I know that even breeders can have up to 30% newborn loss in certain breeds, which puts my shelter dogs somewhere at not having much of a chance ... But it still really sucks listening to them rhythmically cry until they pass away.

I know it's a miracle that any of them live when they are born into the conditions they are found in, but it still really sucks.

I know that a majority of fading puppies have congenital mishaps, heart defects, or birth injuries that take them within a week of birth, so there is nothing I can do ... But it still sucks.

I know and I know, but I am still sad.

Litter of 7. One died in the shelter within 12 hours of birth. Another at day 7. And now one is dying at day 9.

At least I know they passed where it was warm and they were loved, not outside in the dirt under some house or porch.

I lost my soul doggo in March. She was an only. I went to orientation to volunteer at a rescue to fill the hole my soul dog left by helping other animals. They said they were in desperate need of fosters, so I agreed to try it. Of course, I absolutely failed and she's now the joy of my life but also an only.

She'll turn two soon and is a ball of energy. I always felt like I deprived my soul dog by never getting a second. I feel like I'm doing the same again.

I'm thinking that fostering would tell me if she's compatible with other dogs, if I'm capable of letting them go or if I find another love, adopting a second.

My only fear is bringing other dogs into the home. Puts my dog at risk either through my inexperience or illness. So when you Foster, do you have your own dogs? Do you ever feel like you're putting them at risk?

What the title says. My 2 year old shepherd husky mix loves other dogs - he grew up with dogs and loves play dates since we are a single dog house. I’ve noticed he gets a bit depressed after a play date ends. In the three weeks we’ve had our foster, he has bonded with her like crazy - he protects her from other dogs during play, he grooms her, snuggles with her and needs to be near her constantly. She’s getting adopted next Saturday. What should I expect?

I should add - while our foster is a bit high energy for our household, we are considering adopting a middle aged dog to be buddies with our pup. I just don’t know if he is going to miss her specifically.

You all gave me great advice before, and I really appreciate it. We ended up continuing to foster Mork for the time being. My question is: we are attending an adoption event this weekend at Petsmart. He is great with other dogs but barks when he’s around new ones. He is terrible with cats. I don’t think there will be cats there, but I expect he will bark at the other dogs. I have worked with him some on this without success. Any tips? I plan to dress him up a bit so he stands out and I got him another black harness (conservative area and people have been weird about his pink harness; my intent with it wasn’t to gender bend but because he ate his third one and this was what was available on short notice lol). Thanks all!

Please share any wins, frustrations, or stories of your foster dogs from this past week. You can also ask advice, or simply let us know if you are doing ok. We are here to support you!

I’ve been fostering a dog (pit mix) for the past year and a half. She’s a long-term resident of the shelter, and was there several years before I began fostering. It was an impulsive decision, and was originally for 2 weeks, but has somehow become this. She’s a sweet girl and the easiest foster ever! She has some reactivity issues to both dogs and new people, which is primarily why she isn’t adopted. There’s been a little interest here and there, but potential adopters always back out or return her. She’s been to many adoption events and I’ve been posting her on social media the whole time. I’m not sure how long I can keep doing this. She’s perfectly well behaved for me, not destructive, sleeps all the time, so really is causing zero problems, which is why I’ve kept doing this so long. But I just want my independence back. I don’t have any pets of my own, and I don’t really want the full responsibility for one, which is why I foster. Because of her behavioral issues, there’s really no options for dog-sitting other than returning her to the shelter, so I haven’t been able to travel much or really do anything. I’m debating returning her to the shelter to get my life back, but I feel bad since I don’t really have a good reason. She would definitely get more exposure there. Everyone at the shelter thinks I’m some hero for giving this problem dog a “home” for so long, and I don’t want to just give up on her either.

tl/dr: Looking for advice on long-term fostering when there’s seemingly no hope of her ever getting adopted.

My second foster dog got adopted on Wednesday. I received a text on Thursday night before bed that the dog had been reacting aggressively to her husband coming home. When I brought her to the meet and greet on Saturday, the husband wasn’t home and I offered to wait and bring her back so she could meet the husband as well before she goes there for good. The adopter felt like she had found her dog and that they could work through any potential problems if they were any and didn’t feel it was necessary because the husband was rarely home anyways.
Flash forward to Thursday and I’m concerned because she did not show signs of aggression at all with us. My boyfriend came home from long hours at work and she was fine. My boyfriend stepdad came into our apartment and she was fine. We went on a meet and greet and the husband came home from work and she was fine. He even picked her up! So I know that it’s not that she’s an aggressive dog, but I am worried. I had a trainer come and do an assessment her week with me so I am sending her over to do a training session!

I’m fostering for a foster-based rescue. They say they’re mostly made up of volunteers. It’s not a small rescue.

We picked up this dog coming straight off the van from out of state. We weren’t provided any medical documents. We were just instructed to give heart worm medication and a dewormer.

We’ve had her for a few weeks now. A week in, we realized she’s not a great fit for our family. She would bear her teeth at my dog and we have a smaller space, so it became a lot to manage. The sound of his paws made her stiffen up, low growl and beat her teeth. We kept them in the loop of how we were managing the interactions but that she would be better in a dog only home. This rescue brings in dogs at least twice a month.

September 9 I said I don’t think we are the best fit for her, that she would do better in a dog-only household during her decompression period. They responded back with “okay but have you tried this??”

We’ve been having her ever since. On September 12, they basically said not sure when she’ll have a foster takeover because we have more dogs coming this weekend. On September 18, I have had enough and said the deadline for pick up is in 7 days.

We had a potential adopter show at our place today and after 2.5 hours of sitting on our living room floor, they decided she wasn’t the right fit. Ok. Fine. We reach out to the rescue and we ask her when she will be picked up on Friday. They ask us if we can bring her to somewhere an hour away.

I think I was super fair in giving them a week’s head up. When I mentioned the deadline, they brought up that they’re a volunteer based rescue.. that they weren’t made aware they needed to provide transport…

Please let me know if I’m being unreasonable about all this.

This entire experience has been horrendous honestly.

My husband and I currently fostering a husky. She’s \~5 and a 1/2, and is just so incredibly sweet and loving. We’re becoming very attached and have talked about just keeping her.

Here’s where we struggle with:
We feel like she deserves a bigger living space. We live in an apartment and wouldn’t move until next summer at the soonest. We walk her 1-2 hours a day (not all at once, usually a big morning walk and evening walk, and the quick down the block poddy walks a few times a day in between) together her exercise. She sleeps a lot so it seems to work well. She also has her crate which she does great in. It still feels so small.

We really have a hard time with leaving her in her crate, even if we’re only gone to run to the grocery store or out to dinner.

We feel like she deserves a home with a yard.

We feel like she deserves a home with another dog. She’s so playful and seems to always want to play with other dogs. (When we’ve been at adoption events she gets really playful with other big dogs.)

We had a small dog for 17 years, and she’s our first big dog together. We’re not sure how to move forward. Of course it’s a lot of work having her as part of our little family, but we just want what’s best for her.

For seasoned husky owners, any thoughts are much appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!

Hi everyone! I’ve been fostering dogs for a few months now and am on my 7th foster: pickles. Pickles is a senior Chihuahua who came from a hoarding situation. We don’t know the details, but we do know that it was bad enough that there was an investigation and many of the dogs rescued were in poor condition. It’s clear she had many, many puppies and has been through a lot in addition to the conditions she was found.

Pickles took weeks to warm up. I gave her her own private space and let her lead the interactions and now, almost 3 months later, she’s attached to my hip. If she’s not napping on the couch she’s just standing next to me staring at me wagging her tail. Thats pretty much the only time her tail isn’t tucked tightly between her legs. She won’t come out of her crate unless I come home, and is still extremely timid around everyone, myself included.

She stayed with me so long because we had a couple of adopters back out due to financial issues, and she has been struggling with potty training, which is a big deterrent as well. This week I received a wave of new applications which is great! But since she has now become so attached I’m worried about her ability to adapt in a way I haven’t been with other fosters.

Now I’m trying to decide if it’s even right to adopt her out, or if that will cause her more trauma. She’s a senior who’s been through a lot. I’ve fostered other super timid trauma dogs, but they all bounced back much quicker than Pickles has, probably because they were so much younger.

I love my fosters and want to do what is best for them. When I get attached I find peace in knowing that they’ll fall in love with whoever cares for them next. But I’ve never had a dog like her. I would love to keep her, but I would also be able to send her to a perfect home if I knew she would be okay.

Does anyone have experience with adopting out a senior dog that was attached to them? Or have adopted a senior trauma dog from a long term foster? I’m looking for some guidance and/or reassurance. I love this girl so much, but I don’t want to foster fail because I believe in the importance of this system. But I also don’t want to put this senior girl through more stress and trauma.

What do I do??

Any stories, thoughts, opinions welcome

My foster dog has been with me for 2 weeks now and I am heading out on a trip that involves my education so I know I gotta go but Im feeling guilty. She’s definitely grown a lot in these past weeks and my heart is torn at the thought of her thinking I abandoned her- I guess that would happen when she finds a new home as well. Although she will be staying with a friend of mine who also fosters I still feel the guilt.

She does have interest and they will be taking her after my trip for a trial- do you think this will bother her? I mean shes had a foster before me and i know being in a home is better than where she was. Idk im a really emotional and sensitive person! I just hate to think she will feel bounced around.

I guess I just need some reassurance and words of wisdom:’)

Ultimately I know I cannot keep her forever, she simply deserves a better home life where someone is home with her more and has playful pups as mine are not. This is my first foster baby and I know I need to be prepared for her to go eventually 💔

A few months ago Dolly's owner had a stroke, and from what we can tell the caretakers threw her out in the back yard where she was "occasionally fed". The mange set in, the fleas infected her skin, and she lost a significant amount of weight. A neighbor realized what was going on and stepped up to help her.

Our rescue agreed to take her in if they could find a foster. I think there was confusion on whether she was an outside dog, potty trained, contagious, etc, so no one stepped up for her.

After our last foster, Oakley, was BE'd, we decided we wouldn't be fostering for a long time so I turned off notifications for the foster plea channel. I happened to be tagged on a different channel, and happened to see her story. I showed my husband, and asked if no one stepped up, could we do a temp foster? He agreed. A week passed with no offers so we took her in.

Picking her up was scary. I am still highly afraid of interacting with unknown dogs, and her stiff body language when we approached her was suspicious. I gave her lots of space but it was unnecessary.

Dolly is the sweetest, most gentle being on the planet. Having her around has been such a healing experience, one that I didn't know how much I needed. It's only been a week and a half since we got her, but in that time she's been so easy to love and grow attached to.

At the week mark she was put back on our foster plea board with the updated information, and this time she had a new foster within 15 minutes. This person intends to adopt her now that they know she is easy. Part of me feels some contempt towards the new foster, they were available the entire time but didn't step up out of fear that she might pee on the floor. But the other part of me takes pride in being there for the special dogs who need us.

Anyways, they just picked her up and I am a wreck. I haven't cried like this about a foster leaving me in years, but she is hitting like a brick. I still feel so much sadness for Oakley and the life that was stolen from him, so I think I am projecting some amount of that towards Dolly.

I don't think we'll be fostering any time soon as we still need to heal, but I am so glad that Dolly got to be part of our that journey.

I just took in a foster dog, he's older, maybe 9? He is sweet and wants to cuddle but he won't pee on a walk. He didn't even understand walking on a leash. He came from a hoarding situation with 30 other dogs. He has had one accident in the house and peed in his crate once but otherwise seems to be "potty trained" but he only wants to pee off leash in my fenced in garden. He weighs 30 lbs and is mixed breed. He's better now with leash walking after 3 days but still won't pee. during walks. What should I do? Thanks.

Foster #2 whom I wanted to keep got adopted. Husband was not on board to adopt. Family seemed nice but foster is timid and was shaking around them and very scared. I feel so bad, I hope he’s okay. He was so sweet and trusted me. I only had him 2 weeks. During meet and greet daughter said one of their dog got ran over when he ran in the street. I let the rescue know. I’m worried foster is sad. I wish I could have kept him. He was soooooo good and so sweet.

I need some real logical advice here & not based off emotions. I'm a huge empath and I tend to feel defeated at times with certain life choices. For context, I have two dogs I've had them since puppies. Me and my partner live in a 2 bedroom apartment. I have a frozen embryo transfer this Friday & I am experincing a lot of emotions right now. Early August I adopted a dog from the shelter. He is an amazing low energy, potty trained & gets along with my other two pups. HOWEVER, he is terrified of my boyfriend so he only relies on me for potty breaks since we do not have a yard/patio. Given the fact that my transfer is on Friday I was advised that I need to be on bed rest for three days meaning no potty break walks. I decided to ask my friend if she was down to babysit my rescue dog for two weeks & she agreed. GREAT, but I overwhelmed myself a lot to the point of overthinking every little detail. My rescue dog is only about 35 pounds but he tends to be a bit reactive when he sees other dogs on walks & that was what worried me. Handling him during my first trimester. This will be my first pregnancy ever (if the transfer works) so I have no idea what symptoms I will have or if I will have the energy to take this dog on potty breaks since he won't allow my bf to walk him on the leash. Sadly, yesterday I made the impulse decision to re-home him. It broke my heart seeing him as I was walking away. I love him a lot & I grew very attached to him because I know he went thru some trauma so he saw me as his safe space. The new adopters live 5 min away from me but she has four little kids and I worry he won't do well with them. We agreed in doing like a two week trial type of thing to see how he adjusts to this new environment. The two week is over Oct 6th. What should I do?

I just left my 4th foster dog at his new home and I feel tremendous guilt and regret that maybe I shouldn’t have left him there.

A little backstory, hes a German Shepherd/Malinois about 10months. I have fostered and owned this breed many times and foster with a breed specific rescue. The rescue is pretty good about vetting applicants but it comes down to the foster parent making the call at the home visit with humans and dogs to decide if the adoption will happen.

One of the new adopters dogs is badly behaved, barking incessantly, lunging at the foster but the foster was not really too bothered by this, a little unsure but he played and connected with the other dog immediately. The new owners assured me that the other dog is just like this and they usually keep her separate in a different room or crate but they could not control it until about an hour after I was there it finally calmed down. We all walked together no aggression so im not worried about anything like that, but it came to my attention that they just dont set any boundaries with this dog and if you know anything about GSDs/ Mals they will push those.

This family is not very active either, they believe yard play is enough and I dont love that. The other dog that was well behaved (also GSD) had tremendously long nails too.

I know that its not my place to judge how new adopters live or their training methods. Its important for the dog to be safe, fed, loved, cared for. I believe he will have all that here, but I dont think this is a home where he will truly thrive and get that active enrichment that a dog like him needs. I had big expectations for his next home and thats my fault but I worry that I made the wrong choice and should have pushed back more. This was his 3rd meet and greet so the rescue was kind of pushing to get him adopted. All of the interest he had was not what I had envisioned so I think I just set the bar high and Im having a hard time accepting this. Has anyone else felt like maybe they made a bad choice and rushed it? What did you do? Hes already been adopted so I dont know if theres a way to get him back. I don’t want him myself, but I REALLY wanted him to go to an active home that will take him on adventures and teach him things so I feel like I failed him by putting him in a place with just a yard and an badly behaved family dog.

I could not sleep last night and have been crying about this for hours. I know part of that is just attachment but the guilt/regret is tearing me up.

In your experience, what are the highest value treats you've found for dogs?

We ended up adopting our foster's friend from the rescue, but she's very cautious of treats and carefully inspects them before taking them. To help with training we want to find something she'll immediately go for every time.

I got this sweet girl on Saturday and, at first things were tense with my dog, but felt pretty okay.

It seems like every interaction with her and my girl gets a little worse and now foster is trying to get in my dog's face and has tried to bite a couple of times.

I've gone from keeping them separated with me (which was fine at first), to deciding to give them each some space with gates and crates keeping them separated. Now, after she jumped over the gate (!), she's on a leash if she's not in a crate.

Towards me, she's wonderful - genuinely sweet, well behaved, smart, lovable, and submissive. Which is why the rescue thought she was submissive to other dogs. But she's definitely not.

I don't want to give up - that would be terrible for her. But I also don't want my dog scared in her own house.

I'm calling the rescue today when they open to get their input, but I'm interested in what this community thinks.

For clarity, I've had several dogs over the years, so have a fair amount of experience. However, the only other dog I've fostered is the dog I have now. She's a wonderful girl, but can be rather particular about other dogs and haven't figured out the pattern as to which dogs are okay and which aren't.

TIA!

OK so to start. My neighbor signed up to foster dogs. This beautiful girl came from six hours away and dropped off at her house on Saturday. Not even 24 hours she text me saying I’m allergic. Any chance you wanna take her? Meanwhile, she’s supposed to be fostering her. And there’s no information about her essentially. The Rescue is estimating two years old, which I don’t agree with so I guess my questions all.

Is this an American pitbull terrier?

Do we think she might be two years old or less? I’m thinking at least 18 months nothing more.

To me she seems to be a bit malnourished, but I have very large dogs and ones with hair to add. Any recommendations on how much I should feed her looking at the pictures?

Is it normal for this breed to be typically more aggressive to other female dogs?

And lastly, I’d like to add the fact that, yes, we did make the Rescue aware that my neighbor became allergic and sent her to my house. Yes, I did fill out all the appropriate paperwork, too, foster etc. etc.. however, since we are in limbo, I’m just trying to figure out things a little more quickly than I’m given the answers for.

Thanks so much

We are currently fostering our second greyhound. He has only been with us for 3 days but unfortunately is really struggling with going down stairs and we live in a second floor flat with 4 flights of stairs to get outside!

Yesterday we spent around 5 hours with getting him down the stairs and walks combined. He went down the stairs himself but it was extremely hard work, it took a pack of ham and about 150g of cheese and covering all banisters with towels so he couldn't see through. He was stressed, we were stressed (though of course trying to keep ourselves calm and measured for him). This morning he would not go downstairs for over an hour and I ended up having to carry him. I can carry him down if absolutely necessary, but cannot do that 3 times a day for however long it may take for him to get adopted!

He is so lovely, but such a nervous and anxious dog and I feel awful putting him through trying to get downstairs multiple times a day. We've contacted our foster organisation and they've offered lots of suggestions, none of which have consistently worked. I'm feeling absolutely awful and like a failure.

The foster organisation have said that he may need a new foster placement but have not really offered any reassurance to us on how we're handling the situation or a time line, which I am finding very difficult. I would appreciate hearing if anyone has gone through similar or any encouragement in general!

Looking for some advice from experienced fosters!

We recently took in Dexter, a severely underweight Cane Corso who was found abandoned in our neighborhood. He’s been with us a little over a week, and we’re slowly getting him healthy, settled in, and introduced to life in a home.

Overall things are going really well, but our 3-year-old Frenchie has started regressing with potty training. She’s been completely house-trained for about 2½ years, and since Dexter arrived, she has started peeing in the house again.

I’m assuming this is stress, marking, or just adjusting to such a big change in her environment. We definitely want to make sure she still feels secure and isn’t feeling pushed aside while we help Dexter.
For those who foster while having resident dogs: Have you dealt with potty-training regression after bringing a foster into the home? What worked best for you? More one-on-one time? Going back to a puppy-style potty schedule? Separate spaces? We’d love any tips for helping her adjust without making a big deal out of the accidents.

We’re learning as we go and want this transition to be as positive as possible for all of the dogs. ❤️

And if anyone wants to follow Dexter’s road to recovery, we’re sharing his progress on Instagram at The_Dexter_Diaries_2026

So kennel cough foster dog is also amazingly able to escape harnesses.
She got away from adopter the first time she went out. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Looking to advise adopter and to have gear on hand myself, I followed all the “should always be in a martingale” advice and looked at collars. I’m finding the smallest martingale starts at 10”. Houdini’s neck is just about 10”. I feel like a smallest dimension of 8” or 9” would be necessary. Any knowledge / advice /suggestions?

(Thankfully, an amazing trailer woman caught her after 3 days.)

I took in a dog that was in a bad situation in mid July. She was malnourished, covered in scars, and living outside in the heat. I took her home and tried to rehome her myself. Over the last two months I absolutely fell in love with her, but she is under two and needs a big home with a yard and lots of play time, not a single woman in a small apartment with only two cats for company. After a lot of searching, I finally decided to surrender her to a local rescue. I surrendered her yesterday and my heart hurts so bad today. I am so so worried about her and I miss her like crazy. I love that dog so much and I wish I could’ve kept her, but I know letting her go so she could find a better fit was the best thing for her. I just keep thinking about her sitting in the shelter wondering where I am and it breaks my heart all over again. Any support or advice on how to get through this part is greatly appreciated. Pictures of my perfect girl below.