Fostering is the least visible part of the rescue system and the part that decides most outcomes. A dog in a home, observed by someone who can describe how it behaves on stairs, with a vacuum cleaner, with a cat and when left alone, is far easier to place well than a dog in a kennel.
It also suits households that want a dog and are not certain, or who travel too much for a permanent commitment. And it is not free of complications, which is where this article is useful.
What it usually involves
A rescue places a dog with you for a period, from a fortnight to several months. Normally the organisation keeps legal ownership, covers veterinary costs at its own vet, and makes the final decision on adopters. You provide the home, the routine and the observations.
Before you commit, get the practical arrangement in writing:
- Who pays for food, equipment and veterinary treatment, and whether there is a limit
- Which practice to use, and what happens out of hours
- Who decides on treatment in an emergency, and how they are reached at two in the morning
- How long the placement is expected to last, and what happens if it does not work
- Whether the dog is insured, and by whom, and how the compulsory civil liability cover is arranged
- Whether you may take the dog out of the country
- How adopters are screened and how much say you have
- What support exists if a behaviour problem appears
The liability question is not a detail. Ask explicitly which policy covers damage caused by the dog while it is living with you.
The first fortnight
Run it exactly like a new adoption. Keep the world small: no visitors in the first week, no dog parks, short repetitive walks on the same route, a lead at all times outdoors, and a quiet place the dog can retreat to.
Expect the familiar curve: a few days of shock, a couple of weeks of the dog relaxing and starting to express preferences, and only then something like its real personality. Behaviour that appears in week three is the dog settling, not a deterioration.
Two safety points for any newly arrived dog: a well-fitted harness with a second attachment point, because frightened dogs reverse out of harnesses, and an identity tag with your number even though the microchip is registered to the organisation.
Your most valuable contribution
Not training. Observation, written down. The notes that place a dog well are specific and unflattering where necessary:
- How long it can be left alone, tested properly and filmed
- How it is with cats, children at a distance, men, bicycles, other dogs on and off lead
- Whether it guards food, chews or spaces
- How it travels in a car, copes with stairs and lifts, and behaves in a vet's waiting room
- House training, sleep, appetite, and any medical observations
- What frightens it and what it does when frightened
An honest profile produces a match that lasts. A flattering one produces a dog back in rescue in six weeks, and that is worse for everybody.
The parts people find hard
The handover. Most foster carers describe the first one as genuinely difficult, and the ones who continue say it gets easier because you can see the outcome. Meeting the adopters, and keeping a channel open for the first weeks, helps a great deal.
Foster fail, meaning keeping the dog yourself, is common and not a disaster, but it should be a decision rather than an accident. Discuss with the organisation before you start what happens if you want to adopt.
And be honest about your own household. If you have a resident dog, fostering means a stranger in its home every few months, with separate feeding, separate chews and gated introductions. Some dogs manage that easily. Some do not, and it is not fair to insist.
If you are in Luxembourg
Ask the organisation how the communal declaration and the dog tax are handled while the dog lives with you, and get the answer in writing rather than assuming. Ask the same about the compulsory liability insurance.
If you work full days, fostering is still possible with the same arrangement any working household needs: a break in the middle of the day. It is worth telling the organisation that you have it, because it widens the range of dogs you can take, including the anxious ones that most need a home rather than a kennel.
General information for dog owners in Luxembourg, not veterinary or legal advice. For your own dog, ask your vet, a qualified behaviourist or your commune. How this journal is written and checked.
Away from your dog all day?
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