by guest writer Tina from The Canine Lifeline (UK)
Did you know that it is estimated that there are over 1000 dog rescues across the UK? Some of these are big, well-known household names such as The Dog Trust, Battersea, RSPCA, but there are many small, independent Rescues like ours. Often, the smaller Rescues don’t have their own premises – there is no Rescue Centre where the public can come and meet dogs needing homes. They also don’t tend to use boarding kennels other than in an emergency. So where do our dogs live whilst we are looking for a permanent home for them?
Like many smaller Rescues, we are totally dependent on foster carers for our homeless dogs. This comes as a surprise to many people as they may imagine a single location where all the dogs are kept, such as a Centre, a Shelter or a Boarding kennels from where they find homes, so to imagine our dogs living with other people just like them before they find homes is rather intriguing for them! Consequently, we are hoping that the following article will answer a few of the questions you might have about fostering and maybe even encourage you to consider fostering yourself!
Why do dogs need foster homes?
Adopters come in all shapes and sizes. They vary in terms of how old they are, how fit and active they are, how much experience with dogs they have, how many other animals form part of their family, and how much time, energy and effort they are able to put into making dog ownership work. They also vary in terms of what kind of accommodation they have, how many people live with them, whether and where they work, how often they need to leave a dog without a human and for how long. But what the vast majority of adopters have in common is that they want the dog they adopt to live with them as a member of their family – whatever that family looks like. Most potential adopters are not looking for a dog which will then spend its life in kennels. So - if a dog has no experience of living in a home, or if they have previously been in a home but spent time recently in kennels, it’s much harder to assess (a) what kind of a home that dog needs and (b) what the dog in question will be like once they move into a home. It’s very common for dogs who are adopted from a kennel environment to behave quite differently once they get into a home and it’s often for that reason, dogs are sadly returned to the rescue and find themselves back in kennels. Foster homes are absolutely the best way to prepare a dog for life in their permanent home. It’s also the best way to assess what kind of home the dog actually needs so that when they are adopted it increases the chance that they will stay in that home.
How does it actually work? What does a foster carer need to do?
Normally, when a dog goes into a foster home, the foster carer has applied to foster with us either by responding to a specific appeal via social media OR by approaching us via our website etc. This means that the specific foster placement has been set up in advance of the dog either coming into our care or moving from their current location to the foster home.
We will take time to talk to the fosterer in some detail about (a) how fostering actually works, (b) what we need from the fosterer to help rehabilitate the dog if necessary and find them a suitable home (c) what they can expect from us during that process and (d) what they need from us. No two fosterers are the same and no two foster dogs are the same, but the goal of every foster placement is to find that dog a suitable permanent home.
Once the dog has settled into the foster home, usually after a few days or maybe a little longer in some cases, the fosterer begins the process of helping us to rehome the dog. This involves a period of initial assessment with our support followed by a longer period of sending us written or verbal updates on the dog’s character, temperament, behaviour, training progress and so on including challenges or issues they may be experiencing. Foster carers also send us photos, videos and other material to help us promote the dog on our own website as well as on social media. This is vital in finding the dog a suitable home and every fosterer commits (via our fostering agreement) to doing this on a regular basis. Because we don’t have premises, we don’t have a Centre, we don’t have kennels that people can visit, we rely totally on our fosterers to send us material to help us promote the dogs. Big, well established Rescues find homes for many of their dogs within days. Well established, smaller rescues expect to find a home for most dogs within a few weeks. For tiny, less well-known rescues like us, it takes longer - sometimes a couple of months - to find a suitable home for a dog. It’s unusual, even for us, for a dog to be in foster for more than a few months unless there is something obviously stopping people adopting the dog, for example, behavioural issues that adopters aren’t willing to take on. But if a dog is not seen by potential adopters via our website, on social media etc or out and about with their host family, nobody will even apply for that dog and they will clearly not get adopted. If dogs in our care don’t get adopted, we can’t help any more. And if we can’t help dogs waiting to come to us, sometimes, sadly they die. Our foster carers are the ones that make our dogs visible – they help us get the dogs seen, applied for, and adopted. They literally help us save lives.
Winnie and Marlow are currently in foster with The Canine Lifeline (UK).
What support can I expect from The Canine Lifeline (UK)
When you become a foster carer for us, we both sign an agreement which outlines what you can expect from us and vice versa. We provide you with everything you need to help the dog settle in as quickly as possible following which they can be promoted for adoption. This includes equipment such as a bed, harness, lead, bowls etc. Most fosterers provide the dogs’ daily food as it helps us save more dogs by keeping our costs down, but the most important thing is that they are helping the dog get used to life in a home, helping us make that dog visible to potential adopters and thus increasing their chances of finding a home.
What if I find it too upsetting to think about my foster dog moving into their new home?
Most fosterers want their foster dog to find a home as quickly as possible so that (a) they can help another dog (b) the dog moves to a home that is a great match for them and (c) they don’t get too used the dog being with them. It’s certainly the case that fosterers invest their time, energy and other resources to help their foster dog adjust to life in a home. They treat them as they would their own dog and the same dog that’s then adopted to someone else is almost always better trained, better behaved and happier than the dog they first fostered. But that’s the rewarding part. The fosterers’ hard work, patience and buckets of love are often what makes this dog adoptable into a permanent home. And then they do it all over again … and again - it does get easier with practice!
Puma and Luna have found their forever homes.
We are The Canine Lifeline (UK), a small, independent Rescue based in beautiful Pembrokeshire. We typically have up to 10 dogs at a time under our care, all waiting in loving foster homes for someone to notice them. We specialise in helping sighthounds whose specific breed / breed type traits suggest particular kinds of adopters and thus particular kinds of fosterers. Over the last week alone, we have had to turn away 15 dogs needing homes because we have nowhere to put them. That’s not an easy thing to live with. If you are even a little bit interested in fostering for us, whether that’s now or in the future please contact us for a chat about what it would mean for you … you would be genuinely saving a life…
Visit The Canine Lifeline (UK) for more information.
Comments