Shelter vs Foster home

Home Community Pet Adoption Shelter vs Foster home

This topic contains 3 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by  Louann 8 years, 2 months ago.

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  • #492182

    Eri
    Member

    I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please send this to me via message.
    1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?
    2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home)
    3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc)
    4. How did you try to fix the problem?
    5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent?

    #492183

    Lisa
    Member

    I have had a variety of dogs through the years. Some were purchased as puppies from reputable breeders.
    More recently we have been going the shelter route, mostly because I can’t be bothered with potty training a dog anymore and you can get older dogs at the shelter who are already potty trained and some know basic commands.
    My single biggest issue is potty training. If a dog’s toilet habits are less than exemplary I do not want him or her, period.
    Sometimes a dog with perfect toilet habits at the shelter enters a new home and starts unloading everywhere.
    If we bring the dog home and he soils indoors, we go straight to remedial potty training where we act like this dog is an untrained puppy. He is escorted outside to his designated potty area every half hour and told to potty. He is praised if pee or poop come out.
    Indoors he does not have free run of the house. That is reserved for good dogs who do not soil indoors. When he is not in his crate he is tethered to a human at all times so he if he looks like he’s going to unload we can rush him outside for a correct potty and praise.
    We did have a male dog who we diapered out of desperation because he whizzed his brains out indoors.
    He wet his diaper within an hour and I left it on him for ages so he would know the misery of that wet pad stuck to his penis.
    Eventually I changed his diaper and the next time he had to piss he went to the door and cried to go outside to potty for the very first time ever.
    Eventually we only had to show him a diaper to remind him of what would happen to him if he didn’t stay on the straight and narrow. He’d cry at the sight of it.
    I would never be bothered again. You piss or crap on the carpet, you go back to the shelter.
    We do not do the ‘wee wee pads’ which are the worst thing ever invented. All they do is train the dogs that it’s OK to soil indoors. Once they go on the pads, you can never get them to just go outside and your house smells like dog poop and piss.
    Pads are for people who want a puppy but are too lazy to keep taking it outside to soil appropriately (since puppies piss and crap all the time) or for people who don’t want to be bothered going out in the cold or rain so their dog can relieve himself so they let it unload in their house while they watch TV and lay on the sofa.
    We do crate. Dog goes into the crate overnight and into the crate if we are going out. We work so our dogs are crated all day.
    There is no circumstance in which the dog is free in the house without human supervision.
    This is for the dog’s safety as well as to protect our home from being trashed.
    For one thing, a dog in a crate can’t chew a lamp cord and electrocute himself and burn the house down. Also we have an indoor wave pool and a hot tub so that is a drowning risk for the dog in addition to the fact that I would never trust a dog not to piss in our pool or tub.
    Most dogs will cross their legs and turn blue before soiling in their crates so this also does keep our house from becoming an indoor dog toilet.
    Many dogs do act differently once they are in our home, since it’s a lot different from the shelter.
    For one thing, we typically only have one dog at a time anymore so our dogs go from being in a crowded shelter to being the sole animal in the building.
    This often leads to the dog being shy or confused at first.
    We just ignore him. His meals are served without ceremony (we just say Fido, supper and show him his bowl, we don’t chase him around with it) and his walks are simple affairs (Fido, walk) where he is leashed and led out the door for his potty/exercise. He is, of course, permitted to sniff and explore on his walks (to a degree, of course he is not permitted to dig up a neighbor’s shrub or whatnot) and if he has proven himself to be trustworthy enough to not piss or crap in the house he is permitted to go where he wishes, again within reason. He is not permitted to dig in the trash, for example, and is corrected with the NONONO FIDO NO TRASH.
    None of our dogs were ever permitted on furniture so jumpers are corrected. If they persist they are also tethered to humans to monitor this behavior.
    Eventually the dogs recognize us as the source of their food and the access to their toilet area and come around on their own.
    We do not get in their faces. If the dogs don’t want to hang around us at first, that’s fine. We don’t chase them around armed with treats, begging for their attention.
    It has been my experience that the dogs come around when they are comfortable in their new surroundings.
    Some of them were allowed on furniture in their previous homes so that can be hard to break but eventually they learn to keep their butts on the floor.

    #492184

    Tammy
    Member

    I don’t thing there is any difference between shelter or foster home. In both cases the dog come to a new home, new people and environment. Usually they are scared a little at the beginning, wouldn’t you? I just adopted my second dog from a shelter. The first day he was very scared. the second day his tail was up and he was following me. the third day he wag his tail and enjoyed walking outside with me and the other dog. The shelter people told me that his owner brought him because of his endless barking and his tendency to escape. Well, i think he’s mute. We did not hear his voice yet. He is a small/medium dog that was left outside. He tried the sofa and twice i had to tell him NO. That’s it. We showing him tons of love, talking to him and encouraging when he is doing god. We do not crate. But we did use baby fence when we are out so he can’t roam the whole house. We did it for his safety and because of our other dog and cats. When we’ll be sure they are all ok together we’ll remove the fence.
    The time it takes is different from dog to dog. It dependence on personality, on previous habits, previous experience, and how much patience and love you have to give him.
    The guy in the picture is the new addition.
    I hope it helps

    Click on any picture to see full size:

    #492185

    Louann
    Member

    I personally would not approve you to foster any animal. While I strongly disagree with more than just one thing you have said, the fact that you would leave as dog in a soiled diaper as a way to potty train is abusive and unhealthy for the dog to be kept in a soiled diaper. I suppose you trained your children the same way. Thumbs down to you.

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