# My fellow foster parents



## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Yup - its 3 a.m right now... 

I got another foster dog who just came to me about 9 tonight ... He was found outside left to fend for himself on a reserve out side of my city. 

About 4 month old husky cross. 

What a mess he has come to me as- he smelled so badly my entire house smelled of him. It took two full Washings in the tub just to get the dirt off him! Never mind the smell seems to be into his skin, 

One other thing is he has worms- I have never seen them before and completely flipped out when I saw them moving in his poop!!! Ugh!!! 

He is so hungry he won't stop eating .. And as much as I'm against kibble, with all he has been through I'm going to hold off on feeding him raw for a day or so. Till he is a bit more settled. 

But just wondering ( as in this forum I only talk with you guys, even though I think this should be in a general discussion I want your stories!) 

Have any of you delt with this much of a "mess" for a pup? 
He is a good boy and well mannered but so scared of everything.. He dosent and didn't have a name do its hard to try and teach him things... He dosent even know the word "no" 

I could use some opinions and stories  as he has decided he's going to cry all night - I'm exhausted. 

Need some hope here for this foster pup!


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

I don't have any experience fostering, but I would say at 4 months old, he still has a GREAT chance of turning out just fine. And he's lucky to have found you. Good luck! Hope you get some sleep =)


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I have no prior experience fostering animals but we may have our first foster coming to live with us next month... 

Apparently, in my drunken state, I agree to take in animals...

She is a cat/kitten who we think is under a year old. She is a gorgeous little calico. I hate cats but apparently I fell in love with this one. Saturday afternoon, Nick was washing the Jeep in the driveway and a woman about our age was walking her dog up, saw my two boys (all four of us were outside, but I wasn't helping. Heehee) and came over to pet them. We got to talking. She saw Nick with the bucket since our hose is too short to reach the driveway, offered to let him use hers and invited me to walk to her house with her to grab it. Buck and I met the cat.

Long story short: She and I went back to her place to have a drink. We took longer than expected and forgot about Nick. He came over to the backyard where we were with Dude and the drinks started flowing. We barbecued and talked and at some point we told her we would take the cat since she is terribly allergic to her. Her friend dumped the poor cat on her and moved and she has been keeping this cat, despite her allergies, because she doesn't want to take her to the shelter. 

So, next month, after she is spayed, microchipped, and vaccinated she will be coming to live with us until we find her a permanent home. This will be interesting as Nick and I have had cats before but aren't cat people. I haven't had a cat since I was in elementary school and Nick had a cat before he joined the Navy about three years ago. Nick is mildly allergic to cats but nothing that would really hinder his way of life so she will definitely be better off with us.

While we aren't technically fostering her, we are calling her a foster because we already know we can't keep her. The poor girl has already lived with two people. One who obviously didn't want her and another who is very allergic to her. 

On the plus side, Brandy was intrigued by raw and let us give her two little mutts one chicken wing each while our dogs were eating THEIR dinner!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I know exactly what you mean. We took in a collie youngster about 8 months who lives staked out to a dog house in his own filth. Terrified of everyone but desperate for love, a matted stinking mess, skinny as a rail, worms, anemic, with nails almost into his pads. He was a mess. We fed kibble at the time. We fed him tiny meals many times per day, I used ground pumpkin seed and Grapefruit Seed extract for the worms and that took almost 6 weeks to totally test negative. Anemia cleared up with consistent feeding. The hardest for him was behavior - scared but wanting attention. We ended up leashing him to one of us at all times with very little attention. If he sought out affection we pet him for a second or two. Anything that frightened him we ignored his reaction or started feeding him some food as treats to distract him. By four weeks he could walk with any family member with minimal fearful reactions. We allowed no one else to approach directly as it was just too much stimulus - About 6 weeks he started approaching people while we were at the kids park or lake and just got better from there. Grooming took forever as I did not want to shave him. We bathed every other day for 6 or 7 baths. He smelled horrendous. I did have to take some chucks out of the back and from his under belly but saved most of his coat. I think that letting a scared dog look for affection when he is ready really relieves some pressure - though keeping him leashed taught him exactly the desired behavior I was looking for without any harshness. He learned we were safe and would keep him safe. He lives 20 minutes from us in Federal Way with his new family - he is a spoiled house dog with 2 little girls of his own. I see hima couple of time a year for pet sitting. It is so worth it. Thanks for taking in this little guy.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

I could bore you with stories all day. Last one I took in I put video and photos on here for everyone to see. It was a 12 week old starved Dachshund pup that the owner was keeping in a milk crate.
I've had tons that were so wormy that when they got dewormed there wasn't even poop coming out but just a solid mass of worms. The worst one was the puppy that threw up live worms. I can only imagine that meant there was no room in her intestines for any more....
I've bottle fed puppies that were almost dead from being put in a trashbag in a dumpster, as well as many that were brought into the pound without their moms. Stinky, matted, ingrown collars, half their desired body weight, 3 times their desired body weight, parvo, upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, ringworm, aggression issues, fear issues, deaf, blind, old, you name it, I've fostered it. 
But I love it and even though I'm trying to take an extended break, I'll do it again when the time is right.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Well, your dealing with a husky so you have more issues to deal with than just the fact that he was basically abandoned and left to fend for himself..My current foster was basically left outside with not much contact, I take him everywhere with me when I'm not working..

If your crating him, put something of yours in the crate..If not, and your basically gating him in a room like I do with my fosters, I leave toys and have big beef ribs, like over a foot long for him to chew on while I'm home..It's a real safe place for him..

I did add a teaspoon of pumpkin (organic, nothing added) to the higher quality kibble when I started them on Acana, they previously were on crappy grocery store kibble.

Lot's of face time, positive reinforcement and consistency...I think consistency is what I try to tell all adopters as this is what all dogs need the most.

Good Luck, hope it gets better in a couple days.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

Dude and Bucks Mamma said:


> Apparently, in my drunken state, I agree to take in animals...


We may be related....:biggrin:


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## monkeys23 (Dec 8, 2010)

My husky mixes are both other people's throwaways that weren't properly socialized, etc. I take my dogs everywhere with me and it helped a lot. Now the first two weeks, I'd keep things very low key and stick around home, but after that yeah set up as many good experiences as possible for that dog. And every dog is going to be different, like when I got Lily she bounced back very, very quickly and you'd never know today that she was beaten and dumped to fend for herself. Scout on the other hand has been a much longer journey and probably will be her entire life. And Scout has had very nice owners since being born into rescue as a puppy and I know for a fact she was never abused (except for the unsupervised toddlers in the home before I took her). Genetics do play a large role in addition to experiences and I don't think I fully understood just how much until I began living with Scout. 

Given the mix, I'd go directly to raw. But thats just my opinion from knowing how that breed type's digestive system tends to be very sensitive and stuff.

Btw my dog Lily's only issue that she still has is that she's a compulsive eater. More so than dogs naturally are. She just can't help it. Its not a big deal to watch her. 
When I first got her and she was eating crap food at the shelter and not getting enough nutrients, she would grab anything off the ground gum you name it! And she was a major poo eater, even her own. It took a lot of leave it training and getting a few months of high quality food into her before she could relax and not worry about that stuff. Also, she's fine with humans and food, but she cannot be eating with other animals in her face. Which seems fair enough to me, no one should have to feel like they need to fight for their food. I don't think she'd be that way if she hadn't been dumped.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Liz said:


> I know exactly what you mean. We took in a collie youngster about 8 months who lives staked out to a dog house in his own filth. Terrified of everyone but desperate for love, a matted stinking mess, skinny as a rail, worms, anemic, with nails almost into his pads. He was a mess. We fed kibble at the time. We fed him tiny meals many times per day, I used ground pumpkin seed and Grapefruit Seed extract for the worms and that took almost 6 weeks to totally test negative. Anemia cleared up with consistent feeding. The hardest for him was behavior - scared but wanting attention. We ended up leashing him to one of us at all times with very little attention. If he sought out affection we pet him for a second or two. Anything that frightened him we ignored his reaction or started feeding him some food as treats to distract him. By four weeks he could walk with any family member with minimal fearful reactions. We allowed no one else to approach directly as it was just too much stimulus - About 6 weeks he started approaching people while we were at the kids park or lake and just got better from there. Grooming took forever as I did not want to shave him. We bathed every other day for 6 or 7 baths. He smelled horrendous. I did have to take some chucks out of the back and from his under belly but saved most of his coat. I think that letting a scared dog look for affection when he is ready really relieves some pressure - though keeping him leashed taught him exactly the desired behavior I was looking for without any harshness. He learned we were safe and would keep him safe. He lives 20 minutes from us in Federal Way with his new family - he is a spoiled house dog with 2 little girls of his own. I see hima couple of time a year for pet sitting. It is so worth it. Thanks for taking in this little guy.



Thanks for your reply!! It really helps more then you know as I have had fosters but none this "bad" for a lack f better words. 
He wants to be loved! You can tell! He is so sweet and lovable ( the smell makes it hard but I am working through it!!) 
And the coat is similar to yours.. Matted and stuff stuck into it. I will do what you did! 
Now as far as the behaviors go ... What words did you use? Or sounds? Cause the word "no" means nothing to him... This would help if I knew what to do as far as that goes !


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Donna Little said:


> I could bore you with stories all day. Last one I took in I put video and photos on here for everyone to see. It was a 12 week old starved Dachshund pup that the owner was keeping in a milk crate.
> I've had tons that were so wormy that when they got dewormed there wasn't even poop coming out but just a solid mass of worms. The worst one was the puppy that threw up live worms. I can only imagine that meant there was no room in her intestines for any more....
> I've bottle fed puppies that were almost dead from being put in a trashbag in a dumpster, as well as many that were brought into the pound without their moms. Stinky, matted, ingrown collars, half their desired body weight, 3 times their desired body weight, parvo, upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, ringworm, aggression issues, fear issues, deaf, blind, old, you name it, I've fostered it.
> But I love it and even though I'm trying to take an extended break, I'll do it again when the time is right.



WOW!!! Big patts on the back for u!!!


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> Well, your dealing with a husky so you have more issues to deal with than just the fact that he was basically abandoned and left to fend for himself..My current foster was basically left outside with not much contact, I take him everywhere with me when I'm not working..
> 
> If your crating him, put something of yours in the crate..If not, and your basically gating him in a room like I do with my fosters, I leave toys and have big beef ribs, like over a foot long for him to chew on while I'm home..It's a real safe place for him..
> 
> ...


Thanks! I'm only crating him at night bc he has worms and my dog is a poop eater- so I don't want it to be spread around and I have another foster as well who is 2.5 lbs and if it spreads that will suck!! 

But yes this guy has a long road ahead of him... But I'm happy to be a part of it  just a little confussed how to give him what he needs as I haven't had one do troubled yet.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Honestly with such an unsocialized little one sounds may be better and more gentle. SShhh for quiet, ack instead of no or uhuh, kinda of clicking sound for his attention. That's what we do at first and when he starts knowing he is safe we add sords like shhh-quiet, or ack-no, clicking and good boy. That's just us. I try to be very undemanding and let him ask for what he needs and still give direction by having his leash on so I can invite him to me or hep keep him in an area. He learns to stay close to people and yet not be in your lap all the time. Just near you is good. I am glad you are crating him so he can learn to be alone comfortably too and be reassured you will come back for him and he is safe.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Liz said:


> Honestly with such an unsocialized little one sounds may be better and more gentle. SShhh for quiet, ack instead of no or uhuh, kinda of clicking sound for his attention. That's what we do at first and when he starts knowing he is safe we add sords like shhh-quiet, or ack-no, clicking and good boy. That's just us. I try to be very undemanding and let him ask for what he needs and still give direction by having his leash on so I can invite him to me or hep keep him in an area. He learns to stay close to people and yet not be in your lap all the time. Just near you is good. I am glad you are crating him so he can learn to be alone comfortably too and be reassured you will come back for him and he is safe.



Wow that's a really awesome method! I like it alot! 
Thanks that sounds much easier!!


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

Donna Little said:


> We may be related....:biggrin:


You may be right... Oh dear G'd... I'm going to have a tiny zoo...

Nope. The cat has to go. It's cat or xolo.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I have no words of advice except to say bless you! There are billions of people who would never allow a smelly wormy fearful dog into their house, and a very tiny few who would. You are one of the very tiny few.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

xellil said:


> I have no words of advice except to say bless you! There are billions of people who would never allow a smelly wormy fearful dog into their house, and a very tiny few who would. You are one of the very tiny few.



Really? Thanks! I love dogs so much! I couldn't imagine not taking him in. And just a small update- in just 48 hours he is house broken!! What a smart guy! He taught himself to go on the pee pad when I wasn't looking! And is learning his name and the word "come" already! 

He is getting a more confident around people and also knowing that there is always food! 
I have bathed him 4 times now and he almost dosent stink any more- I think he may have been sprayed by a skunk? Anyone know how to get rid of that? Lol
But it's so rewarding to see him moving along so quickly! Dogs are amazing like that!!!
And if I were aloud big dogs in my condo- I would keep him, he's that amazing!! 
I will be sad the day I have to say good bye


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow - that is fast progress! You can give yourself a big pat on the back. It's amazing what a little love and attention (and a few baths) will do.

I used tomato juice but I think there are better methods, or so I've learned here  Can't remember what they are, dang it.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

xellil said:


> Wow - that is fast progress! You can give yourself a big pat on the back. It's amazing what a little love and attention (and a few baths) will do.
> 
> I used tomato juice but I think there are better methods, or so I've learned here  Can't remember what they are, dang it.



I know! This dog is so smart he makes me look like a pro trainer! Haha! I'm so happy for him bc his adoption process will be easy and he is so lovable that he makes it even easier! 
But really it's all him ! I just bathed him haha! He has figured out so much on his own!


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## Noodlesmadison (Sep 18, 2011)

Oh I have my stories lol. My last foster was a 14 year old shih tzu... totally mess.. Matted ( I had to shave her tight) and neurological problems galore. Her skin was terrible. I wasn't feeding raw then, but gave her high end kibble. She ate and ate. The second night was much better. Her skin was already less inflamed up (Due to the matting and the food - I think compared to the beneful they fed her, Taste of the wild was heaven lol) The first night SUCKS. I haven't fostered in about a year but I remember it sucked the first night, that I never slept. After that the week was wonderful.. she just needed good food, a warm bed and kisses. It gets so much better. We had to put her to sleep a week later  She had incredibly painful kidney stones that couldn't be removed. I miss that little thing so bad...

Edit: But even from a week of eating better, she was improving a lot. So if she was fed raw, she probably would have looked ten times better. There is a lot of hope! Especially for puppies!


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## Noodlesmadison (Sep 18, 2011)

I should, also, add: You are such a good soul for taking him in. Thank you


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Noodlesmadison said:


> I should, also, add: You are such a good soul for taking him in. Thank you



Awe poor girl! 
I don't have to put him down thank god! I was with a friend once when she had to do it and I was so heart broken for so long! That's aboard choice to have to make. 
But your amazing for having given her a life while she was here- 
Dogs are these amazing, forgiving creatures. And can do so easily it always amazes me, how they can come from a horrible past and have a amazing furtute bc they can forgive and forget!


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

You can bathe him with 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide plus 1/4 cup baking soda plus 1 teaspoon of liquid soap. This is our recipe at my grooming kennel.


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

lovemydogsalways said:


> You can bathe him with 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide plus 1/4 cup baking soda plus 1 teaspoon of liquid soap. This is our recipe at my grooming kennel.


Nice!! That's for the secret recipe!! I'm on it!!


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## Deaf Dogs (Apr 10, 2012)

I've fostered many a dog from reserves... yes they smell, they have worms, usually have some type of mange, lice, and the most horrid diarrhea for about a week, until they get used to getting food. But they're worth it in the end! Rez dogs are awsome pets!


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## Halliebrooks (Dec 8, 2011)

Deaf Dogs said:


> I've fostered many a dog from reserves... yes they smell, they have worms, usually have some type of mange, lice, and the most horrid diarrhea for about a week, until they get used to getting food. But they're worth it in the end! Rez dogs are awsome pets!


I agree- all the dogs we rescue are from reserves surrounding my city. He is my third now and honestly they have all been these amazing bundle of joy in my life. They make me smile everyday as they learn and come out of their shells. 
But normally they come to me after they are cleaned up- he was a emerg. Situation.. Guess I have been spoiled a bit  cause I know most are not healthily when they arrive.


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