Dog & Puppy Foster Carer Form

COMMON ISSUES WITH RESCUE DOGS
Fostering a rescue dog can be very rewarding, however, rescue dogs have often had a rough start to life and may develop issues which require ongoing behavior management. Patience and dedication to settling your foster dog into your home along with a commitment to undertake the dog's training and exercise requirements is critical.

Below are some of the most common issues seen with rescue dogs. These issues may be known to the Dogs' Refuge Home prior to fostering or the dog may start displaying the issues after being fostered. Please read through each paragraph carefully and indicate whether you would be willing to work with any of these issues with a foster dog.

Your answers will assist staff in identifying dogs for fostering that best match your lifestyle and training experience

Settling in period

Introducing a foster dog into your home can take varying amounts of time. Some dogs feel right at home the minute you walk through the door, while others can take longer before feeling comfortable. Each dog is unique. Ways to help your foster dog settle into your home include:

Avoid long walks in new/novel areas for the first few days
Once you start walking, the dog is NOT to be let off lead
Avoid having large groups of new people meet the dog in the first few days
Give the dog some space - don't lavish too much attention on them straight away
Give the dog somewhere quiet and safe to sleep - crates, bedrooms or the laundry are good areas

Obedience and Manners

Many puppies and adult dogs in the refuge have not had the benefit of family who has taken the time to teach them basic obedience and general manners. As a result these dogs may have a tendency to jump, pull on the lead when out walking, refuse to come when called or ignoring what we consider being 'basic' requests (I.e. sit, drop etc). These dogs will need a bit of extra time with their foster carer to practice the basic requests.

House / Toilet Training

In many cases, dogs that come into the refuge have never been allowed inside the family home. As a result they need some help to learn to go into the backyard to toilet or alert their owners that they need to go outside. Most adult dogs are quick learners, but puppies (8 weeks - 4 months) can take a bit longer.

Destructive Behaviors

When a dog is bored, they have a tendency to make their own fun - which can result in destructive behavior around the home. Common complaints are excessive barking, digging, chewing or pulling washing off the line. To help prevent this from occurring, it is important to exercise the dog daily and give the lots of toys and mental enrichment activities to keep them occupied throughout the day. Mental enrichment can include making Kongs or other puzzle toys available for the dog to play with when they're home alone.

Anxiety / Fear / Phobias

Anxiety is when a dog is worried or concerned about something bad happening, but cannot identify a specific threat. These dogs are generally described as being 'nervy' and have difficulty concentrating because they are constantly looking for possible threats to their safety. Some dogs can struggle more when their foster carer leaves them home alone - this is known as 'Separation Anxiety'. Fear is related to a specific threat and common phobias include fear during storms, fireworks, loud noises, lawn mowers, power tools, mops, brooms and anything else you could possibly think of.

Dogs suffering from anxiety or fear can be helped with training, including confidence development, desensitisation and counter conditioning. Severe anxiety and fear may require medication, in conjunction with training.

Dog Reactivity

Although dogs are social creatures, they still need to be taught how to interact and play with each other using good manners and appropriate behavior. Some dogs in the refuge have likely never met or played with another dog and can overreact when they see a new dog. These dogs may display behavior such as barking, growling, lunging, snapping or even biting when approaching a new dog. All foster dogs MUST be walked on a lead.

All dogs are tested for dog reactivity when they come into the refuge, however, if a dog is stressed they will react differently. As a result, a dog may be considered dog social in the refuge but become reactive once they settle into a home or be reactive at the refuge but much more social once in a home.

Reactivity can be very confronting for carers, but can be helped with training and education. Refuge staff will provide advice in relation to this.

Fence Jumping

Dogs considered as being 'fence jumpers' have either been seen to escape yards or have demonstrated an ability to jump high enough to be able to clear most fences. Fostering a dog with confirmed or suspected fence jumping ability requires the following:

A willingness to keep the dog inside when they cannot be supervised (e.g. when carers are out, overnight to sleep)
OR

Secure fencing at least 6 foot in height with a return (wire/mesh angled inwards) at the top of the fence.
Lots of exercise and mental enrichment may stop a dog from fence jumping, however, once they have learnt how to do it, the behavior can be difficult to stop. Being proactive is the best prevention.

Resource Guarding

Resource guarding is where a dog attempts to control access to food, objects, people and locations that are important to it, using defensive body language or overt aggression and can be directed towards people or other dogs in the home.

Minor resource guarding can be managed by respecting the dog's space or supervising dogs while eating (or feeding in separate locations). In the case of severe resource guarding, Refuge staff will provide advice.

Dogs and Children

Owning a dog is often the highlight of our childhood - we love running around in the backyard, playing fetch or tug-o-war with our family pet. As many of the dogs at the Refuge have been rescued from a pound, there can be limited information available about the dogs' history with children. Common issues displayed by dogs around children can include excessive excitement/boisterousness, anxiety, fear, avoidance or reactivity / aggression.

Children under 10-years should be supervised at all times around any dog and all children should be taught to recognise when a dog needs space.