foster, should i? or shouldn't i?

[luvmychis]

I've been thinking of fostering chihuahuas lately. I have 3 myself and want to stick to the same breed because i know they are hard to mix with other breeds and get along. But i need someone who has been there to help me figure if this was just an insane idea or not. i also wonder how much financial responsibility i'd be under. My big thing here is.... i just want to know that i can save a dog from being euthenized by keeping it until someone wants it.

thank you.

[mynameislola]

When you have dogs and are thinking about fostering, consider first the effect it will have on your existing dogs.

Are they healthy enough to handle exposure to recently vaccinated dogs who might also have worms, fleas, or kennel cough? If an unsocialized foster dog bites your dog, can you afford the treatment and the possible guilt? Is your house set up for easy cleanup after potty accidents?

If so, go for it. If not, find a rescue group and donate money.

[christySD]

Fostering is wonderful, and alot of time and money.
I do it, and it is very rewarding, but you MUST have a separate area of the house to quarantine new fosters. They can bring some nasty problems into your house if you don't. Dogs from shelters can have kennel cough, giardia, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and even ringworm - and those are the easy problems. I know someone who brought in a dog with Coccidia and it spread thru her house - to all of her dogs.
So be very careful, have a vet ready to deal with any potential problems, and quarantine for at least 2 weeks.
It can be very expensive if you get any dogs that are sick, and even more expensive if it spreads to your dogs...

[dagny82]

I foster cats and kittens, and its incredibly rewarding. You will have to find out from the specific rescue how much time, money, energy, and driving and resources you have to provide, and what they will provide. Its different for everybody.

You must have an area to quarantine any new arrivals, permanently sometimes if the new arrival becomes ill.

Your own dogs should all get regular fecal exams to check for parasites which the new arrivals may pass on, however, most parasites are not too dangerous if regularly checked for and treated. Your dogs should also obviously be up to date on vaccines.

How do your dogs handle other dogs now? You would be fostering some dogs which would be friendly to your dogs, and some which would not. If your dogs are aggressive or territorial at all, or anything but accepting when bringing a strange dog into your home, you will never have peace in your house.

Your own dogs' emotional state is something too to consider, since unless your dogs are the very adaptable, laid-back, and low stress animals (which chihuahuas rarely are), they will be agitated with each new arrival and adjustment.

Fostering is awesome, and I encourage anyone to do it. Just weigh all pros and cons carefully. If you do start fostering, see how it affects your own animals and always be open to quitting if your own dogs and fostering simply do not mesh.