Long Term Fostering

Sometimes it seems, the longer a dog stays in foster care, ultimately the less attention they seem to generate from potential families.  I wonder if the prevailing feeling is that there must be something wrong with this dog or they would have been adopted already.  I’ve seen dogs in foster care for years, some that have been in foster care since they were puppies and now are a year old.  I remember one little black brindle puppy at a rescue in Michigan being in rescue for 4 years. I remember seeing her first posting when she was with a litter of puppies and then again a year later and so on.  She was trained and I think her foster parent had even gotten her a CGC....still she remained in foster care.  I have since lost track of that dog and don’t know if she eventually got adopted or if her foster parent eventually made room in their home.  Then there is Baron in Missouri that has been in foster care for two years.  He’s an older bully and that hurts too but older dogs get adopted from shelters.....foster care should be available too.  I have also heard people say, well if that dog’s so great, why doesn’t the foster parent keep them.  “If I had a dog a year, I couldn’t give them up”.  I understand that and it is hard when you have a long term foster that finally gets adopted. You are sad to see them go but are overjoyed that they found their place in the world.  The difference in fostering and adopting is that a foster home only intends to keep the dog while it is in limbo and each dog they adopt out, means they can save one more in the shelter. It’s meant to be a helping hand to those dogs in desperate need.  The intention is not to keep that dog.   Most foster homes already have a dog or two and fostering is the way they can give back.  If they kept all of their foster dogs, there would be no-one left to save the ones still in the shelter needing the halfway house of adoptability.  They need that time in foster care to gain valuable life skills and get healthy so that a family can truly enjoy their new dog with minimal “growing pains”.  We can’t forget the dogs that have been in foster care for a while because they are “saved” , no longer in desperate need, or on a euthanasia list.  The truth is though that these dogs are in desperate need. They are still in desperate need of that family. The one that is meant to be their forever family.  They are simply in Limbo, not adopted but not in a shelter.  It’s the reward for the foster home to see a dog go from sick to sleek, from thin to buff and beautiful and then be able to repeat the cycle with another needy dog.

If you are considering adoption, don’t forget those that have been in foster care. They need your attention too.  Sometimes they are the most ready, they have had training, completely housebroken and their personality is known backwards and forwards.  A long term fostered dog can be an excellent choice for a new family.  There will be no surprises, what you see is what you get.

Daisy would like to remind everyone that she's been in foster care for over 8 months.  She was emancipated from her horrible life almost a year ago and after a three to four month stent in the animal shelter she was moved into rescue after spending another month at a humane society.  It's been almost a year since she was seized.  She deserves a happy ending.