In this episode, Pate and Jme discuss some of the specifics about fostering such as how it works in general, some differences between fostering for a rescue or a shelter, and mostly, what our fosters gave as some things they thought before they became fosters. We hope to encourage others to try this amazing, life-saving opportunity- even if just once. There's nothing to regret about saving an animal in need!
Part 2 will come out on 3/30.
Original music by Matt Setter and friend Sean!
Original content by Matt Setter and friend, Sean!
In this episode, Pate and Jme discuss some of the specifics about fostering such as how it works in general, some differences between fostering for a rescue or a shelter, and mostly, what our fosters gave as some things they thought before they became fosters. We hope to encourage others to try this amazing, life-saving opportunity- even if just once. There's nothing to regret about saving an animal in need!
Part 2 will come out on 3/30.
Original music by Matt Setter and friend Sean!
Original content by Matt Setter and friend, Sean!
Hey there, it's Pate with Motley Zoo Animal Rescue with Jme, and we are here to talk about rescue shit.
jme:This time we're gonna expand on what we were talking about with fostering from our previous episode and explain a little bit more about instead of being afraid of it or wondering what it's about, let's, let's...
Pate:What to expect.
jme:Yeah. Let's tell you what(what are you gonna get) what to expect when fostering. Typically, foster based organizations will set you up with the equipment and supplies. Sometimes they can...
Pate:So do shelters.
jme:Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes they can buy food. Sometimes you're required to buy food, but the veterinary care is typically paid for by the organization that you're fostering for. Why don't you explain a little bit about what you do to set up a foster?
Pate:So pretend we've got a transport coming in...
jme:What does that mean?
Pate:So once upon a time there's a dog and he was in a shelter and there was an organization that saw this dog in the shelter and decided that it needed to leave Texas, for example, and then come to Washington, either by plane, by car. It doesn't even have to be from Texas. It could be from Yakima, our neighbors in Yakima, cuz we get a lot of dogs from there. So there will be one dog, two dogs. I think we've done like what, 25 before? No, we've done more than 25. I'll say 30- at a time, and then they will either drive over, fly over, if we're picking'em up from a shelter, for example, we'll go to the shelter and just load up our cars. We already have fosters set up for them typically, and we will check out the dogs physically, make sure that there's nothing that might have been missed by the shelter. It has happened before, but it's no one's fault cuz you know, dogs don't always present with an issue, but a stress of a drive, things like that, they could start sneezing, whatnot. And so we will check out the animals, make sure that there's physically nothing wrong with them. We will vaccinate them if they need vaccinations. As we are not vets, we cannot give rabies. Rabies can only be given by the vet, but we will vaccinate them for things that anybody can vaccinate for, that you could pick up these vaccinations at your feed store. Not that I would suggest that. Can I say that? No.
jme:Yeah. Anyway, I think that's fine.
Pate:I personally wouldn't buy them from a feed store, but that's just me. So things that we can do in our capacity that do not require a vet, we will do. We can microchip, we can give dewormers, things like that. And that is how you start. And each dog goes home with a crate, their food and any supplies that you might need. Do you need bowls? Do you need towels, blankets...
jme:Toys.
Pate:Toys, things like that. We always give you a collar and a leash. The collars that we have are martingales and the martingale is not a flat collar. The martingale will cinch around the neck and it will be pretty impossible for our dog to get out of a properly fit martingale when you're walking. That's the reason why we use the martingales- for safety measures, especially if we have shy dogs, dogs that are just not confident, that haven't been exposed to a lot, they may startle and try to run away. If a dog has a flat collar, even if a dog has a harness on a dog, can get out of that when scared. And then we're gonna have to put up lost dog ads everywhere, which is no fun for anybody. So that's the reason why we use martingales more than anything else. And then once you get home, you've got your basic setup. You've got your bed and your crate and the dogs will be in your crate. After that, I'm glossing over stuff because then you are gonna have to go to the vet. Every dog that we get in goes to the vet. If they came from a shelter, if they came from an owner, they all go to our vet for either a second opinion, they could get another heartworm test even if they got one for transport purposes, we will still do another heartworm test. Better safe than sorry. They'll just get a second opinion, basically just to make sure that they are healthier.
jme:When you say they get off the transport, each is lined up with a foster. You know, you have in your mind which one they're gonna go to because you've assessed that foster family for, what they need, what they want. And you've assessed that dog for what they need, what they want- same for cats. Again, we sometimes use the word dog in lieu of pet because cats are not quite as difficult or have as many variables as say maybe a dog would, especially an adult dog.
Pate:Right.
jme:So, you know, we do a little leg work in advance before the animal even comes to us, so that we know that it's likely to be a good fit for you...
Pate:Right.
jme:As a foster family.
Pate:Right. And sometimes, they are living creatures and what may have been fine in another environment we see when they come here that they may not be the right fit. So some dogs that have gotten off a plane they could be hyper stressed, a little bit more unsocialized than what we were told or what we were expecting. And I will take that foster and let them decompress at my house to see what their true personality is before I'll stick them with a foster. So sometimes as a foster, you may expect a dog that you're getting, but there's a small, small chance that it may not happen.
jme:Pate and I personally try out the animals, especially when they're going for a new foster. So sometimes what we do too, to decrease the amount of variables when sending an animal to a foster is, say a foster is going on vacation and they're like,"Hey, I need someone to watch my foster dog for 2 weeks". We will line up a new foster with that dog that we already know.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:That dog that their foster is coming back in two weeks and that can be a big relief for a new foster that it's only for two weeks, worst case. And we already know X, Y, and Z about the dog. Oftentimes when the foster comes back, they will take a new dog. A new dog that isn't as well known because they've done it a few times and the new foster will keep the dog that got moved to them. So that can be a great way too to start fostering, is to take a dog when a different foster is going on vacation and then it is, you know, kind of a limited time engagement. If all of your nightmares come true with that dog or cat, then you can do anything for a short period of time, but talk to your foster coordinator and tell them what you need. And so let's talk about the differences too, in foster coordination and what's entailed when it comes to a shelter or a rescue, and how that might be different.
Pate:So one of the big things though is that shelters have specific hours.
jme:Mm-hmm.
Pate:I know when I was first here, before I found Motley Zoo, that we did have a foster with one of the shelters and just trying to find help when there was an emergency. Like, you know,"Who do I call? Where do I call"? And because no one's working, you know? So you're almost left on your own trying to figure stuff out and hoping that you don't screw up and you just go to the ER and say,"Hey, you know, what can I do"? Because no one's there for you because of the hours.
jme:In contrast though, when someone is paid to do that job, that also may mean that at least during the hours that they are available, they might be more available than a foster coordinator in a volunteer based organization. So while, for example, Pate can answer the phone in the middle of the night...
Pate:Three o'clock in the morning!
jme:There are maybe 50 people calling her or texting her with questions or things like that- and if it's not an emergency, Pate cannot get back to them right away, and maybe you would get an answer faster from your staff person at the shelter, than you might from Pate, but if it's not an emergency, it's not an emergency. And that's something too that you need to understand when fostering is that you might have questions, but you might have to wait for the answers. And if it's an emergency, you should get the help you need.
Pate:Right away.
jme:Yeah, so having a staff and a volunteer based organization can be very different, but there is more flexibility with a foster based organization. So Pate devotes all of her time to that. And when she's having Christmas dinner and there's a call that a dog got away, or heaven forbid, somebody in the family got bitten by the little chihuahua because they backed it into a corner, Pate's there to deal with that, she has to put her life on hold, whereas that's not gonna be the case for a staff person at a shelter. They are not gonna stop their Christmas dinner. They are not gonna know what happened.
Pate:They're not, yeah. Because they don't give out their, their personal cell phones normally.
jme:No. But that means you do gotta respect that the volunteers that help keep foster based organizations running, they have lives too and they can't drop everything just to get back to you for something that's not an emergency. So keeping things in perspective is gonna be really important when fostering animals. One of the other things that we have to take care of, with the fostering is the vetting. Pate touched on that earlier. And while every organization has a different set of standards of things that they tackle, and do for each animal, no animals are ever the same. I mean, maybe you're lucky with a litter of puppies...
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:Or kittens that you can do five animals the same exact way, the same exact things at the same exact time. But rarely do we have animals that it's just like, okay. They all need this, or they all need that vaccine, or they all need whatever. And so it is reinventing the wheel every time an animal comes in to determine what pieces of that puzzle are missing so that we can make sure everything gets done. And as the animals get older, say the animals in I litter and they go to different fosters, then they start being on different schedules.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And then that's, you know, that many more schedules. Mm-hmm. that need to be remembered. And this is why we try and help our fosters understand the general process of the vetting and the stages and ages and timeframes in which they'll do things with their animals. But Pate is overall responsible for the scheduling and will remind you as a foster that you need to get so and so in for vaccines today or they're going in for their neuter...
Pate:Although I do have a great cat team who takes care of that for the cats.
jme:Yes, so we have a wonderful entirely volunteer cat team. There are two full-time volunteers and two part-time volunteers. Who, really they, they manage the cat team and Pate works with them to make sure everything's going smoothly. And, you know, especially when there are weird...
Pate:Answer, any weird questions...
jme:Weird vetting questions or weird things. But they can tackle a lot of the behavior, a lot of the general questions that the foster team or the foster, uh, care. Foster parents. Thank you. I have, and that you, that, you know, when it comes to the dogs for Motley Zoo really it's just Pate. So, you know, Pate's doing a lot for one person. And you know, there's a lot of variations when it comes to dogs. There's a lot of behavior issues, and I don't wanna say issues in terms of like, it's so hard to foster a dog. Just that, you know, oh, the dog is barking.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:Or oh, the dog is jumping on people.
Pate:Dogs are a little bit more difficult than cats in the sense that they're out and about. They actually socialize with people, with strangers. You want them to, you know, and they're going to have more interaction with the outside world than cats will.
jme:Yes. So there's more things that need to be addressed than say cats. Because for example, when fostering cats, all you need is one room. You don't need anything other than one room.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:You don't need to introduce the foster cats to your other pets. You don't need to introduce, other people to your foster cats all the time. Sometimes obviously socialization is gonna be important, but all you need is one room, a bathroom, an extra bathroom is enough to foster a cat, and that is not enough for a dog.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:You cannot foster a dog in a spare bathroom. No. You can quarantine them in in a spare bathroom and that's something actually we didn't talk about.
Pate:Quarantine.
jme:We do a two week quarantine and before the pandemic, no one knew what that meant. But now everyone understands what quarantine means. However, explain it in terms of what we mean and what we expect in a foster situation.
Pate:So we are pretty strict with our quarantine. Any new foster that comes in, the first two weeks, we want to ensure that they are not...
jme:They're not gonna break with an illness.
Pate:Well, right. But that they're not around other animals. Outside there are things that incubate like covid, you know, it takes a couple weeks to show up and there are things with dogs, puppies, cats, kittens that will take a couple weeks to manifest if they got infected. Something as simple as kennel cough, which is basically the common cold for dogs. Some dogs, you know, they get kennel cough. It's a cold, it's no big deal. Others might need antibiotics, but other times it can turn into pneumonia. So we don't want to expose other animals, other dogs to that. So for two weeks they are in your home. They are not exposed to other animals. not exposed to other people cuz they're not out and about. And I was gonna say, and then for puppies especially, our biggest concern with puppies is parvo, which is a pain in the butt when it comes to sanitizing after the fact. So we want you to quarantine before the fact so they don't spread it everywhere. And that is why we are pretty strict with our quarantine. They don't go outside, they go on potty pads and they're, they're restricted to a room that can be easily bleached.
jme:So when I take in a foster dog, I usually work with older dogs. Before I started construction in my house, we had a dog room and the dogs would go in there. Right now I just have my spare bathroom, so the dogs go in there and usually just one dog at a time or maybe two small dogs, but they go in there, and if I am taking them outside, I, because older dogs they're not usually at such risk for parvo- it's usually young puppies. I take them to a different part of the yard though, that I don't ever take my dogs to. I take them in the front on a leash and I make sure that they're going potty too. So I know what their potty is like, I know whether or not they're going- and that's part of also housebreaking. How we're gonna learn how to house break the dogs and see where they're at and yeah, if it's puppies, then they go on potty pads and they...
Pate:They don't even go in the yard.
jme:Yeah, they don't go out in the yard. Because, while at my house, it may be isolated, but if you're living in an apartment and you're fostering puppies, you cannot trust that the grass in front of your apartment is safe. And parvo is a virus. And I can't think of any human illness to liken it to like maybe the flu.
Pate:Ebola.
jme:Yeah, I was gonna say maybe the flu. But for most people the flu isn't deadly. You know, but to the 40 to a hundred thousand people that die of the flu every year, it certainly is, but parvo is 50 50 for puppies.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And it lasts in the yard for two years. So if you bring home a parvo puppy unknowingly, and you let it go everywhere in your yard, you're not gonna be able to have puppies in your yard for two years. And you know, even then it's kind of questionable. So we don't want that to happen to you. People buy puppies from backyard breeders and they have parvo.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:So, you know...
Pate:That's where we've gotten like quite a few of our parvo puppies. One time we did actually have three puppies with parvo, and if I did not quarantine them in my bathroom, then I would've had parvo all over the house, all over in the backyard, but I am a strict quarantine, so even after having parvo in my house, I was able to have other puppies.
jme:Well, and that would've been a crisis for Pate because she often takes puppies and she often takes sick puppies. She was devastated when she found out she had parvo, but she did everything right. And that's one time in 15 years, that that's happened. But you know, it's always going to be safety over convenience. And that's just how it has to be. And that's how we make things consistent and safe. And yes, not every rescue does things that way. So if you're feeling like you're being pushed into doing something that, you know, seems risky to you or seems, you know, like that, then maybe...
Pate:Or inconvenient.
jme:Yeah. Or inconvenient. Like, think about why you're being asked to do it. Think about what's best for the animals, what's best for your animals, and think about it that way.
Pate:Especially if you wanna continue fostering
jme:Yeah. This is not just a shelter problem. Parvo is a big concern and you cannot take that new puppy to the dog park. You should not take a new foster dog to the dog park.
Pate:You shouldn't take a foster dog to the dog park period.
jme:We can, yeah, we can talk about that. But, part of the quarantine is to make sure that your animals aren't gonna get sick because we care about your animals just as much as we care about our animals and is to make sure that whatever illness the animals may or may not have that have come in are gonna be contained. And when you do this quarantine process, the chances of your animals getting sick is very, very, very, very slim. But yeah, if you don't listen and you let the foster dog or cat, mix in your family, there is a chance that your animal could get sick. But if you have kept your animal up to date on vaccines and your animal is not stressed or otherwise health compromised, then there's a good chance that they'll be fine. For example, even if I wasn't strict quarantining, the chances of my dogs getting kennel cough is pretty low. I've been fostering for over 15 years, and I can think of only two times when my dogs got kennel cough.
Pate:I've only had it once. Yeah. From a, from a foster dog. I mean, I've had kennel cough a lot, in my house.
jme:In foster dogs.
Pate:Just because of the foster dogs. Coming from the shelter, things like that. Where it is pretty prevalent cuz of the close confinement of the dogs spatially. But it only ever happened once and it was my older dog who got it from a dog that came from California and she ended up having kennel cough so bad she had pneumonia. And only one of my dogs got it.
jme:Yeah. So especially when you quarantine and you take proper precautions, you don't really have to worry that your animals are gonna get sick from the foster animals, which I suppose that could be a fear that people have.
Pate:Mm-hmm. But no one's ever mentioned that. But...
jme:I mean, I haven't heard it in a long time.
Pate:Right. Yeah.
jme:Maybe it's cuz people just don't even know enough to know.
Pate:Right.
jme:But it's rare that we get an animal home and we're surprised by something that they may have.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And usually we just expect kennel cough because, you know, shelters can't stop taking in animals just because there's an illness. So they can never really get rid of it. It just kind of is ongoing and the animals are...
Pate:They can isolate it.
jme:Yeah.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And the animals are at the peak of their stress.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:They are weakened in...
Pate:Yeah.
jme:Their immune systems. They're compromised.
Pate:Right.
jme:And they are primed to get sick.
Pate:Right.
jme:Whereas your beloved pets at home in their cushy environment, they're, not stressed out, they're not gonna be as likely to get sick. It's the same as with people.
Pate:Well, and then also the dogs in the shelter. We have no idea what the background is, like how often were they vaccinated? Were they even cared for?
jme:Mm-hmm.
Pate:Whereas like my dogs are hopefully like all the other foster homes where they are kept on a schedule for their vaccinations, and so they do have a stronger immune system cuz they're fed well, they're exercised well, they're happy- except for Heath, who doesn't feel like I drive him enough- but, they're vaccinated.
jme:So we do check, we ask each foster to show us your vet records and get up to date before you foster an animal, because that way we are minimizing risks all around. So if you are, you know, considering fostering and you're not sure if your pets are up to date, get them up to date. If the organization doesn't ask if your pets are up to date, be very concerned or know going into it, that you have to quarantine that animal to make sure that you are not putting your animals at risk. Cuz obviously you don't wanna help a homeless animal or an animal that's going to be euthanized, you don't wanna sacrifice your own animal's safety or comfort for that. That doesn't make sense and that's not the point. But we're telling you that if you are careful and your organization is careful, then you don't have to worry. You don't have to risk it.
Pate:Right. And, I know it's inconvenient. I know that for two weeks it's gonna be inconvenient. So many people don't think that they can quarantine for two weeks. They're like,"I don't have the space. I don't have this". But two weeks in the whole scheme of things is not very long. And I have fostered thousands of animals and I do a two week quarantine every single time, you know?
jme:Yeah. We understand the inconvenience and it's the same inconvenience that people tell us, you know,"Well I can't, I need to surrender my dog cuz I can't keep them separated". And we have to laugh under our breath because they're like,"I have a dog I can't with this other dog". And yeah, most fosters and people in rescue like us, have multiple dogs and we do it every time. It is just part of the process, and you know, it's not convenient, no, but it's worth that animal's life a hundred percent. Every single time.
Pate:Every single time.
jme:And when you think about it that way, a little extra walk on your part, taking'em out in the front, standing in the rain for a little bit, who cares? You saved that animal's life. That means a lot more. So small, small sacrifices of convenience for a life.
Pate:Right.
jme:And it's always worth it. You will never ever feel like it's not worth it. So then as a foster, are you expected to help find a home for your dog on your own? Or is your organization going to take the lead on that? When it comes to Motley Zoo, you are welcome to promote your dog or cat to...
Pate:We want you to promote your(yeah) the dog or cat.
jme:We want you to promote them to friends, family, to your social network, whatever. But when it comes to the application process say,"Hey, you know, Motley Zoo will take it from here". And that's where for our organization, we go through the applications and we make sure that your friend or family is a good fit for the animal. I will say oftentimes your friends or family are the ones that are the worst about vetting.
Pate:You'll be surprised...
jme:Or they wanna tie the dog up outside, or they wanna let the cat out. So there are times when it may not work, but that's why if you just say, Hey, let my organization handle it, then, then that's great. But we want to adopt to people that you know...
Pate:I mean we've had people that their friend saw them foster and they fell in love with their foster puppy, for example, and really wanted to adopt them. And then the foster, because it was a friend, was hyping that person up. But then, it just was not a good fit. The other dog in the home was just like, oh no, I don't want a puppy. And you know, just things like that. So it's not always gonna work out.
jme:You're not selling cars though. You're not trying to convince people that they need a pet. What you are trying to do is if you want someone to adopt, like you want them to adopt the right animal...
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:And so we encourage you to promote them, but we don't encourage you to try and sell people on them. And that's very important to understand the difference because we don't know if it's gonna work out. And we don't want you to be mad at us that we didn't give a dog to your friend or family that they didn't want. Like you don't know what they want...
Pate:Or it just wasn't a good fit.
jme:Right. That's what I mean. Like we are not gonna give them a special needs dog. Right. Even if they think it's cute and fluffy and they think they can handle it if they've said they're gonna return a dog for this, this, and this, and this and this, right? Like, well, that's what this dog does.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:So, you know, a lot of times people, what they think they want and what they want are two very different things.
Pate:Right.
jme:And our job is to suss that out...
Pate:Right.
jme:And figure that out with the people. But part of the promotion of the animals is taking pictures and videos and updating them regularly. And so it's very important, the pictures and videos that you take, because...
Pate:Instagram worthy is what we call them.
jme:Yes. So if the dog is in the dark and has green laser eyes, like that's not a picture that's gonna work. A lot of times Fosters will send us pictures like that and we'll just kind of ask them,"Would you adopt that dog from that picture"? And they're like...
Pate:Or just ask them to,"Could you maybe during the day find better lighting"?
jme:But yeah, when you ask them if they'll adopt the laser eyes dog, and they're always like, no. And I'm like, then why would you send that as a picture for us?
Pate:I love aliens!
jme:To represent this dog when people haven't even seen it. And the thing is, is they're not gonna click on the bio if they don't like the picture.
Pate:Pictures speak... what is that? Pictures speak a thousand words or something.
jme:Mm-hmm.
Pate:And, and that's so true. I mean, because you gotta figure Petfinder for example, like thousands and thousands and thousands of like, I don't even understand how anyone can find any of our animals on Petfinder. Cuz I've gone to Petfinder before and I'm like, wow. There is so much. And then I'm just like, oh, it's just too much. I gotta walk away. And then when you're scrolling, pictures they have to pop out. There has to be something about that picture that is going to pop out and it's not gonna be laser eyes that's gonna pop out.
jme:Maybe if all the other pictures are good and laser, they're like,"Wait, what's this laser eyes"?
Pate:I know that's like, is.
jme:But yeah. So it's your job to take pictures, videos, keep us posted on behavior, training. To ask for help when you need it.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:We can't read your mind.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:To keep the dog safe, structured.
Pate:Mm-hmm. Vetted.
jme:Vetted and fed and watered. There are a lot of responsibilities to fostering, but especially if you have your own pets, none of them are really that difficult or that inconvenient.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:But you, you do wanna think about all these things and maybe you wanna try fostering with a couple different groups and see what works.
Pate:Mm-hmm.
jme:Don't do it at the same time.
Pate:No!
jme:Because you can't take in animals from different groups at the same time. That's not a good idea.
Pate:It's just not safe.
jme:No.
Pate:Again, that whole quarantine thing.
jme:But maybe you date some organizations and you find the one that works for you.
Pate:Mm-hmm. Because everyone's different. Everyone's personality's different, everyone, the way they flow is gonna be different.
jme:However, they don't seem to have a problem, so...
Pate:Yeah. But they also don't have our luck.
jme:Our, uh, yeah, our luck is what she said because Yeah. We just don't take risks.
Pate:Yeah.
jme:Like that. We just don't, and if you want us to, we're not going to.
Pate:Right.
jme:That's just what it comes down to. That's all the time we have for today. We'll have to turn what to expect when fostering into a two-part series because we still have a lot more to say on the subject and we encourage you to consider fostering. Until then...
Pate:Rock on.
jme:Rescue on.