind which is probably perfect.

Currently, I can walk them together they mind their business. Other than walking they don’t have the opportunity to interact, they’re kept at a physical distance when I’m around, and completely separate to sleep, eat, and of course if I have to leave the house.

Today she was acting like she wanted to play with him when we got back to the house from our walk but I didn’t let her. Then a few hours later I accidentally had them to close to each other for a minute and she growled at him I had a tight grip on her leash and pulled her back quickly and she recovered right away as if it didn’t happen. My resident dog was unfazed.

Any tips would be helpful. My last two fosters were completely dog friendly so this is my first one that needs a longer integration period.

I am currently fostering two dogs from a rescue group in Melbourne.
They apparently received many dogs over the weekend and I was one of the people who volunteered to take some in.
What isn’t sitting right with me is the fact that they market themselves as a rescue group who will provide everything for foster carers however I have received absolutely nothing no food no anything for these dogs aside from some medication that has been siphoned out of a bigger bottle with no name no information on it or anything
I have provided everything for them out of my own pocket
which is fine. I am not complaining about that. What I am complaining about is the fact that if you go onto their website, there is a link to the dogs that they have up for adoption and the prices are absolutely insane. Some of these dogs have not been in their care for more than 24 hours prior to posting them at ridiculous prices. Some of them are Pomeranian X goodness knows what and they’re trying to charge people $3K each for them.
There are so many crossbreed dogs some of them with ridiculously long behavioural issues which is not the dog’s fault I completely understand that as well however profiting off rescuing a dog that you have done absolutely nothing for in terms of providing them with anything leaves a really poor taste in my mouth and I feel like people are being ripped off by so called rescue groups.
I do not understand how other places that genuinely care and love dogs and cats who are on X lists or are in shelters for extended periods of time can charge set amounts not to do with what breed they are or how cute they are but set amounts to provide money for the rescue to continue doing what they do not for profit reasons. I have absolutely no idea who I can talk to about this and I feel like I am lost

I volunteer with a local animal shelter and recently we decided we are ready to open up our home to short term fostering. Fostering is something we went back and forth on for a while, and we landed on taking in short term (a month or less) animals.

For some background, we have a resident dog who loves to play and is pretty laid back. We’ve had our current foster dog for only 3 days, but have already had a few incidents of resource guarding ending in the foster attacking our resident dog. The most recent incident ended with the foster dog getting several superficial puncture wounds on her head, near her eye, ear, and neck. Our resident dog doesn’t seem to have any visible injuries - he’s got 30 lbs on her. I did have to pull her off of my resident dog both times, and the most recent incident there was no item that she was actually guarding from what I could see.

I’m conflicted. I’m not sure if this is something we give a few days to settle and see if it gets better? Or if this is a bigger safety issue for both dogs and it’s better to send the foster back? They have gone back to being normal coexisting dogs. Obviously, the shelter is pushing for us to keep the foster, but I’m afraid that I won’t ever really trust the dogs unsupervised. Would love some advice - and please be kind. I’m kicking myself about this already and if there was anything I could’ve done differently.

Just like the title says. We only had our foster for a month but she was a perfect fit for our family. She and our dog got along great, they’re both food motivated with great recall which made it easy to train / exercise them similarly, and she was extremely well tempered. Friendly and outgoing toward all people and animals. My fiance wasn’t ready to adopt yet (our wedding is in a month, we’re traveling out of state twice before Christmas, and hosting Thanksgiving here) and he put his foot down about it. She got adopted out to a loving home in the city, which, while it sounds like she’s doing well, as a high energy herding dog I preferred her to stay with us on our acreage. I feel like I’m grieving this dog deeply and I don’t know what to do. I just keep looking at similar breeds but I know they won’t be her. I don’t know how to fill this void :( I wish I could take her back.

I think I just need a little emotional support. We just got a second rescue dog this weekend ( 5 months old ) and I’m overwhelmed. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m missing the peace that we already had or what but I’m also not very good with change. I can’t stop crying and I just need some encouraging words. Our other dog we rescued a while ago is two years old. She’s pretty great. Our new puppy we got has overall been good (it’s only been 2 days so hard to fully tell). First day there were a couple accidents ( foster mom told us he was almost house broken. Yesterday he had no accidents and did really well. The two dogs play rather rough (no crying involved) I try to stop the rough play and get a toy involved so they aren’t beating the absolute piss out of each other because they both probably wouldn’t stop if I didn’t intervene. Tell me it gets better and I just need to chill out :)

Earlier this year I reclaimed a past foster with support of the main rescue/shelter org (I run a foster program that sometimes partners with them.)

The reclaim happened because I was asked by the potential adopter to have the dog back with me to mind for 4 days, when I had him it was clear he had pain issues, so I got permission from the shelter to advise he had to stay with me until he could see a pain management specialist during the following week. The potential adopter had previously complained a lot about this dog, resulting in the adoption not being finalised. I was already very concerned it was not a good home for him, before realising he was in noticable pain.

The notice he was not being returned straight away happened on a sunday. By monday night he was having trouble breathing and I was urgently communicating with the shelter vet that something was seriously wrong. I monitored him throughout the night and on tuesday he was assessed and xrays showed his trachea was collapsed, and that it was causing such difficulty breathing that he was in pain and distress from it. He was hospitalised that day.

In the meantime the potential adopter had taken to social media claiming in a video I had 'stolen her dog'. This resulted in me getting hundreds of abusive social media messages including death threats and threats of violence. On one platform alone the video received 740,000 views.

Despite this woman being informed by the rescue org that the little dog was seriously ill, she made two more videos claiming I had stolen the dog. I tried to just stay focused on this little boy, visiting him at the hospital and cuddling him - whilst often crying. He started to respond well to medications and was able to leave the hospital, but due to the high profile nature of the social media storm, he could no longer be promoted for adoption and I was told it wasnt safe (for me or him) for him to return to me for fostering.

He ended up going to an elderly woman for care/adoption.

This weekend, I was back at the shelter as my 65th foster was getting adopted, and I spotted my little boy back there. When I asked what was going on, I found out the elderly woman is in hospital and wont be able to mind him for 3-4 months. I asked for permission to foster him until she can care for him, and now that the social media has died down, I was told that it was okay.

I am beyond emotional that he is curled up next to me in my bed tonight. I will get to love him and spoil him for as long as necessary.

It is greatly healing both the distress I felt when I couldnt care for him during his recovery, and the anger I felt being wrongly accused of stealing him.

I love all my fosters, but this little boy I feel such a strong urge to protect after his terribly sad journey. He is 'home' and my heart feels so much better.

I’m nearing the end of my first foster ever, a 3-month old mutt who looks to be a mix of shepherd, lab, ridgeback, and / or bully breed. I love him. He’s incredibly smart, very well-behaved for his age and training well. But in this experience, I’ve learned a puppy is too much for me as a first-time dog owner, and I won’t be able to give him the attention I feel he deserves. I think I’m feeling extra emotional because he’s the last of his litter that hasn’t been adopted, and nobody has shown interest in him yet. I know he’s going to make someone SO happy.

How do you get through the grief of letting go of a foster you love that ultimately isn’t right for you?

Had her for about 2.5 days. Total sweetheart. A bit of a rough adjustment period (a lot of eliminating in the house, though she’s proven by today that she’s truly house trained).

Crates are an absolute no go, they spiral her out into total panic and I’m slow rolling it one day at a time. Today she’s been comfortably going in and out for treats, even sometimes with the door closed. Putting her in the guest room + closing the door also sends her into a total panic. So I’ve partitioned off a dog proofed living area with gates in the space where I usually spend my time when I’m at home (couch, tv area, etc).

But I found out she can jump … pretty much every barrier I can create, and even the ones that exist in the house. There’s a counter about 5 feet high between the living room and kitchen and I was standing in the kitchen when I saw her just leap across it.

I need to leave the house, obviously … do I just try to dog proof everything in sight, assuming she’ll make it over every wall and baby gate, and just hope the separation anxiety will wane as my routine becomes clear?

Hi everyone!

Following my previous post about a difficult fostering experience with a local rescue organization in Chania, Crete, I’m trying to establish a clearer picture of how it handles international adoptions.

I’m looking for a small number of volunteers willing to make initial inquiries to the organization, presenting themselves as people exploring the possibility of adopting a dog, in order to document the information provided to prospective adopters. The purpose is fact-finding, not to arrange an actual adoption.

Why am I looking into this?

I initially contacted the organization for help navigating the adoption process for a stray dog and ended up caring for him daily while an international adoption was arranged.

I became concerned about how quickly the adoption had been organized, how little the dog’s behavior had been assessed, and whether he was adequately prepared for international air travel. I raised these concerns and offered to adopt him myself.

The situation escalated when the organization’s president threatened to press criminal charges against me, alleging that I was withholding the dog. On 10 October, I handed him over directly to her. I felt pressured to do so because of the threat of criminal charges.

During the handover process at the police station, I also saw that the dog’s electronic record listed the president as his foster carer and the organization as responsible for him. I had been caring for him daily, had not known about this registration beforehand, and had never signed a foster agreement. I do not have a copy of the electronic entry, so I can only report what I personally saw.

This experience left me with unanswered questions about the organization’s adoption procedures, foster-care records, and how financial contributions are communicated to prospective adopters. I want to establish the facts rather than draw conclusions based on suspicion alone.

What I would like volunteers to help clarify

Donations and adoption fees: Are donations or fees mentioned, requested, or implied? Are they described as optional or required?

Payments: If a contribution is mentioned, who is it payable to, and what is it said to cover?

Veterinary care and documentation: How are vaccinations, microchipping, passports, veterinary expenses, and adoption paperwork explained?

International transport: How are transport arrangements, costs, and responsibilities explained?

Animal welfare and preparation: What information is provided about the dog’s temperament, travel arrangements, timing, and crate acclimation?

The aim is to document what the organization actually communicates to prospective adopters, not to provoke a particular response or assume that a donation request automatically indicates wrongdoing.

I understand that this involves making an inquiry without intending to complete an adoption. I therefore want to keep the exercise proportionate and avoid wasting volunteers’ or the organization’s time. Nobody should make promises they do not intend to keep, submit false documents, provide money, or enter into an agreement.

If you are comfortable helping with this kind of limited fact-finding, please message me privately. Relevant experience with international animal rescue procedures would also be very helpful.

Any relevant experiences or practical suggestions are welcome.

Thank you!

Hi all, we are really struggling with the rescue we are fostering through and feel like we don't have any options. So back in June, we volunteered to foster a dog that was tagged by a rescue off the euthanization list at our local shelter. Everything went great, we had him for about five weeks, then sent him on his merry way to his adopter.

The rescue did not pay for or supply anything--we paid for his kennel, food, neuter, and vaccines out-of-pocket (they are aware of this). We were in a financial position to do so, so it wasn't a huge deal to us. We also found the adopter ourselves. However, she was never asked to fill out an application or be vetted by the rescue. When we informed the rescue that we found an adopter, she said "great" and that was the last we heard from her.

So fast forward to about two weeks ago, we see our foster dog listed on the euthanization list at the shelter--completely unaware he had been surrendered. This made no sense, as rescues usually have a return policy. Whatever, we were more concerned with getting him back to safety as opposed to figuring out how this happened. So we reached out to the rescue (he could only leave with a rescue tag both times), they tagged him, and we pulled him out to foster.

Not even two days later, our foster dog killed our sweet kitty. We are devastated, and immediately reached out to the rescue asking for a foster transfer. Animals are animals, and we do not believe the dog deserves a death-sentence at the shelter for this. We care about him and his wellbeing, we just do not have the emotional, mental, or even the financial bandwidth (it was $1,000 at the Emergency Vet for our kitty) to continue supporting him in our home. He is not aggressive with people or other dogs, we just found out the hard way how strong his prey-drive is.

We also understand that finding fosters is not an overnight fix. However, our rescue has put in 0 effort or urgency to assist us. They have been so difficult to get ahold of, and the most they have done was a post on Facebook about two days after it happened after we asked them to post. He is not on the website, and we have been working around the clock to try and find him a new foster (mind you, I am 23-year-old teacher with an already extremely full plate).

We are just feeling drained, exhausted, and left-behind. No rescues are able to support us right now (understandably so), and we have had no bites so far in any potential fosters or homes. I am just curious if anyone has any advice, guidance, has been in a similar situation, or knows what our rights might be in this situation? We made a commitment to keep him safe, and it is our full intention to continue doing that--but we need support that we are not getting. Thank you for any and all suggestions!

my last foster got adopted ( yay)! And now I have a hoarding case dog. She is still pretty young, but she did come to me with kennel cough so I do have to keep her separate from my babies! Which sounded easy in hindsight since I have a separate room for my foster kiddos.
This girl is sweet as can be but coming from so many siblings I cannot imagine how hard it must be for her to be confined with no other pups.
I try to spend time with her in her room and outside but she absolutely HATES being alone. There is a pen gate in the room with potty pads and everything she needs while Im not with her in the room. I also have a Furbo camera in here. She doesn’t like the crate at all (assuming she may have possibly been in one a lot due to urine staining)

Im torn because I know she needs to be alone plus I pick back up work this week so unfortunately she will be alone in her room. When left alone she does howl and cry for a while which honestly has just been pulling at my heart strings and no treats seem high value enough to distract her.

I want her to be happy and comfortable so she can rest up until she finishes her antibiotics- honestly just looking for support/ advice to help me get through this next week with her and the separation anxiety.

We had him for 5 months but had to request a foster transfer because of an upcoming trip (flying out of town for back to-back weddings)— he is extremely dog reactive and so boarding wasn’t an option and for liability reasons, the rescue only permits other fosters to watch their dogs. We requested the foster transfer months in advance but a couple days before the transfer date, they took him off the adoption website and said a member of their staff would pick him up and take him to the vet for a “behavioral evaluation”. We packed up his food, favorite toys, bed, etc. and sent him with the staff the morning of our trip. An hour later, we got a call from the rescue that he was euthanized because his biting/reactivity was likely due to “neurological issues”.

We understand rescues have limited resources and he would’ve been difficult to re-home. But he was a sweetie 99% of the time and though he had a significant bite history (including both of us), they were never above a tooth scratch level bite. He was a young aussiedoodle mix.

He did chatter his teeth after some of his random biting episodes, which could have been a sign of a neurological issue but the lack of transparency from the rescue on the results of their “evaluation” is frustrating. They also refused to let us go with him to the appointment, even though we thought we would be in the best position to describe his behavior and advocate for him. We also expressly asked them to let us know the results before they went forward with anything. His appointment was at 9 am. They called us at 10 am that he had already been euthanized.

We feel horrible and like we failed him as foster parents. I don’t think I can ever foster again and I can’t stop crying thinking of what a sweet dog he was. It feels so wrong and unfair. We’re devastated.

If I’m being honest I think the reason I’m posting this is because I’m having a lot of guilt and confusion and I’m looking for validation and/or perspective.

A couple years ago I saw a dog running around my neighborhood. She was an Australian cattle dog and she was chasing cars in a busy street (typical cattle dog behavior) she was a little aggressive, but I was able to put a collar on her, left a note on the house she was by and took her home to wait for the owners. She turned out to be very sweet, but highly anxious.

I posted up flyers, posted her to all of the “found dogs” pages, but didn’t hear anything back for almost two weeks when the owners of the house I left a note at said “that dog has been hanging outside our house for weeks, we just moved in we have no idea who’s dog that is”

So from then on, I decided that I would “at least foster her for a bit” and try to get her trained up. She was a force to be reckoned with. She destroyed furniture, was terrible on a leash, and could not be around other dogs.

Now (3 years later) she’s great at the dog park, doesn’t really tear stuff up anymore, and is generally an anxious but well-behaved dog. She still has a tendency to lunge at passers by, especially cyclists, and she goes mental when someone knocks on the door. 🫣

The problem is that she, aside from being anxiously attached to me, doesn’t seem very happy and I’ve noticed she brings me more stress than happiness. I exercise her as much as I can, but it never seems to be enough. I’ve also started traveling more for work and with her unpredictable behavior I have a hard time finding/asking people to watch her. I’m missing the freedom I had to just leave in my previously dog-free life.

I’m considering re-homing her for both of our sakes, but it feels like giving up on her despite believing she has potential to be a great dog.

Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I’d love some perspective from someone who knows better and possibly some resources.

After almost 9 months of fostering, multiple adoption events, only 3 meet and greets,and 2 trial and returns (neither lasting more than a week) we decided to give in to our foster’s demands and adopt her. I still think there might be a better home than us out there for her; I was hoping to continue fostering, and had really hoped to have a small dog as my resident dog, BUT best laid plans and all that jazz. We do very much love her, we have a fairly successful system to manage her separation anxiety, and ultimately our goal was to help a dog that needed us; she really needed us. She fits into our life pretty well, and she’s come so far from the skinny bobble head bully I brought home on a blustery day in January.

Meet Jackie, our dog. ♥️🐾

I lost my soul dog almost 2yrs ago. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to adopt again but I knew I wanted to have a dog around so I got into fostering. I’ve loved giving dogs a space to decompress while their forever home is found. I’ve been lucky that the longest I kept one was 2 months.

Now I feel ready to adopt my own but I’ve had a foster for almost two months now who is an amazing 8yr old Shepard/Husky mix with the most beautiful blue eyes. He’d be the perfect dog except that I’m not sure I can trust him with other dogs. When they gave him to me they said he wouldn’t start a fight but he wouldn’t back away from one either.

I took him to a park during his second week with me where dogs shouldn’t be off leash but few follow that rule. I kept my foster on leash for multiple reasons. First we went with a muzzle and when I thought he was trustworthy I took it out. We went 3 different days. On the third, his leash got tangled with another smaller dog and he grabbed the other dog by the neck until the leashes where untied, he didn’t hurt the dog at all so I figured he was neutralizing him in case the other dog tried something. I never took him back.

I am so ready to adopt my own and I would keep him expect I don’t want to find myself without a dog again in a few years, I’d want to get a second younger dog but I’m afraid of how he’d be with another dog in the house after making this place his own. The rescue he’s with doesn’t have kennels and when I suggested seeing if he gets adopted from a shelter they said because of his age he’d be put on the euthanasia list.

I think it’ll take time to get him adopted because of his age and his need to be a single dog but I find myself craving to call a dog my own and start connecting. Selfishly I want to give foster up so I can get my own but he doesn’t deserve to be put down. Another part of me knows we are bonding and hates that my only reason not to keep him is his age and lack of sibling.

Has anyone found themselves in this situation before? What did you do? What would you do if you haven’t?

I have been fostering miss Deb on and off since July.

The reason why not always is that I travel a lot and I work an hour away from home for 9 hours a day 4 days a week. And candidly my mental health is in a place where I already don’t clean my home let alone with a destructive bathrooming sweetheart there.

I love this dog she is sweet and very rambunctious; you can see how she tries and redirects herself and wants to behave and how she is so smart and sweet and lovely and cuddly and playful and kind and loving.

She will not stop using my bathroom as a bathroom even if we have been out a lot. She seems to think that it’s better to just sniff on a walk then go in the bathroom and I got her away from it but whenever she comes back to me it’s always gone. I used to turn when she pooed and i see how that made her feel that way, but have not been doing that and all she’s been doing is wanting longer and longer.

Because I have to crate her for so long when I’m gone she is so energetic that she doesn’t let me sleep between 1-4am, which makes my commute and work heinous, and then my energy to care for her in the interim subpar.

She eats mops, pens, lip balms, water bottles, etc. so cannot be free roam and gets stressed when she is. She also sobs when I am not actively touching her when in the home like 15% of the time

I love this girl but I feel like something I’m doing is not serving her because she seems to be getting worse not better.

Can I have some advice???? She is my 14th foster dog and certainly not the most complicated or difficult but I feel the least helpful and I need to do better. I know she is so smart and willing, and I am dropping the ball. Please give me some help and tips keeping in mind I cannot be constantly present.

I am considering adopting my second foster (I’ve had my resident dog about two years and started fostering the new dog a little over a month ago). Sometimes my resident dog gets annoyed with her younger rowdy energy but they also enjoy snuggling together and he seems less anxious with her around.

For anyone who has adopted a second dog I’d love to know how you knew it was right!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for objective advice on how to navigate a messy situation with a rescue coordinator.

I found a small (~5kg) stray dog. Because I didn't have the network to navigate an adoption on my own, I contacted a local rescue coordinator. I have no experience with rescue politics, but I am highly experienced with dogs and even consulted a professional trainer friend to help manage this dog's high arousal.

The coordinator arranged a fast-tracked international adoption based purely on photos. She only met the dog once, for exactly five minutes, after the adoption was already arranged. In fact, her only question about his behavior—asked well after the match was made—was how he is with cats. As I fostered him and provided constant, unprompted behavioral reports, severe red flags emerged:

• Medical Cover-Ups: An incident occurred under my watch where the dog was attacked, leading to an eye injury. I took him to the vet, covered the expenses, and informed the coordinator. She intentionally withheld this from the adopters because she claimed they "would be worried," and never followed up with me about his recovery.
• The "Blind" Adopters & A Disastrous Match: The family never asked to contact me. In good faith, I asked to meet them, and a group chat was made. There, I was informed that the parents of the young adopting couple are coming to pick him up, phrasing it as if they had already planned a vacation here and the dog was a last-day souvenir. To motivate questions, I offered a detailed character report with the following key points: he is a 10-month-old high-arousal dog who gets to know the world through his teeth, he requires an indoor leash attached to me to be manageable, and he needs serious dog-proofing. I also found out the young couple is in the middle of moving into a new place and has three cats. Their only question after reading all this? What his harness size is.
• Dangerous Cargo Logistics: The dog is scheduled to fly in the cargo hold on the 17th. I reminded her two days ago that the travel crate she promised never arrived, meaning there is zero time to acclimate a highly reactive 5kg dog. That was my attempt to find a safe consensus. I would be okay with delaying his flight or cancelling the adoption and trying to find someone else locally.
• Rejecting a Perfect Local Match for a "Quota": A week ago, my dad visited, spent seven days bonding with the dog, and made an educated offer to adopt him. I expected the coordinator to be thrilled. Instead, she became aggressive, guilt-tripped me, and offered my dad a different, similar-looking dog just so she wouldn't have to go back on her word to the foreign family.
• Gaslighting and Custody Demands: When I made my welfare concerns clear and offered to adopt him myself, she insulted my "inexperience". She claimed I was creating problems out of thin air just so my dad could have him, and ordered me to hand the dog over so she could magically crate-train him herself in a matter of days.
• Police Threats and Escalation: Today, the situation escalated. A police officer called me, and I calmly explained that I have been nothing but polite, considerate, and acting with the dog's welfare as my main interest. The coordinator tried to force a meet-up for tomorrow to take the dog, and when I told her my schedule wasn't flexible, she threatened to sue me and press charges if I didn't comply. After the call, I voluntarily went to the police station to give my statement, only to discover she never actually filed a lawsuit. The police officer was shocked when I explained the situation and couldn't understand all the fuss the coordinator is creating.

The Legal/Admin Situation: Legally, a foster contract was never made or signed. She paid his initial vet bill and instructed the vet to register his microchip under her organization's name. However, my name and phone number are listed as the primary contact on the microchip, since the vet asked me for them.

I rescued this dog to offer him a better life, and I cannot in good conscience hand him over to a rushed, unvetted export pipeline that treats him like a product. How do I safely hold a hard line, navigate the microchip registration issue, and ensure the dog stays safe? Any perspective is deeply appreciated.

I got my newest foster dog 3 days ago. The shelter has her at 6 years old but I think she’s more around 8.
She’s a really great girl! So sweet and listens really well.
She’s been peeing nonstop. Thankfully, I’m home most of the time so I can let her out constantly but she’s peeing 6+ times an hour. She had one accident in the house on the first day. No big deal. I’m worried she has a UTI or kidney problem but the humane society manager claims it’s anxiety and age.
I’ve been crating her whenever I leave the house, for her safety and my own dog’s. She really hates getting in the crate and will bark for about 10 minutes and then calms and falls asleep. I give her treats in the crate and put some in there even when she’s not being locked inside.
Should I start feeding her breakfast in there, with the door open? I want her to feel more comfortable going in because I feel horrible when I need to do it.

Please share any wins, frustrations, or stories of your foster dogs from this past week. You can also ask advice, or simply let us know if you are doing ok. We are here to support you!

She’s known for being a little cantankerous, so I found it entertaining that she just gave up and let him lay there. If you look at my history, you can see she came to me with a massive cancerous mammary tumour, and I’m so grateful she’s cancer-free and I still have her. She’s probably 14 or 15 by now.