3 reasons why you should foster a dog

There were a few tears a few weeks ago, in fact there were quite a lot of tears.

Rory went on trial in her potential forever home and I was sad to say goodbye, I was sad at home for the rest of the evening especially when her new family kept sending me photo's to show me how well she was settling.

Sadly 6 days later the call came to collect Rory, due to a variety of reasons it just didn't work out.

Rory had the potential to be a foster fail, when you fall in love with a dog and just decide to keep them as part of your family. Rory can't stay with us and will be returned to over full kennels on Sunday.

Rory is only the 3rd dog I've fostered and the agreement with DAWS is that I only have the dogs for short periods of time and I do all I can to help them find their forever home, socialising them with my dog Bob, giving them experience of being around a cat and focusing on toilet and crate training, walking on a lead and learning simple commands such as sit, stay and down.

My only qualification in dog training is having my own rescue dog who was badly treated and mistrusting of humans when we adopted him in South Africa, 4 years ago and trial and error.

Bonnie was an expensive dog to foster after she chewed through my laptop cable as was her brother Clyde chewed our furniture. Both Bonnie and Clyde needed a lot of work around toilet habits and there was quite a lot of unpleasant clearing up to do. Rory destroyed my favourite flip flops and would chance her luck running off with cushions, she was also car sick on longer journeys, but it was worth clearing up the mess in the car seeing how happy she was to walk in the desert and splash in the lakes with Bob.

Bonnie (top) Clyde (below)

All 3 dogs have had me awake at night for the first few nights, barking or not settling and there have been a few food related fights with Bob which have been quite frightening. But all 3 dogs, calmed, settled, learnt to pee and poop outside.

So far it just sounds like a lot of hard work and expense, but as a family there have definatley been great benefits for us all.

1. I've met more people, made friends, gained great satisfaction from seeing the first two dogs going off with their forever humans, there has been great satisfaction through basic training and seeing how quickly these dogs have learnt, there has been lots of love, cuddles and endless kisses. Although I've had to ask my husband to add the word dog to the end of his sentence when we've been in the garden and he's yelled 'stop licking me' I've no idea what our neighbours thought was going on.
2. My husband and I have both gone out for walks with the dogs in the evening, rather than taking it in turns to go on our own with Bob. Our cat has become far more tolerant and is less jumpy around new dogs, but the greatest benefit has been to Bob.
3. Bob, despite his age of 7, is very energetic, he is also very social and is extremely well behaved. I can honestly say in the 4 years he's lived with us, we've never had any problems, but he does have two areas of behaviour that fostering has helped sort out. It's not just the foster dogs that have benefitted from staying with, but our own dog also.

Walking on lead
Bob pulls none stop when walking on a lead, we've tried a harness, choke chain, normal collar and have settled with a martingale collar. Bob has really slowed down walking now and no longer pulls after the first few minutes, unless of course he sees a stray cat.

Eating
Bob doesn't eat his food, he inhales it, he never chews anything and eats it within a few seconds, we've tried special dishes etc and nothing worked. He has been eating much better since Rory has been around, chewing every few mouthfuls and no longer trying to knock the bowl out my hand as I place it on the floor.


Meet Rory.

Urgent Foster home needed for Rory. She is 18 months old, an English Staffordshire Terrier, she must stay somewhere with a garden and with someone who is at home all day and is prepared to use the crate for night times and when left alone.

Rory is energetic, she likes to chew but with supervision and discipline she will drop items and is easily redirected to a ball or a suitable toy.

She gets on well with other dogs, untested with cats, but has been known to jump garden walls to chase after them.

You'll need a lot of patience and time, but within a week of doing the above she was happy to just follow me round the house and garden.

If no home can be found for her, she will end up back in kennels, there is little space available and funds are not available to support her.

Please get in touch with DAWS - Molosser & Bull Breed Rescue UAE or comment below if you are able to help in anyway whatsoever.

How much does it cost to adopt a dog in Dubai?

Different rescue organisations charge different amounts, but that will all depend on the good will of the vets that they use and how much of a discount they get. Adoption fees range between AED 1500-2500.

I've heard many people say they're doing the rescuers a favour by taking the dog off their hands and don't see why they should have to pay an adoption fee. I'm sure a lot of people think that fee goes into the pocket of the rescuer, but more often than not, it is the rescuer digging deep into their pockets, after the adoption fee is made to pay the vet bill for all other costs involved.

When a dog is surrendered or more often the case, dumped or found wandering the streets, the dog will be taken to the vets, where a full health check is carried out, it will be dewormed and given up to date, relevant injections. This alone can cost AED 1000, and can be several thousand if the dog is injured or unwell.

The next step is to get the dog spayed or neutered, most 'dumped' dogs usually aren't spayed or neutered. The cost for a medium size dog is in the region of AED 1150. The dog then needs to be microchipped, around AED 200.

Once the dog has been through, and during, the above process, the dog will require somewhere to live. Kennelling ranges from AED 60-80 per night at a minimum cost, so unless the dog can be adopted straight away and a foster family isn't available the costs add up rapidly.

Another argument heard from people wanting to adopt a dog are 'you chose to rescue it' and they often don't see why they're being asked to pay kennelling costs. But as you can see from above, kennelling is usually funded by the rescuer, either personally or through donations.

These costs vary greatly and are just an approximation, breed, size and health of dog need to be taken into account, but you do get an awful lot of dog and peace of mind for your money.

A puppy bought through a pet shop or imported from abroad will cost around AED 4000 upwards, and there is no guarantee that they are in good health and the owner will still have to bare the costs for spaying or neutering and injections.

There are 1000's of dogs in Dubai that need homes, not many pure breeds are available, but there are a lot of puppies and young dogs that come up for adoption weekly.

By adopting, not only do you get a loving, healthy companion and friend, you provide a much needed home for a desperate dog and help the rescuers continue their good work.