I recently stumbled upon this website browsing the net and am so glad I did! I ordered the puppy and basic obedience videos and am extremely impressed. For that reason I feel confident this is the appropriate place to bring up a concern of mine regarding rescue dogs.
I care a great deal about the over-population problem and have a foster dog right now through a local rescue. I got lucky. She is low key, gets along great with everyone, etc. My concern is regarding future fosters. I don't have the time or energy to put into a dog that would (in my humble opinion) do better being put to sleep. Ed has mentioned that many are in shelters not because of abuse but because of fear issues/poor temperament. (not trying to quote exactly) Anyway, is there anything I can do to "test" an adult or puppy so I don't take an opportunity away from a "potentially better dog" by fostering one who isn't going to be an optimal pet. Common sense rules out a lot but many dogs in the shelters seem friendly, etc. upon initial approach. I have browsed and browsed and am not finding any information that is helping me. If someone is kind enough to offer feedback or direct me to one of Ed's articles I haven't found I would appreciate it. I hope I am not coming across like a complete idiot but I am not well versed in this area and simply want to do some good community service.

Try looking up the APDT.com website. There is a wealth of information available there to people for general pets.Good Luck, and congrats on your decision to save a life!

http://www.apdt.com

this should help! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I'm going to have to disagree with Jeannette here about the value of the APDT site.From a professional standpoint, I think that organization is a major scam.
The least qualified of our local trainers in my area list their "prestigious" member in the the APDT, complete with a membership number and expiration date. These tend to be the trainers that have *one* CGC and *BH* title to their name- and now they've set themselves up as a professional dog trainer. And scam organizations like the APDT help to to fool the public into thinking they're qualified.
Here's the link to the page for applying for full membership to the APDT:
https://secure.apdt.com/trainers-and-owners/membership/secure-membership-application.htm
Notice that in *NO* place on the application do you even list your acomplishments, titles or any type of qualification! All they ask for is their fee- over have the form is devoted to credit card billing. Doesn't this strike anybody as a little odd?
Sorry, this organization and site should be avoided by anybody that wants to learn about dog behavior and training. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Will you are right. This APDT.com is a first class joke. Its a 100% scam.

I have fostered a great many dogs for the local German Shepherd Rescue and you are right it is very difficult to know what you are getting.

Before a dog is put into foster care they are evaluated by a qualified member of the organization. They are evaluated for a few basic things, recieving a stranger, other animals, handling and manhandling to see their responses. I personally dont expect a dog to be perfect, last night I evaluated a dog at the shelter, nice young male, decent drive(would play with a stick, would play with me in a very hectic stressful environment,) was out going and friendly and focused on me and seemed to want the interaction with people, he let me mess with his ears, tail, teeth, lean over him, the basics, but when I touched his feet he mouthed at me. But he was not overly concerned about it, he rebounded and did not hold a grudge. This dog is placeable.

Now the same dog, out of the shelter in a foster home may begin to exhibit new beahviors in the house, food possession, dominance, animal aggression, who knows. And the point I am trying to make, albeit super longwindedly, is that you dont know what you have until you work with it. I can do the basics and rule out certain dogs, but I cant guarantee, until I have a dog in my house that the dog is stable and sound.

I am lucky in that the organization I work with is not scared to say, look we tried, this dog is not placeable. As a foster home it is my responsiblitly to tell them exactly what the problem is with the dogs I work with and the things i am doing to work with them. And to knwo my limits and my abilities. And to know when the dog is not placeable, i cant be freaking out trying to "save them all" I want to save the ones that are "worth it"

But I view fostering as a time to give dogs what they need to be good housepets, alot of them need manners and structure to thrive and that what I give them. I have had the rare occasion to have a great dog with no vices but they bore me to be honest, I like a bit if a challenge, but if at anytime I see a dog is not going to be placeable I tell the rescue and they decide how to proceed. We will not place an untustworthy dog. Its too much of a liability.

Any way long story short. If you want to foster but dont have the time to devote to the retraining of the dog then you need to be upfront in telling the organiztion you work with what you can and cant handle. but you need to be prepared and know that they cannot know everything about a dog before you get it. If you dont have the facilites to seperate out a dog that is not getting along then you may want to rethink fostering. Right now I have a dog that was pulled from a shelter, lovely dog, my male hates him, they cannot be together. So I have to work around that and make sure they both get the time and work they deserve. I had no idea they would not get along, this is the first time i have had this problem.

Okay I think i am done rambling now.

Kathy,

I'd direct you to all of Ed's articles. Learn as much as you can about temperament testing and the warning signs of a genetically sabotaged dog. Use those techniques to find the good ones, but remember also that your job as a foster is to build on the good temperament with thorough OB training.

As for the APDT, well...I have a rescue GSD and periodically volunteer in one of the largest shelters in the country (city of Chicago pound). My dog is better trained (by me) than the dogs of every person I see in the park combined. I suppose that means I could get me a fancy certification and even print some certificate on my home computer, complete with description about my "extensive" (6 months) experience with "hundreds" of dogs (true, sorta), blah blah blah. Doesn't change the way a kid will feel when some wild-eyed nerve bag shelter rat bites him for touching a toy.

Test, train, have fun, but be careful. Good luck.

Samantha...liked the info on the rescue dog. I am employed with a fine local animal shelter. We do our best to temperment test our dogs before going to their new homes. But we still see dogs returned. Being dropped at a shelter and going to a new home is a lot of new experiences in a very short period of time. I find it takes about a month for a dog to feel secure in a new home.

Love that comment about the wild-eyed shelter rat! Exactly what I need to avoid. I appreciate all the responses. My best dog ever is a mutt of God knows what origin that an ex-boyfriend convinced some guy at a bar to turn over to him I guess I've been a sucker for a stray ever since but do recognize the need to screen with some clue as to what I'm screening for... I have never been a position to do this type of work before but finally have a house of my own which offers more room. Thank you all!

OK all, I'll admit I don't know alot about the APDT organization.

However, in my own defense...I looked at the site a few times on behalf of the rescue group I'd done some volunteering for in the past, and they did seem to have alot of books that were geared towards pets and I thought they looked to be very informative. Also, there is a trainer that worked with the rescue group that was a very capable pet dog trainer, and she was an APDT member.So, this being the extent of my experience with APDT, it seemed to be a good place for pet owners to get general info.

I personally LOVE this Leerburg website/board, but I know alot of people who I've recommended to look at this site didn't share my enthusiasm.Totally their loss, but some people have the typical pet dog owners mindset and are not able to open their views wider.

So anyway, I thought it was worth mentioning! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />