What does it take to rescue

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO DO RESCUE?

[Author Unknown]

Your rescue “kit” should include:

A heart of gold to accept those creatures that don’t measure up as “perfect” in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The people skills of a salesperson. . . to convince those that are looking for perfection that they will find it in a rescue dog if they are willing to look a little deeper.

A heart of steel to be able to say no when there just isn’t any more room for just one more dog.

The knowledge that you can’t save them all.

The ability to smile and speak rationally when the 10th person for the day says “I don’t want this stupid dog anymore. . . take him or I am gonna shoot him.”

Some medical knowledge. . . or your rescue vet bill will be bigger than the national debt.

The fine art of fund raising. . . so your vet bill can be reduced to just under the size of the national debt.

Patience for: breeders who don’t care, won’t help, turn their backs and say it’s not their problem.

Patience for: dogs that were incorrectly placed and come to rescue with so much excess baggage that you think they will never be adoptable.

Patience for: owners who want a quick fix.

Patience for: a world that no longer looks at life as a gift and the lives that we create as breeders as nothing short of miracles.

A sense of humor. . . because sometimes a smile on your face is the only way to hide the agony and turmoil in your heart.

A husband with housekeeping skills that are so outstanding that they could be highlighted in Good Housekeeping Magazine. . . so you can devote your time to all the rescues and be secure in the knowledge that the local Board of Health will not condemn your house.

Personal dogs that will tolerate the never ending stream of four legged orphans, waifs and street urchins that will start arriving the moment you say. . . “I have room.”

Children that like being the “token” child to socialize every dog that comes thru the door. . . being able to say “good with kids” is a real selling point.

Magician skills so you can change anything that comes thru the door, from black tri male to long tail and brown eyes, into blue merle female, good with kids, housebroke, crate trained and obedience trained.

The ability to face the paperwork head-on and deal with it. . . or someone you can send it to and say. . . “Here, do something with this mess!”

Grooming skills for those ugly ducklings waiting for their chance to be a swan. . . with a little help from you.

I could go on but you probably get the picture. . . . None of us have all of these things but we all know that the business of rescue is a team effort. Each of us contribute what we can as a team member. Some of us cannot handle the dogs [or cats or birds or horses or rabbits or . . . ], but . . . there are other things that must be done.

Some only want to work with the dogs [themselves, or the cats or . . . ] . . . so. . . leave the paperwork to those that like it. No matter what your situation is. . . it is your willingness to help that is important. ~

WHERE DOES LAST HOPE GET DOGS?

WHERE DOES LAST HOPE GET DOGS AND WHAT WILL I BE WORKING WITH?
Owner Surrenders: divorce, allergic, too big, not housebroken, not good with preschoolers, foreclosure, landlord issues, moving, too many dogs etc.
Impounds: We pull dogs that are not claimed from the local impounds when the dogs are strays and owners do not find them or do not pay the impound fee and fines. Pounds we pull from South St Paul which cover Inver Grove Hgts, St Paul Park , and West St Paul. Lakeville Impound, 4 paws which is impound for Mendota Hgts, Savage, Scott county. Burnsville, Apple Valley, New Brighton, North Minneapolis at Camden Pet Hospital, and ocassionally ST Paul.
Other MN rescues. When other rescues get full we help Lyon County Humane Society in Marshall MN, Wilmar, Second Chance, Cannon Falls, Carver Scott Humane Society, and others.
Out of State: We help Safe Hands Rescue with one shelter in Harlan Kentucky, We help Bassett hound rescue located in Iowa and Missouri, We help Iowa rescues to save lives..
Out of the Country: We help the Pets for Paradise Program in the Virgin Islands where we get little pups of unknown heritage!
Most Common Health issues:
Heartworm disease
Kennel cough
Mange
Worm
Eyes and Ears
Hips and bones
Too skinny
Too fat
Surgeries

Most Common Behavior Issues:
Not housebroken
barks
submissive pees
jumps up on people
pulls on the leash
shy and needs confidence
manners
matted and needs grooming
jump fences
food aggression

Dogs we avoid in Last Hope if Possible

Separation anxiety
aggression
old dogs
unadoptable
and certain breeds

WHAT IS A STRAY?

What do you mean a: A Stray?

Where do strays come from? Many of Last Hope dogs were strays. They actually came from Animal controls where the dog catcher picked them up running loose and the owner did not claim them. We don’t know what kind of owner they were but we can guess on the training and condition of the dog and behavior of the dog. We can tell their age by their teeth, eyes, coat and behavior.

Why do dogs become impounded and not claimed? The impounds (dog catchers) hold them for a minimum of 5 days by state law and then can do with them as they please. Some impounds have known to sell them for profit, some put them down automatically on the 6th day and some take them to the humane societies and let them decide what to do with them and others call rescue groups because they don’t want anything bad to happen to the animal. It is their choice because they were hired by their city or county to do so.

We work with many animal controls in this area. Each Animal control works with more than one city or county. In all, we service over 15 cities and 4 counties! We cannot take them all. They get approximately 8 stray dogs a week and the majority are big dogs. We are short of fosters on big dogs and cannot take them all unless we get 8 new big dog fosters that will continue to foster! We do the best we can and take 2-3 of these a week. We pick the best and easiest to place. If we can find a dog a home quickly, then it makes room for another. If we take a dog with major behavior issues, we can place it but it may take months. Volunteers do not want to commit to the same dog for months; it is hard enough to get a foster to commit for 3-5 weeks in a row! We look at temperament and breed first. We don’t care if it jumps up, is not housebroken or barks when it sees people. We do care if it growls when you put it in the car or snaps at other dogs for no reason.

Why don’t people claim their dog?

1. Do not know where to look.
2. Don’t have the money to pay for the “dog at large” fine
3. Believe the dog will come back on its own.
4. Believe that their dog sitter is responsible and don’t know their dog is missing
5. Gave their dog away and the new owner got it for free so doesn’t care to look for it.
6. They should not have had a dog in the first place. ( 16 year olds and mom said no, people in apartments that do not allow dogs)
7. Dump it in the country on purpose because a farmer will take it in. ( it is still done today)
8. Illegal residents do not want to get caught.
9. They can get another one for free, so why do anything with the old one. It got too big anyway.
10. They believe someone kept it and it is in a better home than theirs and they may be right!

Why do people claim their dog?

1. They will do anything for their dog
2. They put up posters, call every city, county and police stations
3. They call every rescue group and check many websites listing dogs
4. They care and they find their dog
5. Put ads on Craigs list and other websites.

Does Last Hope ever unite an owner with their lost dog?

Yes, it has gone through animal control, we fixed it, gave it shots, put it on pet finder website and 20 days or longer, after it was missing, the owner calls. This happens about 1 out of 150 strays. If the owner is willing to pay the adoption fee or the vet bill whichever is less,(they don’t have to pay dog at large fee), and they are a good owner, we adopt the dog back to them. We do not have to adopt back to them, however, since the dog is now legally ours.
We encourage them to microchip the dog with their name so they will be called right away. Godd owners are willing to pay the adoption fee and get their dog back current with shots, and spayed or neutered! This is not very common. Sometimes, once the owner finds out it is fixed, they don’t want it because they intended to breed it or was part of their breeding stock and don’t want it back. Some don’t want to pay the adoption fee and shots because they did not authorize it, however, if Last Hope did not take it, it would have been dead and it is legally our dog now and not theirs. They do threaten to sue however the law is on our side and they would lose if they tried. We have spoken to many attorneys and they have verified it in their interpretation of the law.

Adopt a Pup or Dog?

What do I want to adopt? Adult or Puppy?
What do do you want to foster?

Puppies are:

Impressionable: What ever you do to them when young, they will remember later in life.. From 8-12 weeks and 7-9 months, if they have a good or bad experience with kids, people with hats, men, being dropped, hurt by another dog, they will later hate kids, men, people with hats and dogs. This comes out in 1-3 years later.

Accidents
Puppies who are 7-14 week will have accidents and it is expected/ Puppies until about 1- ½ years will have an occasional accident because the human is not on schedule!

Chewing
All puppies chew until about 2-3 years. They will chew shoes, furniture, pillows, blankets in a kennel, cords, remotes and many other things.. The average family loses $500-1000 worth of stuff in the first year of puppyhood.

Training:
They do not know sit, come, walking up and down stairs, they jump up on your good clothes, they don’t walk on a leash or pull really hard, they play bite you skin and hair. They pull on your clothes and can tear them and more. They will bark in a kennel and keep you up all night.

Vet Bills:
Puppies need 3sets of shots to be fully vaccinated. Also, they are full or worms, If you are afraid of worms, don’t get a puppy. Worms are very very treatable but all are contagious to other dogs if they eat the poop. Also, some can be tranmitted to humans if you not wash your hands.
All puppies and dogs need heartworm preventative all year round. It cost 7-15 a month depending the weight of the dog or puppy.
Spay and neuters in the TC area cost about $250-375 depending on where u go and How big the puppy is.
Even adult dogs need vaccinations every year. For DHPP, Rabies, Heartworm test ad Bordatella, that cost about $150 with a vet exam. Of course, that doesn’t include the heartworm preventative, or any other minor or major health issues you may come across.

Adult dogs:
If you get a dog that you don’t know a thing about you don’t know about any of the above. It is a surprise. They may know some of the things above, or may not know anything! As a Last Hope foster, we take what we get and work on them until they are as perfect as they can be while they are waiting for a home. The new owner has the benefit of our training and experience. They also will know where we are in that training, his good points and bad points. No adult dog is perfect even if trained! If you want a perfect dog, foster and get stuffed animal!

Why Spay and Neuter?

Why Spay or Neuter?
Spay or neutering surgery has health benefits. They will not get certain tumors, and cancers and less medical issues later in life. Collapsed Uterus can happen in any female not spayed which can cause infection and death without major expensive surgery.
It eliminates the risk of complications from pregnancy. If a C- section is needed, that can cost $700-1000. If a larger dog mates with a smaller female, the female will not be able to give birth without professional help or the puppies and the mother can die.
Altered dogs and cats are more relaxed pets because they are not driven to mate and less inclined to defend territory. They are less apt to fight with other animals. Statistics show that un-spayed females and un-neutered males dogs are the ones that bite humans the more often the dogs that are altered.
The animals are less likely to roam and less chance that they will get picked up by animal control. Most dogs picked up by the animal control are not fixed. They are less likely to get hurt, tortured injured or killed on the road.
Neutered dogs less apt to urinate in the house. Their reason for marking is reduced.
Altered cats are less likely to spray.
Altered dogs have less behavior problems
Altering does not make your pet fat or lazy. It does not spoil the animals personality. Neutered dogs do hunt and bring birds back. Fixed cats still kill mice and spayed females still are loving!
It helps by preventing unwanted litters and homeless animals. If you can find homes for all of your puppies and kittens, then someone else will not.
Over 25,000 are killed in Twin City metro shelters alone just because they were born! Over 4,000,000 of dogs and over 8,000,000 of cats are put down nationwide.
If every home, apartment, manufactured home, townhouse had 7 cats and 4 dogs, we wouldn’t have to put any dogs or cats down!
Please Spay or Neuter YOUR Pet!

Foster Application for Dogs or Pups

Basic Info about you:

Name ________________________________Address___________________________________________                  

City, State Zip  ______________________________________e mail address__________________________         

Home phone _______________________Cell________________________ Work______________________

Ages of people in my household ______________________________________________________________

Pets I own currently ages and breed ___________________________________________________________

Name of my clinic and city and phone no________________________________________________________

Why do you want to foster for Last Hope?________________________________________________________

Have you fostered for another group before? When and which group? __________________________________________________________________________________________

Age of dog that you want to foster: ( circle all that apply)    puppies under 16 weeks,     puppies 4 months to 12 months,      dogs 12-24 months,    adults 2-6,   seniors 7 and up.

What can you do?          Check  yes or no for these below:

Yes  No   All my household agrees to do for me to do this ( roommates, husband etc)

Yes  No   Everyone in my household is not allergic to dogs

Yes  No   Have transportation to transport dogs from the vet or pet adoption days.

Yes  No   I have had dogs before as an adult

Yes  No   I would be able to foster adult  X Large dogs such as:  Great Danes, Saint Bernard, Mastiffs, Great             Pyrenees,  and mixes and have a place for them to exercise .

Yes  No   I would be able to foster adult  large dogs such as: labs, shepherds, boxers, springers, border collies,             and  Bassett hounds,  and mixes  and a place for them to exercise

Yes  No  I would be able to foster adult small dogs  such as  cockers, beagles, Shitzus, Wheaton Terriers, Rat             Terriers, Jack Russells, and mixes

Yes  No   I would be able to foster x small dogs because I can take them out often and know that they are             never perfectly housebroken such has Chihuahuas, Dachshunds, teacup poodles, yorkees, and mixes  

Yes  No   My own pets are spayed and neutered and had a minimum of  DHPP, Heartworm tested and on             preventative, and has had bordatella vaccine in the last year or willing to alter my dogs and update             those vaccines before fostering.

Yes  No   I have a fenced in yard ( this doesn’t eliminate you either way)

Yes  No   All adult household members agree for you to foster.

Yes  No   Willing to do more than one dog at a time.

Yes  No   Have transportation to get back and forth to the vet, adoption days or meetings.

Yes  No   Have a place and willing to foster a litter of puppies of 3 or more?

Yes  No   Willing to work with housebreaking where my foster will have accidents or submissive pees

Yes  No   Willing to work smaller dogs that don’t like kids under 8

Yes  No   Willing come to at least  3 adoption days a month on Saturdays and Sundays or get my foster dogs             there and back.

Do you have foster experiences?

Posted by Nancy Kerns at 11:26AM – Comments: (19)

August 16, 2010

Knowing that I’m in and out of my local shelter, a friend of my husband asked me to keep my eyes peeled for a “cute little dog for a cute little girl” – his five-year-old daughter. I spotted a great candidate, and brought her home to foster her until I could evaluate whether she would be appropriate for a family with young children.

I know that any dog I bring home from the shelter is going to live with me until I find him or her a perfect home. I knew it wouldn’t take long to find this darling girl a home, even if she didn’t work out for the family who asked me to look. In addition to being smart and confident, she is affectionate and snuggly. I gave the family my evaluation – that she would make a great little family dog – and they agreed to take her. But the custody change would take place in a couple of weeks, so she could be spayed and recover from the surgery, and so they could take a week-long vacation.

But oh my! How difficult it was to actually hand her over to her new family! I’ve fostered about five times now, and I’ve always been happy to see a dog go to a terrific home. But somehow, this little pup pulled my heartstrings like no other pup has so far. We really bonded, and I adored her. I spent almost two hours at the family’s home, going over all the things the puppy knew – the things I had taught her! – and making sure they had everything she needed to be safe and comfortable. Then I had to practically run out the door and drive quickly away so they wouldn’t see me burst into tears! I cried for an hour after leaving her, stopped long enough to have a nice phone conversation with the dad about how things went after I left, and then cried on and off again for the next two days. I miss that pup!

Happily, her new family seems to love her as much as I did. The little girl named her Belle, after her favorite Disney heroine, and Belle sleeps on the little girl’s bed. But I still don’t think I can foster again for a long time.

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Posted by: FloridaPat | August 17, 2010 4:58 PM

Please remember that when you refuse to foster, a dog is probably going to be killed in the shelter because there is no place for him or her to go. A little emotional upset is worth saving a life. Try not to think of your own feelings – think of all those dogs who will die because there is nobody willing to foster them. Take a look at www.Petfinder.com and scan the photos of dogs in shelters in your town. Would you like them to be killed because of a little personal discomfort? Fostering helps one to grow and the rewards far outweigh the pain. My 648th foster dog just left yesterday to go to a forever home and a little piece of my heart left with him. But another one is coming to my home tomorrow and he would have been killed at the shelter if I did not open my home to him. Make a difference. Foster a dog.

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Posted by: EILEEN K | August 17, 2010 11:03 AM

I think that in the rescue world, it shouldn’t be a case of “Do as much as you can,” but rather “Do what you do best!” With the enormous need that exists, there’s room for everyone and everyone’s talents.

Some of us are fabulous at fostering, training and working with “issues” dogs, while others have that special touch that’s needed to nurse the sick and and injured ones back to health; still others will drive hundreds of miles to transport dogs to safety, and some are geniuses with that necessary evil, paperwork. The folks with the “people person” gene are terrific at talking to potential adopters, networking and organizing fundraisers, doing pre-adoption home visits to make sure that the dogs go to the right families. Some of us go into schools and educate children on pet care and overpopulation issues, thereby stemming the tide (we hope!) of backyard breeding and animal abuse.

And yes, without the adopters, all of this would be in vain

There are so many ways to help, so let’s give everyone credit for what THEY do best … and work together to keep the ever-growing no-kill/rescue movement going full speed ahead!

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Posted by: harbormaster | August 17, 2010 11:02 AM

I am fostering for the first time. She was only 3 months old when I got her. I have trained her and had her spayed so she is ready for her forever home. All of the posts I read on this blog will help me when the time comes for her to go. I am very attached to her and love her to bits. One person said that she will take the heartbreak knowing that a dog was saved. Someone mentioned the “rescuers poem”. I would love to read it. I am sure I will cry a thousand tears but she is worth it.

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Posted by: ROSEMARY M | August 17, 2010 9:58 AM

we have adopted rescue dogs and cannot thank the foster parents enough for their love and care during that transitional time! we look forward to being able to repay the foster parents by becoming foster parents ourselves, knowing there will be both joy and heartache for us. thanks to all the rescuers and foster parents out there!

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Posted by: gsprescuer | August 17, 2010 8:25 AM

Becky B, I was in no way discounting the value of an adopter. I was pointing out that publicizing a blog about how fostering “breaks your heart” will not help to further the rescue cause. Quite the opposite. We desperately need foster homes, for every breed and mix. Dogs are being euthanized at an alarming rate across the U.S. Without adopters, my fosters would not have a place to go, and I would not have room to accommodate the others that need me.

I wasn’t the best foster home when I first started. I kept my first foster (although he was a senior with some issues, so he was not the most adoptable of dogs), but over time, I got better at saying goodbye. I relished in the joy of the dog with his/her new family, and the love that family had for their new dog. It gets easier with time.

My objection was the rationale for NOT fostering because it is difficult to say goodbye. A broken heart? I’ll take a broken heart over sending a dog to his/her forever family ANY day vs. a broken heart over losing a highly deserving and adoptable dog to euthanasia, simply because there aren’t enough people who put the needs of the dog over their own needs and emotions.

Cost of Owning a Dog

Why Adoption fees?

(Local vet costs in 2011)

Vet Exam $38

Distemper 4 way shot $25

Heartworm/lymes test $40

Bordatella vaccine $18

Rabies shot $25

Worming $17

Spay for med size dog $275

Ear meds for dog with infection $20

Frontline $15

Heartguard tablet $15

Antibotics $35

This does not include broken legs, x-rays etc, cherry eye surgery, kennel cough, blood tests to find out problems, etc.

Small dogs also need dentals which cost $275-350 each time!

Can you Buy Supplies for us?

WE need always for the dogs…

Dogs

Gift cards from Petsmart, Petco and other petstores

Rawhides

Squeaky Toys

Soft treats for training

Clean up supplies for urine

Paper towels

Collars. leashes and harnesses

Medium to Large kennels wire or plastic gentely used.

You can bring any of these to our adoption days on Saturdays from 11-3 at the Apple Valley Petco or Petsmart in Eagan. Thanks!