Considering Fostering: What to Consider

    So you're an animal lover, and feel you could do more to help homeless pets, and want to do more. Then fostering pets could be for you but I must warn you my friend, the sense of pride you'll get in  knowing you're saving a life and fulfilling a deep-seated philanthropic calling, can become addictive!

    Before you know it you may eagerly be taking on a litter of puppies or kittens, or a hard-to-place pet, or once your 1st foster is gone you'll feel the nagging urge to 'do it again,' despite the promise you made to yourself to take a break in between foster pets. Reason being, simple: doing something good feels good and good feelings are ones we want to experience over and over. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with this, it's far better than say, wanting to having another 1 or 2 or 3 glasses of wine or wanting to fall in love over and over and over again since it feels good too. So, off the bat, let's get that straight- fostering pets is a good thing, a rewarding and positive life activity... even if you do become addicted to it! -And with shelters across the country bursting at the seams, over-crowded with unwanted pets and most still euthanizing for space, there's clearly far more demand than supply when it comes to qualified foster parents.

    There are, however, some critical considerations to keep in mind when considering fostering:

Do you have room for a foster pet? 

This question is relative since everyone has a different perception of how much space is enough. I have a foster parent now that shares her Miami Beach 1 bedroom with her own small-breed dog, along with a nursing litter of 4 pups, the mommy dog and another foster puppy- and she's comfortable and happy with that arrangement. Get this... she even manages to transport her fosters to and from the shelter on a scooter since she doesn't have a car! It may sound crazy but, for this fearless foster mom, it works. Another full time foster mom that has fostered well over 450 dogs over the years has 3 different rooms strategically set up in her home to have multiple litters in her care at any given time. She's willing and able to 'foster in volume' and has her game so organized it'd make the finest of assembly lines envious! Myself on the other, I prefer to foster one dog at a time and always have. On the rare occasion you could catch me with 2. Since we have 4 dogs of our own (before I was 'married' I just had my 2) and live in a 1 bdrm that's what's feasible for us. I also personally prefer fostering adult, medium-sized dogs. They're typically house-broken and far lower maintenance than puppies. They pull at my heartstrings more since I know they 'had a life' before being abandoned. That's just such a sad thought and I want to give them a chance to start a new life through fostering.

Do you have the time for a foster pet? 

Time is not as relative a concept as is space. Foster pets will require time invested. That being said, I work and have pretty much always worked full time (40 hrs./week) when fostering and have never felt my foster pets were neglected due to my work schedule. Many of our foster families work full time. You will need to get your foster pet on a schedule, your schedule, as soon as you bring it home. It's a good idea to bring a foster home when you're getting ready to have a day or two off (weekends) so you can get the pet adjusted to your home schedule before heading right back to work. When speaking of time for your foster you also must consider the time it will take you to get the pet adopted (unless you're fostering a pet slated for transport or an organized adoption). After-all the pet can't get online and post its own depiction or go out for a walk and find its own new owner... it needs your help! You must plan on being able to attend adoption events (most orgs have regular adoption events you'll be invited to attend with your foster), post a nice depiction with pictures on sites like petfinder.com, rescueme.org. etc. Worth mentioning too- if you're very busy or very cramped for space felines can be a great option to foster, we all know cats are less demanding than dogs!

Are you emotionally prepared to foster (and let the foster go)? 

This is a hard one. I never want to discourage people from fostering but sometimes I have to simply say, "No, you cannot foster this pet becasue I know you really want to adopt this pet." I can spot the foster failures a mile away now... of course sometimes I'm wrong but, typically, once I explain how I know prospective fosters are really prospective adopters they admit I'm right and go ahead and adopt the pet on the spot. Foster failures are not necessarily a bad thing. As an Adoption Counselor I'm never going to be mad or upset when a foster decides to adopt. But, it's not ideal for the following reasons: when a pet is being fostered it's basically in 'limbo,' not fully 'outcome' from the system, lingering somewhere in the middle of being homed and homeless, it's a nightmare for record-keeping and creating accurate shelter statistics when pets are in long-term foster care (more than 3 months), it's not fair to the foster coordinators since 'on the fence' fosters can lead to a large backlog of work, it's really not fair to the pet to go into a fostering scenario with the idea of  "I might keep you." Again, it happens, and I'd rather someone take a pet under these circumstances than not take one at all but- if you're considering adopting the pet before you even get it into your car... make it easier on all of us and go ahead and adopt! -Enough with the mind games, you're the only playing.

Do you have the money to foster?

Unless you're taking on a pet with serious medical issues or taking on many at once, fostering really doesn't require much money. I for one make $14.00/hr. and have never felt strapped to pay the rent due to a foster pet. Now if you're taking home an entire litter or something with a skin condition for example, you'll be spending some money. If you're not willing or able to invest much in a foster take only one at a time and choose a pet without (serious) medical issues. Some shelters or rescues can even lend you a crate, provide food, etc., however it's more common for foster parents to provide food and toys on their own. Regarding 'chip ins' for foster pets, I'm personally not a fan. I wouldn't feel right asking for donations for something that I willingly took on. If you want to raise money for rescued pets then do the grit work- start a 501-C3 to make it all legit. That being said, I do not judge anyone that feels comfortable requesting donations to cover the care of foster pets, every situation is unique and, 'to each his own'. 

Are you putting your own pet's health at risk by fostering? 

If a yes or no answer must be given here then I'd have to say yes, technically you are. However, over the 7 years I've been fostering I've cared for dozens of dogs with upper respiratory, a.k.a., kennel cough, and mine have never caught it (most dogs leaving traditional shelters do have kennel cough). I've also had a foster puppy break with parvo (heartbreaking) and my dogs never caught it, as was the case with a distemper puppy. I would never knowingly take home a dog with distemper or parvo, nor should any dog owner, unless you have a serious isolation area and extensive knowledge on these diseases. General rules on health risks: the younger the pet the more likely it could be incubating a serious illness, the longer it has spent in the shelter the more likely it's sickly, if it's a pet that has been in the shelter system before and was returned to shelter (for whatever reason) it should have better immunity to common shelter diseases (unless it's still very young), if your own pet is from a shelter or adoption center it should have better immunity to disease common in shelters, and regular, annual vaccinations increase your pet's odds of staying healthy though they don't offer a guarantee. You could compare the risks to that of babysitting a child that goes to daycare every day with your baby at home... sure there's a chance your child will catch that 'daycare icky cold,' but he or she will survive.  I am not a veterinarian and these opinions are based on my own extensive experience fostering, that of other fosters and years spent working and volunteering in high-volume shelters.

    In a country that still euthanizes an estimated 3.4 million shelter pets per year, an average of 1 every 11 seconds (humanesociety.org), much room for improvement remains. Pet overpopulation and unwanted pets are community problems that require community solutions. 

By fostering you can become an immediate and intricate part of the solution. 

    Hopefully this information has been helpful to those of you considering fostering, and prompted others that weren't considering it to do just that! 

One of Jeanne Dykstra's foster pups being bottle fed. Check out Jeanne's facebook page, fostering dogs in Miami

Posted 22nd August by Jessica Pita

Labels: animal welfare ASPCA Cesar Millan fostering humane society Humane Society of the US metro animal services miami dade animal services SHARE rescue shelter petsSOS 4 Paws rescue

Adoption Counseling 101

                Adoption Counseling 101 (for any shelter volunteers or staff) 

I wrote this for MDAS volunteers nearly one year ago. When I initially wrote and shared a couple of staffers from other shelters asked if they could share, or use portions of it, for their volunteers. I said, of course, and figured I should blog it in case helpful to anyone else:

Adoption Counseling 101:

Many people who come to Animal Services to adopt are coming here for the 1^st time.

They don’t know where to begin or how the process works. To make matters trickier Animal Services often has new volunteers who can’t remember how everything works or how to assist adopters (there’s a lot to remember!)

For these reasons I’ve created Adoption Counseling 101. Between now and the next time you come to MDAS to volunteer please read this document thoroughly (you can even bring it with you if you like).

Adopter Enters the Adoption/Kennel Area:

As soon as you see someone new walk through the double doors to adoptions or walking around looking lost or confused, greet them.

“Welcome! Is this your 1^st time here? What are you mainly interested in seeing today- cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, small, large?” (you can tweak this greeting to your liking but this covers all the beginning bases).

Based on the answer you get say, (small dog example here):

“OK great, we have plenty of smaller-breed dogs. You need to take this paper (adoption paper on the left wall in front of kennel computer) and this little pencil, go through and look at all dogs in the small dog area.(Gesture where the small dogs are as you speak, or personally show them!).

Emphasize at this point to LOOK at ALL DOGS, CATS, KITTENS or whatever they may be interested in.

Explain to guests that people often find 3 dogs they like in the 1^st run (for example) then just stop looking!  This means dogs at the end of the runs, or pets in the bottom cages or end cages are often not seen because no one makes it down that far. Guests commonly feel overwhelmed to see so many homeless pets and they stop before seeing and considering them all. So try to assure they’re viewing all of their adoption options here… the more pets they see/consider the more likely they are to fall in love with one!

It’s your job to also help guests to not feel overwhelmed. Coach them saying things like,

“You’re going to save a life today!”

“Will this be your 1^st time adopting? -How exciting!”

“Don’t feel bad you can’t take them all- you’re going to rescue one and that’s all that matters to that one!”

“Please do not feel overwhelmed. I know it’s hard but focus on narrowing it down to your top 3-5 choices and we’ll go from there.”

You also explain to adopters:

“Once you have your ‘potential adoptees’ list take it to the kennel computer to make sure those pets are available for adoption then we can get them out to interact and see which one(s) will be the best fit for your family!”

…And, that’s the 1^st step to Adoption Counseling

Meet and Greet:

This is typically a good time to have adopters grab a yellow ticket so they don’t have to wait too long when they’re ready to complete adoption process up front.

-To do a meet and greet for dogs always use the outside patio area or large yard unless it’s raining or it’s a puppy less than 4 months.

Reason being: the dogs show better outside; typically the 1^st thing they do is pee or poop outdoors and you can say,

“Wow! Looks like someone is already learning to potty outside- that’s a really good sign!”

And remember, our dogs are typically in cages 24 hrs. a day; if you’re getting them out for someone at least take them outside! That’s the least we can do for them.

(Try to spend no more than 10-20 minutes with a potential adopter per pet since there are always others waiting for your valuable time… on busy days J!)

-To do a meet and greet for a cat or kitten you can use the meet and greet room though often people are content simply holding or petting the cats in the cages.

Tricks of the Trade:

These are some little things I personally do or say that help:

-Explain to adopters when out with a dog that: nearly all dogs take the 1^st 5 minutes to a ½ hour to explore the outdoor environment. It’s completely normal for them to sniff everything and ‘ignore’ the humans for the first few minutes- tell them to not take it personal or think there’s no connection. Please do not judge the dog’s personality based on that very initial encounter. It may take minutes, days or even weeks for a dog to fully come out of its shell and feel comfortable with new people.

If someone is considering a shy dog tell them it makes the relationship even more special when it takes time for a bond to be formed. -For those of you who’ve loved and gained the trust of a shy or timid dog, you’ll know what I mean here.

-When someone wants to see an adult dog that’s in with another dog I ask, “Do you mind if I get both dogs out so the other can play too?”

I do this because I feel badly leaving one in the kennel L and because adopters may fall in love and find a better fit with the kennel mate instead of the one they’re interested in. This has happened to me a half a dozen times and it’s cool when it happens. And if you’re really lucky you may get someone who’s willing to take both dogs! You never know if you don’t try, but don’t be pushy or forceful, just nice, showing off our pets.

-Have a favorite cat or dog training book? Recommend it! I like to offer handouts we have here on crate training, cat introductions, sterilization, etc. and mention my favorite dog book and… adopters are typically very grateful.

-There are many other tips I could and will give as I work with you in person.

Thank you for reading this thoroughly before your next time volunteering! Feel free to share your own tips and tactics with other volunteers. JRemember… as an MDAS volunteer you are an adoption counselor, counseling people on responsible pet ownership.

an adoptable doggie :)

happy adopters!

Posted 21st July by Jessica Pita

Labels: animal services animal shelters animal welfare humane society pet adoption pet care petco petsmart volunteers