I am graduating from college in may, and will be in columbus for the summer coaching rowing. I desperatly want a puppy, but i realize that i am not sure yet what my job situation will be after the summer (coaching is only through the beginning of sept) and i am not sure where i will be living etc. This summer is a perfect situation for a dog, since they can come with me in the boat when i’m coaching, and will not have to be left along for long periods of time in my appartment. I volunteer at the humane society in our town, and would really like to foster a dog for a few months. Has anyone done this? what was the experience like? was it absolute torture having to give them up? do the behavioral problems that many shelter dogs have resolve with some love and training time?
Thanks in advance 
My husband and I are also debating fostering a little special needs pup so I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on fostering.
As for shelter dogs, we have one that was a rescue and it was the love of her fosters that helped bring her out of her very very timid shell. She’s come a long way since being with us but her fosters definitely put in a lot of hard work to get through to her. Having worked with the humane society here, I know that they want fosters to help train/retrain dogs so that they are suitable to go out for adoption with less likelihood of being returned so you may have to be willing to work on any number of issues ranging from something as simple as crate training, housebreaking, walking on the leash, etc to more severe obedience issues.
I probably shouldn’t chime in…as my ‘foster’ dogs that I found on the street as puppies 9 and 5 years ago are curled up tightly on my bed I wasn’t so good at the giving up part.
I was certainly lucky with my finds, but I will say, they weren’t the perfect tag a log dogs the second I brought them in. They took a bit of work to get them where they are…and I found mine as puppies.
Maybe as you volunteer you could get a feel for ones that are more adjusted and would need less work to merge into your life than others? That would be my only concern for that…is that they may require some time and TLC before they are ready to jump into your adventures.
I foster dogs for ILDR, the Illinois Doberman Rescue Organization. I started out volunteering, then got “suckered” into fostering over the holidays when they were desperate for foster homes. So far it’s been a great experience. True, you don’t really know what you’ll get, but I’d think that after having a dog for even a short time, the society or group you volunteer for might have some idea if a dog has serious issues or not.
My first dog turned out to have serious separation anxiety issues, so it made more sense for me to trade with someone who had a dog that needed to be by himself, and my foster went to a place with other dogs, where he was happier. The other fosters I’ve had since then I’ve really liked, and yes, I’ve grown fond of them - how can you not? - but I’ve been happy that they’ve gone to good homes. And it makes me feel good to be doing something worthwhile like that.
Will you get overly attached? Maybe, maybe not. With me, my own dog passed away a year ago, at 13.5 years of age, and while I adore my fosters, they don’t see into my soul like my Hudson did, who was my best friend. I’m not sure i’ll ever get another dog, actually, but in the meantime, it’s nice to have a pooch around, to give these dogs the love they deserve, to know that fostering them allows even more to be rescued. So it’s pretty much a win-win all around. It’s kind of tough, to know that most of these dogs have been treated like crap, and to see their fear come out once in a while - but in spite of that, all the dogs I’ve fostered have been the sweetest, nicest dogs ever, not a mean bone in their bodies.