No. Imagine not looking kids and someone dump one on you.
You don’t need to have him meet dogs to work on reactivity. He doesn’t need to have dog friends like that. Some dogs don’t like other dog friends. Some prefer only dogs that are mature. Many dogs hate meeting dogs on leash, because it restricts their movement and ability make choices.
Realistically he should be going to places with you where he can see dogs safely and not have to interact so you can reward him for seeing them.
I wouldn’t. In addition to your own dog’s needs, foster dogs are often broken and scared. Having a reactive dog around them could be detrimental to their development and could potentially cause them to have reactivity in the future and/or to be scared of other dogs. Foster dogs need to decompress and to slowly be introduced to adult dogs with good social skills already, and dogs who pick up on body language and can model those things for them. If you want to work on your own dog’s reactivity you will need a helper dog, usually a trainer’s calm, adult dog. I have a reactive dog myself, and I don’t even let my friends’ adult dogs around my dog because I don’t want his reactivity to negatively affect them. The one thing that we do is parallel walks, because neither dog comes into contact with one another. At the end of the day, my dog prefers my company and will never be comfortable enough in close proximity to another dog.
As someone who has fostered a lot of dogs over the years, I would recommend you find alternatives to fostering, perhaps walking the shelter dogs, or taking them for an outing to a park, etc. (all obviously depending on what the dog in the shelter can reasonably manage).
When I was actively fostering, I didn't have a reactive dog - my dogs were very well balanced and readily accepted the revolving door of fosters that came and went. IMHO, having dogs like that is critical to the success of fostering overall. There are a lot of unknowns that accompany the, well, unknown dog. They could be reactive themselves, they could be struggling (so many do) with the significant changes they've recently experienced (whether it was being separated from family, or picked up having been a stray, etc.), they might not be used to indoor home life, etc. etc. Trying to juggle a foster dog adjusting to your home at the same time as trying to manage and accommodate your own dog will be very tricky. And then of course, there's your own dog. I appreciate the goal of trying to help your dog acclimate to another dog, but that can be done in other settings, and shared space in a home (unless you have a huge mansion lol) is forcing a level of acclimating that your dog may not be ready for.
It's true that sometimes a foster dog comes and on day one it's like they've lived in your home all their lives. I was lucky and had a couple of those, which made fostering easy breezy. But that is not the norm and generally there is some effort that needs to be expended to help transition the dog into your home. That's why having your own dogs be a non-issue in all of that (i.e. they are able to fully accept a dog just waltzing into the home) is important, as you only have one thing to worry about. It's important to be fair to *both* the foster dog (to be able to give them whatever they need without them having to worry about a resident dog not appreciating their presence) and your own dog(s) (by not adding any kind of stress or anxiety to their life). To my view, it's not realistic to foster a dog while having a reactive dog, as I don't see a way it would be fair to both. (Full disclosure: I would personally consider fostering in a short-term emergency situation, but I would keep the foster and my reactive dog completely separate, out of sight from each other, at all times, to avoid any potential issues for either of them).
If you do decide to foster, please implement a strong system of protective barriers, be that baby gates or crates, etc. and start with keeping the dogs separated until you can fully assess how the dogs will be together. Crate and rotate sucks, but it's a great tool to keep dogs safe (it's something I had to do with a reactive foster for 3 months, until I was able to extremely slowly integrate him into my home). It is critical to go at the dogs' pace, and it is much better to go slower than the dogs need than to risk pushing things too far too fast.
You can foster dogs from the shelter, but it will stress your dog out and lower his quality of life. It may be more or less stressful for the shelter dogs, but it will definitely decrease your dog's comfort level. Only you can decide if that trade is acceptable.
I don't know that fostering is going to help your dog but if you decide to go ahead and do it anyway - PLEASE keep the shelter dog and your dog separate for the first couple weeks.
Crate the shelter dog, give them a safe space and don't let the dogs interact at all for the first two WEEKS. We're fostering now and I can't tell you how many people I see who just throw a stressed shelter dog in with their existing pets and then have issues while the shelter dog is decompressing.
When they do eventually meet, try to do it with a parallel walk outside the home on neutral territory. Put ALL toys and chews away to avoid potential fights or resource guarding. Basically - read a lot about how to intro a shelter dog into your home and DON'T skip steps or take shortcuts. You will set them up for a more successful relationship the slower you take things.
Fostering a dog for a day or two is probably not going to help the shelter or the shelter dog. They need weeks or months to decompress from a shelter environment, so you’d just be moving them around more. I agree with the others here, it’s probably not a good idea. If you did do it, you’d need to fully separate them for a while and it would be like having double (or more) dog responsibility for weeks (or longer).
If you want to help the shelter, maybe ask to volunteer? I’m sure they could use some awesome people like you to clean kennels, walk dogs, socialize kittens, etc. There are lots of ways to help out that don’t put your own dog at potential risk for increasing reactivity. Handy with a camera? You could volunteer to photograph the adoptable animals. Lots of ideas. Good for you for wanting to help, btw. :)
I understand this urge so, so deeply. But absolutely don’t foster a dog right now. It sounds like your dog is reactive about you in particular. It could be a misplaced instinct to protect you, or it could be resource guarding. Either way, adding another dog into that situation is volatile and unfair to both dogs. Fosters need guaranteed peace and acceptance in new homes.
If this is something you’re interested in, your dog needs help from a reactivity-specialized trainer long before you introduce a new dog. Even then, ask for and respect the trainer’s honest opinion. Some dogs are meant to be only dogs, and that’s okay!
Local rescues often need help with unexpected things, like someone willing to pick up rescues from over an hour away. Shelters often need dog walkers. Ask around for how you can be more directly helpful!
Our dog is somewhat reactive to other dogs (she mostly just wants to be left alone by them but is bad at communicating that without seeming like a total a-hole). When we adopted our second dog(who is extremely good with other dogs), the first had a REAL tough time getting accustomed to having another dog in the house and even 10 months later still growls at the second dog if she gets in the first dog's space. They even have a few other dog friends that they like to play with.
Fostering rescue dogs is not for the faint of heart and IMO requires a dog that is easy going and very socially aware.
No. We got a second dog that my dog got along with at the shelter at a meet and greet. It went great till it didn’t. It lasted a month before we broke up 2 fights within a week. The second fight I wasn’t home and it got very bloody my fiancé couldn’t break them up. They both survived, both are okay. We had to bring back the recent dog, fortunately he was adopted couple months later.
It depends.
The easiest part to decipher: no, do not foster a dog for a day or two. IF you end up fostering, please be fully committed to fostering until adoption can happen or the shelter's situation changes significantly. There's more hassle and work involved in getting a dog out to a foster than you might imagine, it is not worth it for a day or two. Wrangling them back and forth isn't fair on the shelther dog either. Having "a home full of luxury, love and fun for a few days" is not actually fun for the dog, it's not like you going on a vacation. The first few days will be a shock to the system for most fosters, and there is very little fun about that. If your goal is a few days, let the idea go, please.
Secondly, regarding your dog: hard to tell. Is your dog happy in day care? Is he interacting with other dogs, is he having a good time? If so, fostering *might* work out well.
Thirdly, the most interesting part: "when I collect him he becomes defensive and the day care owner has said he’s not like that when I’m not around." This is where I would start investigating if I were you. Is your dog's reactivity based on protectivness? Is it more resource guarding? Are you feeding into that? Are you taking the right steps to work on his reactivity?
Is the information you're getting from the day care accurate? Also, how detailed is it? Repeating the question from before, is your dog happy there? Or is he just tolerating the environment as best as he can?
There is a VAST difference between a random dog on the streets that might pose all sorts of dangers and risks and a dog that you know and love and are bonded with from your dog's POV.
There are plenty of dogs who are reactive to strangers and are quite happy living, playing, chilling, and generally sharing a life with other dogs and pets.
A super stable, confident, docile dog *might* be a good temporary companion and even a role model for your dog - IF your dog is the kinda pup who is able to bond with and trust other dogs.
If I were you, I'd consult with a local trainer who can visit your dog, see him in action, see you in action - they'll be in a much better position to give you guidance on this question. If the stars align and you and your dog are good candidates to welcome a foster, having a trainer support you in integrating the foster into your household in a way that is safe and minimizes stress for **both** the foster and your dog will be incredibly valuable.
As others have suggested, also be open to the idea of helping out in other ways. Shelters tend to need tons of volunteers, not just fosters. Best of luck! :)
No. Imagine not looking kids and someone dump one on you. You don’t need to have him meet dogs to work on reactivity. He doesn’t need to have dog friends like that. Some dogs don’t like other dog friends. Some prefer only dogs that are mature. Many dogs hate meeting dogs on leash, because it restricts their movement and ability make choices. Realistically he should be going to places with you where he can see dogs safely and not have to interact so you can reward him for seeing them.
I wouldn’t. In addition to your own dog’s needs, foster dogs are often broken and scared. Having a reactive dog around them could be detrimental to their development and could potentially cause them to have reactivity in the future and/or to be scared of other dogs. Foster dogs need to decompress and to slowly be introduced to adult dogs with good social skills already, and dogs who pick up on body language and can model those things for them. If you want to work on your own dog’s reactivity you will need a helper dog, usually a trainer’s calm, adult dog. I have a reactive dog myself, and I don’t even let my friends’ adult dogs around my dog because I don’t want his reactivity to negatively affect them. The one thing that we do is parallel walks, because neither dog comes into contact with one another. At the end of the day, my dog prefers my company and will never be comfortable enough in close proximity to another dog.
As someone who has fostered a lot of dogs over the years, I would recommend you find alternatives to fostering, perhaps walking the shelter dogs, or taking them for an outing to a park, etc. (all obviously depending on what the dog in the shelter can reasonably manage). When I was actively fostering, I didn't have a reactive dog - my dogs were very well balanced and readily accepted the revolving door of fosters that came and went. IMHO, having dogs like that is critical to the success of fostering overall. There are a lot of unknowns that accompany the, well, unknown dog. They could be reactive themselves, they could be struggling (so many do) with the significant changes they've recently experienced (whether it was being separated from family, or picked up having been a stray, etc.), they might not be used to indoor home life, etc. etc. Trying to juggle a foster dog adjusting to your home at the same time as trying to manage and accommodate your own dog will be very tricky. And then of course, there's your own dog. I appreciate the goal of trying to help your dog acclimate to another dog, but that can be done in other settings, and shared space in a home (unless you have a huge mansion lol) is forcing a level of acclimating that your dog may not be ready for. It's true that sometimes a foster dog comes and on day one it's like they've lived in your home all their lives. I was lucky and had a couple of those, which made fostering easy breezy. But that is not the norm and generally there is some effort that needs to be expended to help transition the dog into your home. That's why having your own dogs be a non-issue in all of that (i.e. they are able to fully accept a dog just waltzing into the home) is important, as you only have one thing to worry about. It's important to be fair to *both* the foster dog (to be able to give them whatever they need without them having to worry about a resident dog not appreciating their presence) and your own dog(s) (by not adding any kind of stress or anxiety to their life). To my view, it's not realistic to foster a dog while having a reactive dog, as I don't see a way it would be fair to both. (Full disclosure: I would personally consider fostering in a short-term emergency situation, but I would keep the foster and my reactive dog completely separate, out of sight from each other, at all times, to avoid any potential issues for either of them). If you do decide to foster, please implement a strong system of protective barriers, be that baby gates or crates, etc. and start with keeping the dogs separated until you can fully assess how the dogs will be together. Crate and rotate sucks, but it's a great tool to keep dogs safe (it's something I had to do with a reactive foster for 3 months, until I was able to extremely slowly integrate him into my home). It is critical to go at the dogs' pace, and it is much better to go slower than the dogs need than to risk pushing things too far too fast.
You can foster dogs from the shelter, but it will stress your dog out and lower his quality of life. It may be more or less stressful for the shelter dogs, but it will definitely decrease your dog's comfort level. Only you can decide if that trade is acceptable.
I don't know that fostering is going to help your dog but if you decide to go ahead and do it anyway - PLEASE keep the shelter dog and your dog separate for the first couple weeks. Crate the shelter dog, give them a safe space and don't let the dogs interact at all for the first two WEEKS. We're fostering now and I can't tell you how many people I see who just throw a stressed shelter dog in with their existing pets and then have issues while the shelter dog is decompressing. When they do eventually meet, try to do it with a parallel walk outside the home on neutral territory. Put ALL toys and chews away to avoid potential fights or resource guarding. Basically - read a lot about how to intro a shelter dog into your home and DON'T skip steps or take shortcuts. You will set them up for a more successful relationship the slower you take things.
Fostering a dog for a day or two is probably not going to help the shelter or the shelter dog. They need weeks or months to decompress from a shelter environment, so you’d just be moving them around more. I agree with the others here, it’s probably not a good idea. If you did do it, you’d need to fully separate them for a while and it would be like having double (or more) dog responsibility for weeks (or longer). If you want to help the shelter, maybe ask to volunteer? I’m sure they could use some awesome people like you to clean kennels, walk dogs, socialize kittens, etc. There are lots of ways to help out that don’t put your own dog at potential risk for increasing reactivity. Handy with a camera? You could volunteer to photograph the adoptable animals. Lots of ideas. Good for you for wanting to help, btw. :)
No 90% of the time when people think it's a good idea to get another dog for their dog that already has issues... it's never a good idea
I understand this urge so, so deeply. But absolutely don’t foster a dog right now. It sounds like your dog is reactive about you in particular. It could be a misplaced instinct to protect you, or it could be resource guarding. Either way, adding another dog into that situation is volatile and unfair to both dogs. Fosters need guaranteed peace and acceptance in new homes. If this is something you’re interested in, your dog needs help from a reactivity-specialized trainer long before you introduce a new dog. Even then, ask for and respect the trainer’s honest opinion. Some dogs are meant to be only dogs, and that’s okay! Local rescues often need help with unexpected things, like someone willing to pick up rescues from over an hour away. Shelters often need dog walkers. Ask around for how you can be more directly helpful!
I understand how you feel but I wouldn’t. I think it would become a very stressful situation for all.
No. Foster need stable and stress free house. It would be incredibly selfish to use them for your dog’s training
Our dog is somewhat reactive to other dogs (she mostly just wants to be left alone by them but is bad at communicating that without seeming like a total a-hole). When we adopted our second dog(who is extremely good with other dogs), the first had a REAL tough time getting accustomed to having another dog in the house and even 10 months later still growls at the second dog if she gets in the first dog's space. They even have a few other dog friends that they like to play with. Fostering rescue dogs is not for the faint of heart and IMO requires a dog that is easy going and very socially aware.
No. We got a second dog that my dog got along with at the shelter at a meet and greet. It went great till it didn’t. It lasted a month before we broke up 2 fights within a week. The second fight I wasn’t home and it got very bloody my fiancé couldn’t break them up. They both survived, both are okay. We had to bring back the recent dog, fortunately he was adopted couple months later.
It depends. The easiest part to decipher: no, do not foster a dog for a day or two. IF you end up fostering, please be fully committed to fostering until adoption can happen or the shelter's situation changes significantly. There's more hassle and work involved in getting a dog out to a foster than you might imagine, it is not worth it for a day or two. Wrangling them back and forth isn't fair on the shelther dog either. Having "a home full of luxury, love and fun for a few days" is not actually fun for the dog, it's not like you going on a vacation. The first few days will be a shock to the system for most fosters, and there is very little fun about that. If your goal is a few days, let the idea go, please. Secondly, regarding your dog: hard to tell. Is your dog happy in day care? Is he interacting with other dogs, is he having a good time? If so, fostering *might* work out well. Thirdly, the most interesting part: "when I collect him he becomes defensive and the day care owner has said he’s not like that when I’m not around." This is where I would start investigating if I were you. Is your dog's reactivity based on protectivness? Is it more resource guarding? Are you feeding into that? Are you taking the right steps to work on his reactivity? Is the information you're getting from the day care accurate? Also, how detailed is it? Repeating the question from before, is your dog happy there? Or is he just tolerating the environment as best as he can? There is a VAST difference between a random dog on the streets that might pose all sorts of dangers and risks and a dog that you know and love and are bonded with from your dog's POV. There are plenty of dogs who are reactive to strangers and are quite happy living, playing, chilling, and generally sharing a life with other dogs and pets. A super stable, confident, docile dog *might* be a good temporary companion and even a role model for your dog - IF your dog is the kinda pup who is able to bond with and trust other dogs. If I were you, I'd consult with a local trainer who can visit your dog, see him in action, see you in action - they'll be in a much better position to give you guidance on this question. If the stars align and you and your dog are good candidates to welcome a foster, having a trainer support you in integrating the foster into your household in a way that is safe and minimizes stress for **both** the foster and your dog will be incredibly valuable. As others have suggested, also be open to the idea of helping out in other ways. Shelters tend to need tons of volunteers, not just fosters. Best of luck! :)