OutOfSightHound

Ok the former rescue i volunteered for now has a dangerous dog posted on Pet Rescue. This dog although young has bitten the face of two children and shows serious dog on dog agression issues and it has been surrendered again due to this problem. These people don't understand that these behaviours are only going to get worse and more dangerous as the dog gets older as it wants to herd everything up! It bites ankles hard which is bearable as a pup but is horrible as an adult dog. If you dont move where it wants it bites harder and harder till you do!

I think it's too much to fit into a 1 hour program and have an effective debate. A documenty series in a few parts would have been better so that all could be seen and gone through in a really informative way. You Tube series maybe?

The Iphone Ap doesn't work anymore either!

It still doesn't allow you to search for a particular type of dog. You can't search by breed or activity levels or personality (eg really out going or quiet). Is this because they want people to look at all the pets available? Its a huge amount of dogs to wade through if your looking. It can out people off. I'd like to see a more specific search function included later on to narrow down the type of dog your looking for. eg age, size, breed, personality, grooming requirement, lots of grooming or low maintenance coat. Maybe even match your life style to the dogs on the site by answering some questions.

I agree with T. I rescue purebred Italian Greyhounds as well as other dogs. Generally the Iggies are pretty standard in temperament (sweet and gentle) but there are still variations in habits etc. We don't get them in and churn them out. We often have a waiting list but Iggies are pretty slow to learn anything - it's generally 2 weeks to learn a doggie door and toilet training and then they need more practice! The Iggy I've got here now is far more shy and nervous than the others I've had. He will need a very breed experienced and accepting home - he's spent 5 days in a crate - he can come out but he doesn't want to, very often and if I move in the wrong way he shoots back into the crate. He does come out when I'm not home as I come home to lots of poo and wee everywhere. He's obviously had a rotten home without much love and attention. It's almost impossible to correct that after several years but it will take him ages to learn to trust me and so he will be the same in a new home. I've had many, many foster dogs and I can't stand seeing dogs on Petrescue, fresh from the pound, sometimes even using the pound shot within 24 hours of being released. You cannot possibly know enough about them at that point - who has truly had time to assess them with children, cats, other dogs (all sizes), people, different situations etc. You couldn't have housetrained them within that time either - most dogs from the pound are not housetrained - it's irresponsible and not fair to the dog or prospective owners. Hmm totally agree... I think Rescues that ask for their carers to get a profile on petrescue ASAP after the dog has arrived is asking for trouble. I think that a dog should be assessed more closely. Some can have some real surprises. I know of a dog that hated men in beards and glasses but loved everyone else and would be super approachable. Though it would turn banana's if someone in glasses and a beard (ZZ top like) appraoched. It's stuff like this that catches you unaware and can't be found out in a few days or a week. In researching a new Rescue to volunteer for I found that some of the really great groups have 6 weeks minimum and in that time you have to expose the dog to certain things and report on it. The carer fills out a check list with a rating on the dogs reaction. Over the period in forster care they apply the stimuli a few times to guage the reaction from indifferent to anxious etc. I think this is a great way to go for assessing dogs for new homes. You would have a far better idea of the dog this way.

[quote name='dogmad' timestamp='1344462364' post='5924016' There are rescue groups out there who happily rescue and rehome medium/large dogs with aggression - they know it and they still do it. This is not only putting people and other animals at risk which I believe is unacceptable but it an unprincipled "save everything with a pulse" attitude is going to eventually ruin rescue for the good people and wonderful dogs. Bad news spreads faster than good and with the massive fine of $32,000 for the owner of the dog that killed Ayen Chol, it is madness to keep rescuing dogs with dodgy temperatments. Not only that but once a child/person is disfigured or killed, you cannot make things right nor bring them back. I would never want to be responsible for that but those who are should be severely punished. $32,000 doesn't cut it. I think this is such an important point here! It would be awful if this happened to someone who had adopted a Rescue dog and not know about the dogs problems! It could also open the rescue to being sued I think if the adoption was in its infancy and the people were not told about such things :/ " I have to honestly say I found it really upsetting when I read posts in a forum for "HELP my foster dog is attacking my little fluffy etc or is going crackers when the school kids walk past my window...What should I do???? To me thats an accident waiting to happen I'm glad this is being talked about becasue it seems taboo to PTS a dog thats been liberated from a pound only to be PTS a little further down the track becasue it's got dangerous problems

Thats another great idea if you want a rescue dog without the baggage. The only problem that could occur here is bad temprement. Usually if mum is good pups will be good but its a bit of a gamble with dad. Sometimes it leaves us all guessing exactly what the Dad(s) was! Some behaviourists and trainers recommend DNA testing of mixed breeds if your unsure becasue it gives a better idea what sorts of training you puppy will respond to! I think Bayer or one of those companies sell one for a very reasonable price these days! Good luck with finding the right dog. Hope it works out for you.

I hope you worked out why breed/type of dog was suited to your family and lifestyle first. That said by the sounds of it you have. If you have never had a rescue dog before try going for one with a known history. i.e being rehomed because owner died or is in a nursing home, family moving overseas etc. It's less of a surprise for you and its less likely to go wrong! I wouldn't recommend a dog with an unknown history and maybe a few little issues if your a first time dog owner or not experienced with the breed you want. Get invloved with a club of the breed your interested in (or dog training club if its a mutt) as it will help when you have questions of problems down the track. SOme rescues do provide help and advice later on some don't or do it for a limited time. As for the risk of things going wrong because its a rescue dog I'd be worried there? Has the dog shown any agression towards other dogs people etc, or have anxiety problems? If so walk very fast the other way as these are really hard problems to solve and can make life awful if your not prepared or experienced enough to deal with it. Make sure the dog had had a proper temprement test and has been checked for all sorts of agression and anxiety problems. I've seen so many people think they can cope and solve these problems only to relunctantly hand the dog back (with a lot of tears and heart break) becasue NO ONE was happy. ALso make sure the people doing the temprement test understand the breed as some dogs have their breed traits such aloofness mistaken for timidness and fear (very common for certain breeds in a pound or strange environment).

I don't want to go off your main topic, which is about extent of support to foster-carers. But I think you've made an excellent point here. 'Rescue' is double-pronged IMO. And the first step is prevention of dogs getting dumped or passed on to rescue. There's evidence that 'good' registered breeders who socialise their puppies well and are in firm control of litter numbers, actually produce dogs less likely to be dumped/passed on, down the track. These are the people who, as you say, place their dogs carefully... and are likelier to help with settling in support and to later take back their dogs if necessary. Supporting registered breeders who do all this, is prevention.... as well as setting a good example for how dogs should be bred, raised and homed. I'm glad you understand my point. The breed I was fostering has a lot of problems with deafness and blindness due to the fact people like the eye and fur colour associated with a particular gene that also causes the problems. Most unsuspecting people get one from a pet shop or back yard breeder for the looks and then discover their little bundle of joy is deaf or blind and in some horrible cases BOTH! These breeders would know about this as they are breeding the leathal combination for the looks. A good breeder won't do this and will NOT breed two dogs together that carry the genes for this colour. If they get this colour in a litter it will be a one off and the dog will be normal as it will only carry one set of the gene (and not both which is why it's commomly called leathal white). I know how to deal with deaf and blind dogs BUT a this point in time I wont own one as it takes a lot more effort to train and with 2 dogs of my own competing in agility and obedience I didn't want to adopt a 3rd that would take considerably more training and time away from my other dogs.

I so Agree with this statement. Sight hound breeds do very poorly in pound/unfamilar kennel environments. I can't board any of my sight hounds for this reason in a regular boarding kennel. I get home care or they go back to the breeders I got them from for a little holiday. I think they also mistake the aloofness of these breeds for timidness. My big boy hates strangers and will walk away from them if apporached. Yet with us he is a giant clown and a big baby with my kids. I think most sight hounds fit into this catergory, Unless your "their human" they wont have a bar of you. Also in rehoming these breeds people need to be aware the dog may ignore you for weeks before making friends.

Wow! That is amazing! The rescue I was volunteering for only did the basic vet work desex and vaccination. I had to provide everything else including medication if the dog had mange or skin problems! One foster I had came with nothing except a bad case of mange and kennel cough! It was an expensive exercise for me! I also had to put some serious training into this dog as well lucky I didn't need a behaviourist or I would have had to pay for that as well! GAP provides all the dogs needs too so all I have to provide is training and certain experiences (I got a guide book on what's expected) plus the most import thing a bit of love! I also have a 24 hour emergency number if it all goes pear shaped so I'm feeling a lot better about this attempt to foster.

I love adult adoptions! I get ex show dogs for all the above mentioned reasons! They make excellents pets and have been extensively socialised along with some basic obedience. I also have the same gripe about pet rescue! I find the whole look through all the profiles annoying too! I think a lot of people would like to find a certain breed or X. I also thinks it's bad just to classify the dogs by size :-/ It tells you nothing about the activity levels of a dog. I think the people want you to look at all the dogs but essetially most people want a particular type of dog. eg good with cats, can be alone during the day, good with kids etc. You can't put those details into a petrescue search which essentially the type of questions a responsible person wants to ask. I also found the look-a-like Ap interesting and fun but disturbing. It isn't a life style analyser it just matchs a dog to your face. Although many people DO look like their dogs I think it has a lot to do with personality matching and not just looks.

I would love to know of other groups people recommend to foster for. I do realise that not all groups are the same. In my case I think the group was growing way too fast and there was too much effort put into recruiting new foster carers rather than looking after the ones we had. I also feel that too many lovely people who wanted to help but had no idea about the breed and it needs were getting involved without good support and help. I think that watching these people struggle with dogs that were not bad, but were just being what the breed was, and not having the skills to cope was making some carers throw their hands up in dispair and leave. I also felt we should have said NO to some people as lovely as their offer was to help their lifestyle and time space life stuff wasn't really suited to foster care of this breed. It would have been better to pass them onto another rescue group that was looking for foster carers for dogs that suited their lifestyle better. I really hope that a lot of the new rescue groups out there read stuff on this forum as I have noticed a lot of posts about foster care and whats sorts of dogs are not suitable for rehoming. I know it would be great if we could save every dog but sadly some are victims of pure irresponsibilty on the human side and will never be good pets for anyone I would really like to see better education of people getting a dog and maybe even a sort of thing where you have to be an active member (ie attend classes) of a dog club to keep one. I know with some breeds you won't get a dog unless you have been a memeber of their breed specific club and attended a certain number of events etc. It would mean better educated dog owners and may prevent the wrong people getting a dog.

My Comment on paying people wasn't for the Foster Carers it was more for the people who co-ordinate. The Numbers of foster carers the co-ordinator was supposed to manage was huge for an unpaid person which I think contributed to the problems that were occuring with the group I was involved with. I am going to try again with foster care. I think my experience was probably due to the fact I began helping because my friend asked me and I really think she is a great buddy. I didn't probably get a feel for things like I normally would because of the friend link. My friend is still involved and she knows why I quit and I think she is probably just as disapointed as me. I think her tolerance for extreme views and ability to deal with the more extreme people is much greater than mine. I have contacted GAP and had a really great talk with the co-ordinator and asked all the questions I didn't last time. I'm looking at getting my first Foster Grey hound in October after spending sometime with a local breeder/racer who is more than willing to give me a bit of experience with his dogs as it will be his dog I will be fostering when it retires at the end of the month. I think it will be better this time as I did my research and I'm involved with a group that is holding the middle ground between racing and keeping Grey hounds as pets so I've been promised no "Fruit Loops" as extremes at either end are not tolerated by GAP under any circumstances. The co-ordinator assured me it was about giving Greyhounds as Racers a nice retirement but also giving Grey hound Racing a better future because some people believe it is a form of animal cruelty. Though I think not as watching the joy of my own hounds doing Zoomies and lure racing I don't quite believe it is ;-). As with everything there is always good and bad. So here I go again hopefully I got it right this time!

Thank you for that. I really want to foster again but the whole experience I've been through really left me feeling awful. I'm going to try fostering for an organisation that rehomes Racing Greyhounds but my experience from the other group was holding me back from applying. I loved the breeds I was working with but I'm too afraid to even post what they were because I don't want to be named (and it's totally unrelated to the breeds I keep myself). I'm scared of some of the people in this group as they can be awful to people who opt out or quit which I think is horribly unfair. The stuff that goes on in the forum after people get booted out or quit is awful so I'm trying to melt into the background and quietly drop out. I've chosen the greyhound people to try again because it seems they have heaps of support from the breeders and a paid co-ordinator who operates full time. There is even an emergency number if things go wrong and I believe there is some training involved as well. I do own sight hounds but I certainly am always keen to learn more from people who have been breeding and keeping these sorts of dogs longer than I have been alive. I think the racing industry backed support might also keep the extreme fruit loopers out I hope (fingers crossed).

I recently started volunteering for a Rescue. A friend asked me to help out becasue I had a lot expereince with the breeds they were working with and had actually worked and trained dogs for the work they are supposed to do. I have plenty of experience with the breeds this organisation was dealing with. I now want to distance myself from this rescue as I feel that Foster carers are given little or no support in the area of these breeds. They can post to a forum but when it comes to really difficult situations such as dog on dog agression or special needs dogs with deafness or blindness there is in reality little to no support. I was contacted by word of mouth from another state and discovered a carer had a deaf dog and was experiencing a huge amount of difficulty. She was contacting the admin staff by email and had no response other than from fellow carers. I'm watching a foster care revolving door with people leaving becasue they got a dog they couldn't cope with because they had little or no experience with the breed. What doesn't help is that there are pets and then dogs that should be doing what the breed has been breed for. There is No training at all provided for the carers even on basic breed habits and behaviours. A yard Check and Reference Check seems to be all thats needed which I find a bit unsettling. Most are learning on the go but even the foster co-ordinators don't have that much experience with the breeds we are dealing with. I have voiced a few of my concerns but they have been met with the answer we don't have those sort of resourses. I'm lucky as I'm extemely experienced with the breed but other are not. I feel like I get shouted down a lot when say a dog is badly bred and beyond help becasue it's temprement is KRUD and it should be PTS as no sound breeder would even let a dog like this be adopted or bred for that matter. I also feel at times that my unwillingness to foster a X causes resentment. I won't foster a X because I don't know what it will be like and I will only deal with what I know. I'm also frustraited with the extreme ethics involved with not dealing with certain places for advertising or how often a dog that should be PTS is saved when really it was a badly breed dog in the first place with serious temprement issues due to bad breeding and NOT mistreatment as they seemed to think. This really comes down to the serious inexperience of the people involved and for a bunch who really want to protect themselves from getting a bad name are going the wrong way about it. I also was recently hurt by a post which I don't think I was supposed to see because I adopted a dog from a breeder and NOT from this rescue group. The comment was if I was so experienced with these breeds why didn't I adopt one of the dogs that needed an experienced home? The point was that the type of dog I wanted DOESN'T end up in rescue because the breeders are very cagie about who their dogs go to and I'm not willing to adopt the breeds from this organisation because I'm experienced enough to know that right now I can't give these breeds of dogs the home they need. The whole experience has left me really upset and I don't think I ever want to foster again. It's even put me off getting a rescue dog in the future because of what I've seen. I'm passionate about this breed of dog but I don't think any justice is being done here and I worry about what it's doing for the future of Rescue animals becasue I don't think I'm alone here. I really want to see more effort put into training and making sure Foster carers are actually able to cope and can get support when they can't cope. Also it might be time to pay people too as Volunteers are great but at a cetain point when things grow to a certain size you need to start paying to aviod employing Monkey's! I think the work load some VOlunteers are expected to take on without pay is extreme and unfair and I think some co-ordinators should be paid to attract the right people and make sure that the training and support is in place. It may mean less money for dogs but I think it will improve the outsome for the dogs in the long run and maybe even increase the number of carers in the long term becasue they have good management and support.