Thank you for becoming a Dogs Without Borders Foster parent! Fostering SAVES LIVES every day.
We want your fostering experience to be a positive one and we are here to help you if you hit any bumps.
As you likely know already, we rescue dogs primarily from the shelter; as a result, we do NOT always know if they are house trained, dog or cat friendly, or good with children; this is where our FOSTERS come in! We rely on YOU to help us with this “fact finding” mission to tell us the good, the bad, and the ugly and in return, we offer our experience and support to help fosters feel empowered to address any situation that comes up with their foster dogs.
If we know anything about a dog’s personality or health prior to you fostering, rest assured we will tell you as much information as we possibly can.
Let’s start with some BASICS
Our dogs have all come to our rescue after having suffered some sort of trauma, neglect, abuse or emotional abandonment, so we ask all of our fosters to have PATIENCE.
The first 48 hours may not be an indication of the dog’s temperament and personality.
You dog may never been loved, nor lived with a family indoors; or they may have been abandoned by their owners on the street, or dropped off at the shelter. We can all only imagine what they have had to endure, but we do know that a majority of our dogs are suffering from shelter shock, the canine equivalent of PTSD.
What your foster dog needs most is PATIENCE. She may be shaking, maybe she won’t budge when you are trying to take her for a walk, or if you’re wondering why she isn’t jumping onto your lap to lick your face – try to remember that she ended up abandoned and she doesn’t know what your intentions are.
While the going may get rough initially, just remember YOU are the only person this dog has right now in the whole world who cares about her, and while she may be smelly, scared, or has an accident on your favorite area rug, all she has is you.
Show her strong leadership and patience and she will blossom.
Thank you for saving her life.
