Fostering Rescue Dogs In Toledo. An Interview With Volunteer LeeAnn. Ohio Pet Photography.

LeeAnn and her family have made a huge impact on the lives of so many rescue dogs by opening their home to welcome fosters until they are placed with a permanent family. Benefits of foster life over the pound? Dogs get to decompress in a safe environment. A kennel environment at the shelter includes lots of smells, sounds, changing staff, and limited human and dog interaction. All of these things can put a dog in a state of stress and worry that may cause uncharacteristic behavior, a loss of appetite, boredom and more.

Unfortunately, due to the vast amount of homeless dogs and cats, not all of these creatures have a foster home available to them. There is a high demand for people like LeeAnn to open their homes for temporarily to a rescue animal in need. A foster is able to observe their guest as they interact on a day to day basis. They gain helpful insight into the needs, quirks and preferences of their foster pet. This helps the adoption organization to find the perfect home for the dog or cat. Many fosters discover a need for discipline or desensitization in their foster dogs and invest time working on basic commands and other behavior training.

All of these factors give the animals their best chance to thrive and enjoy their new lives.

Read about LeeAnn’s experiences as a rescue dog foster:

How long have you been a foster? We got our first foster dog on 4/4/16. Her name is Lily.
What organization do you work with? Planned Pethood, Inc.
Tell me about your family. What do you and your husband do? How many kids, ages, names? We have two children. Brayden who is almost 9 and Landon who is almost 1 (both in March) We have been married for 4 years. We have 2 cats Juniper (5) and Julius (7). We have 6 dogs Neko (16), Brooklyn (5), Samoa (3), Tracker (2), Eleanor (5) and Barron (1 in March). I am currently a stay at home mom but I used to work full time before we had Landon. Brian works in a factory.
Why is fostering dogs important to you? Fostering dogs is important to me because they all deserve to feel love. Fostering helps get the dogs out of a shelter environment and into a normal home environment which helps adopters know more about how the dogs will be in their actual home. Making it easier to find the best fit for a family. Most importantly I know I am helping save lives.
How has fostering positively impacted your family? Fostering has positively impacted my family in many ways. My children will learn how to treat animals and have compassion for those in need. I have met so many wonderful people who I consider friends. (adopters or other fosters). I also love the feeling when your foster gets adopted and you know you made the new family happy and not to mention changed that dogs life forever.
What has been your hardest foster experience? My hardest foster experience is realizing you just can’t save them all. Even if you try your hardest. Without going into every detail we had a senior shepherd who just couldn’t get over his past. We loved him for his last months and sometimes that’s all you can do. Even though he did not officially get adopted I was with him until the end and I know he is know happy and running free like he should be.
What was your most rewarding? My most rewarding is a dog named Buttercup. She was a mastiff/bloodhound mix who was on her last days at a pound. Completely skin and bones, skin problems, broken teeth, prolapsed uterus, sores all over.. you name it she probably had it. I was sent her picture and how could I say no! I picked her up the next day and was in shock over her condition. After months and months of lots of TLC she was looking great! She was adopted very quickly and is now unrecognizable! I will never forget Buttercup. (Roxy now)
What would you say to someone who might be considering fostering? If you are considering fostering just try it out! I promise you won’t regret it. Giving them up isn’t as hard as you may think, knowing they are getting a great family helps so much! It is so worth every second.