Support For Foster Carers

[tdierikx]

Some rescue groups don't want their processes and procedures aired on a public forum PS... especially if they think other people here may look down upon theose processes and procedures for whatever reason.

Horses for courses... those of us who are happy with our respective groups will happily sing their praises from the rooftops, but we don't always air the dirty linen that may also happen.

T.

[Carlo11]

I think there is much room for improvement . . . .A need for access to a behaviourist/trainer is paramount in my opinion.Having someone conduct a proper assessment on dogs taken from pounds is needed not just taking on dogs and hoping for the best or relying on what the rangers say about a dog.

Foster carers need training and mentoring . . .they are valuable and need to be treated as such and given the best chance at doing their job well.

Coordinators are needed who are good at both working with animals and people.Rubbishing one carer to another is not professional and lowers morale.

Training in such basic things as quarantine needs to be given not just handed to you on a sheet of paper.

That is a starting point.I think rescue is a good thing but it can be like the blind leading the blind.It works when all animals are easily rehomeable and problem free but can fall apart when a matter requiring some investigation and due diligence is needed.

[Plan B]

I've been in rescue and animal welfare for about ten years now, since I left school and first started volunteering at the RSPCA (back in the Mother country).

When I came to Australia, I got into fostering again, and signed up with a brilliant group. I saw food, worming, flea treatment etc, as my own 'donation' to the group. I was happy with doing it because I had my own dogs and it didn't cost too much extra anyway. However, the more I fostered, the more money I began to lose. Not to mention some of the damage that I had to repair, etc.

It was only at the beginning of this year that myself and a good friend, also a rescue colleague for years, started our own Rescue, due to slight differences of opinion on some policies and, dare I say it, say in how the dogs were presented, the website (I was ashamed to direct people to it), and general pro-activeness (or lack thereof).

The first thing we decided was that we would absolutely pay for anything a foster carer needed, outright, if we didn't have it donated already. Crates, food, meds, toys, bedding, etc. We do always say that if foster carers are happy to provide that, it means the Charity doesn't have to pay for it, but it's absolutely no problem.

Another thing we made sure of was that we had at least two Behaviourist/Trainers onboard. We will also always move dogs that aren't working out in a foster home, for whatever reason. Quarantine/Isolation has always been a big thing for me and something I see lacking in a lot of groups. I wrote this article in the hopes of getting it out there, though I fear most people just think the dogs would only have a touch of KC worst case scenario, and don't even think about parvo.

We always have to work with what we have but also keep a high standard in regards to what we can provide to foster carers and adopters and, ultimately, the dogs. I think every group should definitely have a plan b for every single dog that comes into care, as well as every foster carer that volunteers.

[Steve]

I recently started volunteering for a Rescue. A friend asked me to help out becasue I had a lot expereince with the breeds they were working with and had actually worked and trained dogs for the work they are supposed to do. I have plenty of experience with the breeds this organisation was dealing with. I now want to distance myself from this rescue as I feel that Foster carers are given little or no support in the area of these breeds. They can post to a forum but when it comes to really difficult situations such as dog on dog agression or special needs dogs with deafness or blindness there is in reality little to no support. I was contacted by word of mouth from another state and discovered a carer had a deaf dog and was experiencing a huge amount of difficulty. She was contacting the admin staff by email and had no response other than from fellow carers. I'm watching a foster care revolving door with people leaving becasue they got a dog they couldn't cope with because they had little or no experience with the breed. What doesn't help is that there are pets and then dogs that should be doing what the breed has been breed for.

There is No training at all provided for the carers even on basic breed habits and behaviours. A yard Check and Reference Check seems to be all thats needed which I find a bit unsettling. Most are learning on the go but even the foster co-ordinators don't have that much experience with the breeds we are dealing with. I have voiced a few of my concerns but they have been met with the answer we don't have those sort of resourses. I'm lucky as I'm extemely experienced with the breed but other are not. I feel like I get shouted down a lot when say a dog is badly bred and beyond help becasue it's temprement is KRUD and it should be PTS as no sound breeder would even let a dog like this be adopted or bred for that matter. I also feel at times that my unwillingness to foster a X causes resentment. I won't foster a X because I don't know what it will be like and I will only deal with what I know.

I'm also frustraited with the extreme ethics involved with not dealing with certain places for advertising or how often a dog that should be PTS is saved when really it was a badly breed dog in the first place with serious temprement issues due to bad breeding and NOT mistreatment as they seemed to think. This really comes down to the serious inexperience of the people involved and for a bunch who really want to protect themselves from getting a bad name are going the wrong way about it.

I also was recently hurt by a post which I don't think I was supposed to see because I adopted a dog from a breeder and NOT from this rescue group. The comment was if I was so experienced with these breeds why didn't I adopt one of the dogs that needed an experienced home? The point was that the type of dog I wanted DOESN'T end up in rescue because the breeders are very cagie about who their dogs go to and I'm not willing to adopt the breeds from this organisation because I'm experienced enough to know that right now I can't give these breeds of dogs the home they need.

The whole experience has left me really upset and I don't think I ever want to foster again. It's even put me off getting a rescue dog in the future because of what I've seen. I'm passionate about this breed of dog but I don't think any justice is being done here and I worry about what it's doing for the future of Rescue animals becasue I don't think I'm alone here.

I really want to see more effort put into training and making sure Foster carers are actually able to cope and can get support when they can't cope. Also it might be time to pay people too as Volunteers are great but at a cetain point when things grow to a certain size you need to start paying to aviod employing Monkey's! I think the work load some VOlunteers are expected to take on without pay is extreme and unfair and I think some co-ordinators should be paid to attract the right people and make sure that the training and support is in place. It may mean less money for dogs but I think it will improve the outsome for the dogs in the long run and maybe even increase the number of carers in the long term becasue they have good management and support.

We have a half price listed for the Certificate in Canine Foster Care for one week - it helps to prepare you and know what to look for in a rescue group you may want to volunteer for .

http://www.mdba.net.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=23&category_id=11&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=748