=(
So I'm finding the idea of getting rid of Starbucks (one of my current foster dogs) to be very difficult. I've only fostered him for 6 months, which isn't a real long time, but I've gotten really attached to him. Every time the shelter's dog coordinator tells me that someone is interested in seeing Starbucks I get a knot in my stomach and start hoping I can talk them out of adopting him. That's not how it's supposed to work. I've been working so hard on making him adoptable that now he's like the perfect dog to me. He's so friendly, so playful, and so incredibly smart, and he gives me more hugs and kisses than any of my other pets. ;-) He's doing wonderful in his Agility class and learning new stuff all the time.

He's still not over his aggression issues, and is still overly protective around strangers. He still gets very stressed out when I leave him alone at the shelter (even for a few minutes) and foams at the mouth when strangers approach (when I'm not with him). I'm going out of town next week and he will have to spend the whole week at the shelter. So I'm a bit nervous about that because I don't want him to be constantly stressed and revert back to aggression.

Everyone tells me I should adopt him. The problem is, I can't afford another dog. There have been several threads here where everyone says if you can't afford medical treatment, then you shouldn't adopt the animal, and I know already that I can't afford any large costs on my income. Even the cost of dog food is so high. Also, I just don't know that I want to commit to another dog. It's such a big commitment and I'm willing to make that committment, I just don't know if I should. Finally, I know he can be happy with someone else if I find the right home. My last foster dog, Samson, had fear aggression issues and was also bad with strangers (fear biting). I fostered him for 8 months and he was adopted in February and just came back for a visit this weekend doing really great and much more calm around strangers. So I know the same is possible with Starbucks, I just don't want to get rid of him. I want to foster him forever. :P

I know how you feel. My wife and I have been doing Boston Terrier Rescue for 8 years. Every now and then we get that one dog that just has a bond and is so damn special. Since you are familiar with the adoption process and fostering, you know that there is that special home out there. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. I have had Bostons in here that I swore I was going to adopt. I learned that for everyone that I want to adopt another one in a mill or a shelter will die. So we have our limit and we work really hard to make sure that the adoptions are as good as can be. I can't tell you not to keep Starbucks, but maybe that home is right around the corner... hope this helps..
Walt

:hug: I'm sorry, I don't really have any advice, I'd feel the same way :hug: Can you maybe contact the dog food company and relay them your story and that you foster- maybe they'll at least send you some coupons or such? I don't know about vet care, does your shelter know of any vets that would give you a discount? I can't think of much else.

My advice is if you're getting knots in your stomach when you think about losing him, then keep him. Don't make the same mistake I did. I gave away a dog I didn't think I could afford to keep and it will now haunt me the rest of my life. I'd sell myself on a street corner if I could get him back now.

Most vets take payments. Mine does and charges very little interest. I just now paid him off from that fun little dog fight over a year ago. (Actually, that bill wasn't so huge it took that long to pay off, but it seemed whenever I'd get almost there, I'd need to take someone in or need meds or something.) Anyway, sorry for rambling. But if I let inability to pay a huge bill all at once be my deciding factor, I probably wouldn't have any dogs (or cats) because I never have thousands in the bank at any one time.

As for food, it is expensive, and I actually buy my dogs food I can't really afford. But you don't really *have* to buy the super-expensive stuff if you can't. Most likely anyone that adopted him wouldn't be buying the super-premium food. There are times I have to buy cheaper stuff for my dogs to stretch the good stuff until I get paid again. All the dogs we had when I was a kid ate nothing but grocery store dog food and lived to be 15, 16, 17, one nearly 18 years.

I know you can't keep every dog you come across and get attached to. I'd have about 20 if I did that. :D But some dogs are just different. I think you should keep him.

You know, maybe the perfect home won't come around. . . and you'll end up fostering him forever anyway! There are people - and I think you are one of them - who somehow come up with the money for their animals out of nowhere. You know what has to be done and do it! Maybe your anxiety is partly because no one perfect has seen him. Perhaps if the perfect home comes up, you'd gladly let Starbucks go (well not gladly, but you know what I mean!)

Oh man, he's beautiful!! I hope you get to keep him; Is there any hope for a raise in your future? Also, if you keep him, how would that be any different than if you fostered him (cost wise)? Also, what kind of medical bills? The 'he tried to catch a rabbit and broke a tooth' kind of cost or is it like 'rabie shots for the next 10 years' kind of cost?

I wish I had some advice for you. Is there anything you need that's non-perishable? We've got a ton of lightly used stuff from my baby. He's gone, but I bet he'd of liked to see it go to a worthy pup!

Brownie, in fostering there are no real expenses involved as the shelter pays for all medical costs and provides food for free. I buy them toys and treats and stuff like that (bought him a hula hoop and bunch of tennis balls yesterday), but pretty much anything I need the shelter pays for. But if I am going to keep him, then I don't want to be freeloading off the shelter. Now they do provide free food to people in the community who can't afford food, so I'm sure they'd help with food if I needed help. Money wise though, my main concern would be if he got seriously injured I probably could not afford treatment. I'm sure I'll be able to afford yearly shots and check ups, but I can't afford vet insurance or large bills.

Alfie, that might be true, especially given my standards of the "perfect home". I do seem to be doing a fine job of scaring people away from considering him. "We're looking for someone experienced in dog aggression, because he has bitten several people" doesn't seem to be a good selling line, but it works for me. :P I do tend to get more anxious or nervous when it's someone I don't think would be a good match that is expressing interest in him.

Punkmommy, yeah there is a cheaper vet a half hour out that I could probably go to if I need to. So that's something I can keep in mind. The vet I go to know is pretty expensive and I'm not real satisfied with them right now anyways.

Wally, yeah, that's another point in that the more dogs I've adopted the less I can foster. I'm fostering two dogs now. The limit of what I can handle seems to be either two high-maintance fosters, or three easy fosters. Right now both Skip and Starbucks require a lot of work. If I adopted Starbucks, that would be one less dog that I'd be capable of fostering. I know people at the shelter with 6 to 12 dogs, but I know I couldn't handle that!

Wolfie, thanks for all the advice and suggestions... and you might be right that I should keep him. I'm going to give it serious thought while I'm on vacation next week, but probably won't decide on anything for a while.

One other factor I'm weighing is that Starbucks does really well at dog sports, gets very excited about them, and I really would like to see him excel in agility or other dog sports. If someone was interested in adopting Starbucks that had experience in dog sports or was seriously interested in pursuing professional dog sports, I'd probably be a lot more excited about him going with them because I don't know if I would have the time or the money to pursue that as much as someone else might. A lot of people want to adopt him as a family dog (at least before learning his history) because he's the smartest dog at the shelter and they want a smart dog that will behave at home, but Starbucks has a lot more potential than just being a family dog.

:hug:

Thats a tough position to be in. Unfortunately, I don't have many good words of advice, as I was fostering both Munchie and Atticus and kept them. (I did, however, easily surrender bunches of other fosters... Munchie and I just have some sort of connection, and no one would take Atticus but my family liked him) Fortunately, working for the vet has made it so that I can afford them both, and I'm going to be signing them up for pet insurance next month when I'm not working there any more to help with future medical costs. If the shelter were to continue giving you food and Starbucks had health insurance... would that help at all? Maybe see if there's a way you can work out keeping him.

Don't do something you are going to regret. If you love this dog, keep him. You don't want to look back in a few years and wish you had kept him. You don't have to buy expensive food, like others have pointed out. You can buy cheaper food, and cook healthy food to go with it. Or, buy the expensive stuff and mix it with the cheap food. My dogs eat cheap grocery store food, and then I cook doggie dishes to go along with it. I can't afford to spend a ton of money on dog food. Eventually, I am going to switch them over to just cooked food when I have more time to cook for them. They seem to enjoy the cooked food much better.

Make a seperate savings account that you put maybe $10-25 dollars a week in for emergency vet visits. This is what I do. I've had a couple of emergencies with my dogs, and I have always been able to afford them even though I only make $6 dollars an hour. I had all of them fixed at a low cost vet clinic, and then I take them to the more expensive vet for check-ups, and a vet that takes payments for major things. When Little Man had to have his leg amputated, I took him to a vet that takes a down payment on the surgery, then allows you to pay the rest after the surgery. This helped out a lot. Little Man's mange dip is also cheaper at this vet.

As for flea treatment, buy a flea pick. It takes more time than just putting the on the spot stuff, but it is much cheaper. My dogs also enjoy getting their fleas picked more than the on the spot stuff. I would have to corner them, and have my fiancee hold the dog to get the treatment on. Plus, the stuff wasn't working very well. I would spend all this money on flea treatment, and then a week later they would have fleas. Bathing them twice a week and using a flea pick worked better for me. You can also buy spray on flea treatment, which can be used on several animals instead of just one, and lasts awhile. Most vets sell the spray on treatment. It is about $17 dollars for a bottle.

There are a lot of things you can do to make this dog work out. If you really, really can not afford him, maybe a family member can take him? If a relative has the dog you will be able to visit and possibly get the dog back when you can afford to keep him.

This thread's nearly a year old, and I still have the same two foster dogs. :think:

Starbucks is staying permanently. He's 6 years old, he still presents with aggression issues, he's now in advanced agility classes. I'm registering him with UKC this week so that he can begin trials.

Skip isn't staying, but I'm really attached to him. He sleeps with his head on my shoulder.

I'm becoming a bad foster, not supposed to get so attached. :P

I don't know how you could not get attached! I also think it's great you get to keep Starbucks. I took in a kitten for five days and cried like a baby when I found a nice woman who came to take it. I didn't keep her because I already have four cats in four small rooms. The crazy thing is, the woman wouldn't take her until she knew the kitten was healthy (she was found outside frozen to a bush). So my friend and I split a $300 vet bill to have her checked out and medicated for worms, upper respiratory infection, Feline Leukemia testing, etc. She was the most adorable little thing and was really getting to trust me. I think that's why it was so hard to give her up. She needed me and I needed to nurture her. But she is doing really well and loves her new home, so all is right with the world! And I work with the woman who took her so I get daily updates.
Are you so sure Skip won't be sticking around since it's been so long now?

This thread's nearly a year old, and I still have the same two foster dogs. :think:

Starbucks is staying permanently. He's 6 years old, he still presents with aggression issues, he's now in advanced agility classes. I'm registering him with UKC this week so that he can begin trials.

Skip isn't staying, but I'm really attached to him. He sleeps with his head on my shoulder.

I'm becoming a bad foster, not supposed to get so attached. :P
You may becoming a bad foster, but you are a good soul, Kel.:lovesign:

I've had a foster for a few months now (feline foster). It's hard not to become attached... she's was fully feral when she cames... she morphing into such a sweetie! It's going to be hard to let her go.

Good for you for keeping him, I don't like seeing animals bounced around like a used car, even when intentions are good. When I first got my dog, he got on my nerves so bad I almost gave him up. When someone said they would take him, I realized I could never give him up. That was four years ago, he is now curled up on a chair behind me waiting for my dad to come home and give him his nightly ice cream (vanilla is his favorite, and I can't stop dad from doing it!). My cat I never bothered trying to give up, it was either keep her, foster her (and get attached, then keep her anyway) or leave her in the cane field to die (not an option I ever considered).

Are you so sure Skip won't be sticking around since it's been so long now?Don't tempt me. ;) I'd love to keep Skip, but I won't. He has become one of my favorites though. He's a great dog, no behavior issues, great with everyone, highly trainable. So he'll find a home eventually. I have become a bit picky though, requiring a privacy fence, and requiring obedience classes, etc. Besides, the city limit is three pets, so once I sign the paperwork on Starbucks, that'll put me at three (one cat, two dogs).

Starbucks has his first agility trial in two weeks! :eek: I'm excited and nervous. Wish us luck. :)

Good luck! :)

Good luck!!! :up:

I've just read this thread and Starbucks sounds really sweet. I think you've made the right decision :)

Saz x

yay for Starbucks!

:rockon:

kpick, I just wanted to mention something else...
totally off the record... don't quote me on this...
*whispers*
Shelters love it if you foster a dog "forever"!

I've worked with a number of shelters & foster programs, and in each case the shelter is more than happy to allow foster homes to keep the dogs as long as they want. Think of it from the shelter's point of view: non-profit shelters get free food, and they have an on-site vet. So for them there's no expense. They're just happy to free up some space in the kennel and see the pooch go to a reliable home.

So if money is really tight, I'm sure you could just tell the shelter of your intentions, and they'll be happy to fund your new pooch(es) until you're financially ready.

Now go out there and foster 5 more dogs!! ;)

Yeah, they are more than happy to let me foster him permanently... I haven't made it official yet, but that's what I'll end up doing. Eventually I'll probably adopt him, but I have a long list of things I need to do that since his history and temperment does bring with it some legal risks I have to consider too.

Oh and his christianed UKC name is now "Starbucks Mocha Latte Love". I wanted to go with "Starbucks Coffee with Bite" but felt it might cause trouble if he really did bite someone. ;)

[Bump]

So, I just had to show off Starbucks painting. :smitten:

See here: http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/1743/starbucksandhispainting0oi.jpg

It was painted by VB user dk_art (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/member.php?u=550).

Aw, I love David's art. :) It's so cool that you had him do a portrait of Starbucks.

This thread's nearly a year old, and I still have the same two foster dogs. :think:

Starbucks is staying permanently. He's 6 years old, he still presents with aggression issues, he's now in advanced agility classes. I'm registering him with UKC this week so that he can begin trials.

Skip isn't staying, but I'm really attached to him. He sleeps with his head on my shoulder.

I'm becoming a bad foster, not supposed to get so attached. :P

Bada bump.

Skip was adopted a week ago. I fostered him for 23 months and 3 weeks. I struggled with whether to keep him or not, but he's doing good in his new home. He went to a single mom and her 7 year old son, and when I checked up on him he was sleeping in bed with the kid and they've become best buds.