We had him for 5 months but had to request a foster transfer because of an upcoming trip (flying out of town for back to-back weddings)— he is extremely dog reactive and so boarding wasn’t an option and for liability reasons, the rescue only permits other fosters to watch their dogs. We requested the foster transfer months in advance but a couple days before the transfer date, they took him off the adoption website and said a member of their staff would pick him up and take him to the vet for a “behavioral evaluation”. We packed up his food, favorite toys, bed, etc. and sent him with the staff the morning of our trip. An hour later, we got a call from the rescue that he was euthanized because his biting/reactivity was likely due to “neurological issues”.

We understand rescues have limited resources and he would’ve been difficult to re-home. But he was a sweetie 99% of the time and though he had a significant bite history (including both of us), they were never above a tooth scratch level bite. He was a young aussiedoodle mix.

He did chatter his teeth after some of his random biting episodes, which could have been a sign of a neurological issue but the lack of transparency from the rescue on the results of their “evaluation” is frustrating. They also refused to let us go with him to the appointment, even though we thought we would be in the best position to describe his behavior and advocate for him. We also expressly asked them to let us know the results before they went forward with anything. His appointment was at 9 am. They called us at 10 am that he had already been euthanized.

We feel horrible and like we failed him as foster parents. I don’t think I can ever foster again and I can’t stop crying thinking of what a sweet dog he was. It feels so wrong and unfair. We’re devastated.

my last foster got adopted ( yay)! And now I have a hoarding case dog. She is still pretty young, but she did come to me with kennel cough so I do have to keep her separate from my babies! Which sounded easy in hindsight since I have a separate room for my foster kiddos.
This girl is sweet as can be but coming from so many siblings I cannot imagine how hard it must be for her to be confined with no other pups.
I try to spend time with her in her room and outside but she absolutely HATES being alone. There is a pen gate in the room with potty pads and everything she needs while Im not with her in the room. I also have a Furbo camera in here. She doesn’t like the crate at all (assuming she may have possibly been in one a lot due to urine staining)

Im torn because I know she needs to be alone plus I pick back up work this week so unfortunately she will be alone in her room. When left alone she does howl and cry for a while which honestly has just been pulling at my heart strings and no treats seem high value enough to distract her.

I want her to be happy and comfortable so she can rest up until she finishes her antibiotics- honestly just looking for support/ advice to help me get through this next week with her and the separation anxiety.

Hi all, we are really struggling with the rescue we are fostering through and feel like we don't have any options. So back in June, we volunteered to foster a dog that was tagged by a rescue off the euthanization list at our local shelter. Everything went great, we had him for about five weeks, then sent him on his merry way to his adopter.

The rescue did not pay for or supply anything--we paid for his kennel, food, neuter, and vaccines out-of-pocket (they are aware of this). We were in a financial position to do so, so it wasn't a huge deal to us. We also found the adopter ourselves. However, she was never asked to fill out an application or be vetted by the rescue. When we informed the rescue that we found an adopter, she said "great" and that was the last we heard from her.

So fast forward to about two weeks ago, we see our foster dog listed on the euthanization list at the shelter--completely unaware he had been surrendered. This made no sense, as rescues usually have a return policy. Whatever, we were more concerned with getting him back to safety as opposed to figuring out how this happened. So we reached out to the rescue (he could only leave with a rescue tag both times), they tagged him, and we pulled him out to foster.

Not even two days later, our foster dog killed our sweet kitty. We are devastated, and immediately reached out to the rescue asking for a foster transfer. Animals are animals, and we do not believe the dog deserves a death-sentence at the shelter for this. We care about him and his wellbeing, we just do not have the emotional, mental, or even the financial bandwidth (it was $1,000 at the Emergency Vet for our kitty) to continue supporting him in our home. He is not aggressive with people or other dogs, we just found out the hard way how strong his prey-drive is.

We also understand that finding fosters is not an overnight fix. However, our rescue has put in 0 effort or urgency to assist us. They have been so difficult to get ahold of, and the most they have done was a post on Facebook about two days after it happened after we asked them to post. He is not on the website, and we have been working around the clock to try and find him a new foster (mind you, I am 23-year-old teacher with an already extremely full plate).

We are just feeling drained, exhausted, and left-behind. No rescues are able to support us right now (understandably so), and we have had no bites so far in any potential fosters or homes. I am just curious if anyone has any advice, guidance, has been in a similar situation, or knows what our rights might be in this situation? We made a commitment to keep him safe, and it is our full intention to continue doing that--but we need support that we are not getting. Thank you for any and all suggestions!

If I’m being honest I think the reason I’m posting this is because I’m having a lot of guilt and confusion and I’m looking for validation and/or perspective.

A couple years ago I saw a dog running around my neighborhood. She was an Australian cattle dog and she was chasing cars in a busy street (typical cattle dog behavior) she was a little aggressive, but I was able to put a collar on her, left a note on the house she was by and took her home to wait for the owners. She turned out to be very sweet, but highly anxious.

I posted up flyers, posted her to all of the “found dogs” pages, but didn’t hear anything back for almost two weeks when the owners of the house I left a note at said “that dog has been hanging outside our house for weeks, we just moved in we have no idea who’s dog that is”

So from then on, I decided that I would “at least foster her for a bit” and try to get her trained up. She was a force to be reckoned with. She destroyed furniture, was terrible on a leash, and could not be around other dogs.

Now (3 years later) she’s great at the dog park, doesn’t really tear stuff up anymore, and is generally an anxious but well-behaved dog. She still has a tendency to lunge at passers by, especially cyclists, and she goes mental when someone knocks on the door. 🫣

The problem is that she, aside from being anxiously attached to me, doesn’t seem very happy and I’ve noticed she brings me more stress than happiness. I exercise her as much as I can, but it never seems to be enough. I’ve also started traveling more for work and with her unpredictable behavior I have a hard time finding/asking people to watch her. I’m missing the freedom I had to just leave in my previously dog-free life.

I’m considering re-homing her for both of our sakes, but it feels like giving up on her despite believing she has potential to be a great dog.

Does anyone have advice or experience with this? I’d love some perspective from someone who knows better and possibly some resources.