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Foster Failures And Continued Fostering


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Do you have a formal or informal rule that anyone who adopts a foster they are fostering is no longer used as a foster home?

An American friend mentioned it to me when I was chatting about my concerns about a cat situation. I have never heard of it before, but it does make sense to me.

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Why does that make sense? The first cat I fostered I adopted and I have had hundreds of dogs, cats, goats, chickens & ducks since then. I also now run two rescues (Peiradise and Basically Bigguns). I have a number of foster carers who have "failed" a foster but continued to foster other dogs for me. The adopt the dog as a normal adopter would. Usually I can tell if a dog is going to be a failed foster when I place it anyway.

If it is the right home for the animal and they are still willing and able to foster, why would it make sense to tell them they can no longer foster?

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I "failed" with foster puppy number 45... and she now helps me foster other pups. We are up to around number 90-something now... *grin*

If a foster carer is willing, able, and not likely to want to adopt/keep every dog that they foster, then why not let them keep doing it?

It's not like a good foster carer is really easy to come by...

T.

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It makes sense to me if you're looking to exclude hoarding risks from your foster program or people who are not temperamentally suited to fostering.

Might be a heavy way to do it, but I would start to reconsider a foster carer's suitability if they had two foster failures and no successes moving dogs on. Perhaps it's more a question of ratios - ie, 10 dogs moved on, 1 FF, not an issue. No dogs moved on 3 FF, probably not a good idea to ask them to foster again.

Edited to put in a missing word.

Edited by SkySoaringMagpie
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As a foster carer I'd be really upset to be excluded from fostering if I had an FF. I don't think carers can help developing a strong connection with certain animals but hopefully they are assessed as suitable adopters in the same way all other potential adopters are.

Of course the number of dogs permanently in a household may then change a carer's capacity to continue fostering. Mind you, it still shocks me how many dogs some of you own/support in your households. I know three is my limit!

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I can see where you are coming from. My foster carers are not responsible for rehoming the dogs and my rule is if they intend declaring an FF then they need to do so prior to any adoption interest. I will not disappoint an adoptive family on the whims of a foster parent. I recently decided not to place a dog with a perfectly good foster carer because I knew they would be tempted to fail it (but were not in a position to do so at that time and the dog had a LOT of interest). The foster carer was cool with that and willingly accepted another dog as a foster. Should another dog come along that suits them as a permanent and the timing is right then I would let them know first.

In my experience a lot of people use foster as a way of shopping for a dog that fits and that's fine by me so long as the dog gets the right home.

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Hell no. That excludes half the people in rescue.

IMHO "Success moving dogs on" is not the duty of a carer, more-so the rescue who is doing the promoting and vetting of applications. If someone is not what you'd approve to adopt a dog then don't give them fosters. Easy.

eta: yes Ams I see the your point about temptation. :laugh:

Edited by Powerlegs
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Ams I know what you are saying.I always wanted my two greyhound boys.After FF Stan I was only sent girls from my rescue group then oops...fell in love with Maddie....but as you said I would've been tempted to fail earlier if I had another boy.

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I foster failed with my third rescue. I got her home and knew there wasn't something quite right about her. She was an absolute delight, who took over my life and won my heart in an instant, she was gone in around3 months.She was PTS on the operating table, her little body riddled with cancer.

I never regretted Sarah being a failure and I've since opened my home to others, some I could have easily kept.

I currently have a little Italian who was also a failure and he probably won't be the last.

I show and breed and don't really have the room for extra permanent dogs that aren't part of the show team, breeding program or are retired dogs of my own, but every now and then one comes along and for whatever reason, they end up staying.

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After around 10 years we fostered faliured our very first dog. It makes absolutely no sense to deney a foster carer because they adopted a dog. A foster carer may not be able to foster again though if they adopt due to lack of room but I would never deney them!

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I kept 3 kttens in total from a lot of litters I hand raised over time. I dont consider myself a failure though, as I rehomed quite a few along the way.Didnt see why I couldnt adopt as well.

I fell in love with some pups I fostered, was tempted, but knew there was a better home than mine for them, and I was right.

My other pets I have adopted outright.

Do not foster at present,as my old dog is happier being the only dog, after a few dogs have passed through the household over the years. Have to respect his wishes.

We have lost 3 pets over the past 15 months and we are down to just 2 now.Time to just reflect and grieve for who we have lost.

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Guest donatella

Dumb!

Of course they shouldn't be denied, you'd have no foster carers left as so many have foster failures.

Not even in the same category as hoarding which is a serous mental illness that takes months of therapy involving heavy psychological input and planning.

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Does not make any sense.

I think people who are not suited to fostering (but full of good intentions :laugh:) usually stop after the first attempt.

My first foster dog became a ff. Great outcome but I know that I cannot foster.

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How silly.

I have three animals at my house. Two are foster failures (although one I kinda knew from the start was staying :laugh: ).

I've moved on two others and there's another kitten at my house now. I love him to death and if I only had one cat I'd keep him, but I know that I don't need a third cat and I'm just happy that his life was saved and he'll find a lovely family.

If they've failed three in a row then maybe... But one foster failure? How silly.

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Foster 2 we failed after an hour, and foster ~12 is with us until the end due to some health and attitude issues making him unsuitable to rehome. We've put up the 'house full' sign for a while, but will go back to it when we have more space in our lives. I can see why a group would look carefully if someone has a FF, but it would have to be on a case by case basis I'd think.

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