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Hi
I have taken in a little foster dog who has a host of medical problems. I'm keeping him separate from my two dogs because 1) the foster has a staph infection and who knows what else and 2). My dogs are very mean to newcomers and my foster baby doesn't need that type of stress.
When the foster dog is out, my dogs are in the master bedroom. When my dogs are out, the foster dog is in the spare bedroom.
My problem is that the little foster dog hates going into his crate in the room alone. He barks a lot. I turned on a radio to the classic music channel and I gave him a ticking clock, a pillow, and a stuffed toy, but he still hates it in there. I take him out every 2-4 hours and we go on several walks a day.
Is there anything else that might soothe him?
How old is this little guy? How much time are you getting to spend with him?
With all of the new fosters I've brought in they are very needy and want to be close to you. No matter the age they need a lot of individual attention to grow and blossom.
Once this dog recovers from his medical problems it's going to be very important to socialize him.
Do you know anything about his past or what he's been used to?
You are absolutely wonderful for fostering this little guy. We truly need more poeple like you out there!
All these rescue dogs need alot of attention. Where they all came from most got none! For the short time you might have this little guy try to spend as much time with him as possible. I have a new dog I found and am nursing her back from heartworm. She has not met my other pack members yet except thru a gate at the doorway into the room I keep her. Every other night I sleep in that room. I would do the same if I were you. Try to minimize the crate time for this little one! He/She needs tons of TLC right now! Also try giving it one of those white hard bones with the flavor stuff (bacon/mollases, I think it is)in the middle. The only place I can find them is Petsmart. They are like 5 dollars each but last forever. They love to try to lick the stuff out of the middle! He will enjoy it and it will keep him busy for that alone time! A major brand company makes them so they are safe...It is Dentleys! Good luck with the little guy!
I once had a foster dog we named Ruby, she came from Aruba, she hated men and especially ones that wore hats. Short story, after nine months of fostering her a man came into the Pestmart Adoption Day with his wife, he had a baseball hat on and Ruby fell in love with these people! Go figure! Long story short, they adopted her! And gave her a wonderful home!
The city pound picked up Skye from an open field on June 1st. He was transferred to a no kill shelter on June 5th. Had surgery for bilateral cherry eye. He was staying in a small pen at the no-kill shelter before I took him home. I would guess he gets a total of about 4 hours a day with me. I take him out of his pen often to walk, potty and cuddle. I want to spend more time, but I don't want to neglect my dogs. They are also rescues who have some issues (they weren't socialized when they were growing up so they are afraid of many things, new people, etc..)
I would love to take him to the park or petsmart but I don't want to spread around any of his medical issues.
The pound called him 6 months old. The shelter that I got him from called him 2 years old. He has his adult teeth and they are fairly white. I would guess he is between 1.5 and 2 years.
I attached a picture.
Thanks for the advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeddieXRuxpin
How old is this little guy? How much time are you getting to spend with him?
With all of the new fosters I've brought in they are very needy and want to be close to you. No matter the age they need a lot of individual attention to grow and blossom.
Once this dog recovers from his medical problems it's going to be very important to socialize him.
Do you know anything about his past or what he's been used to?
You are absolutely wonderful for fostering this little guy. We truly need more poeple like you out there!
Not much you can do til the Staf infection clears up. Then I would move his crate into the room you and the other dogs are in. Start slowly introducing them. What breeds are they?
I have a red heeler mix and a belgian malinois mix. They are fairly dog friendly (malinois is very dominate). But they are very packish when they are together.
I was going to take in another foster a few months ago. But I took my dogs to the shelter to meet her first. I took my dogs one at a time several times a week for 3 weeks. When everyone seemed to be getting along, I took both my dogs at the same time and it was too pretty. Both my dogs ganged up on the potential foster and she got mad and attacked my heeler. The bite wasn't really bad but he took it hard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie1
Not much you can do til the Staf infection clears up. Then I would move his crate into the room you and the other dogs are in. Start slowly introducing them. What breeds are they?
I take in fosters and one thing that works for me is to introduce them in stages. First, let them see each other on neutral territory--not in the house or the yard where they spend their time. Second, when I do bring them in the house I keep them separate from my dogs. They can smell but not see each other. I feed them all at the same time. If there's no barking and growling and everyone seems to be handling the stresses okay, within a day or two I can put up a tall gate and put the foster on one side and my dogs on the other. They can see each other but not interact. I feed them together, each on their own side. They each get rewarded with a treat when they behave nicely. They go outdoors separately. Generally within a few days they can migrate to being in the same room. I can usually start walking one of mine and the foster together. Sometimes the foster needs to stay in a crate in the same room to get them all used to being together. I never leave them unattended together, no matter how long I have them. I find that the territorialism dissipates with time and with the number of fosters that come in. I've had so many that they take them in stride now but I still reward them when they interact appropriately with a foster dog. I want them to associate a "new dog" with good things.
^^^That's a great outline for introducing new dogs, Leorah. It takes time to do it properly, but it's so worth it to do a proper introduction.
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