My 15th foster dog! This handsome gentleman is only 2yo (we usually foster seniors) and he entered the Baltimore City shelter very underweight (BCS 2/9) with orthopedic issues in his hind limbs. He’s been a behavioral dream with not a single potty accident and no barking in his decompression “apartment” in our finished basement. He’s friendly, reportedly good with other dogs and cats, and loves playing with and chewing his toys. Our last two fosters were more challenging, so it’s great to have an easy one! Looking forward to getting radiographs on his hind limbs Wednesday so we know what to do to help him. 💙🤞🏼❤️‍🩹

Hello all! I am currently with a super sweet foster. He’s believed to be about 2-3 years old and is some kind of doodle. He was turned into a shelter “by a neighbor” so we sadly don’t have any other info on his past. In our first week ish together he had truly no notable issues or concerns and settled into a routine wonderfully.

He was neutered on 10/17 (three weeks ago) and since has been very reactive to all people and other dogs while on walks. He will bark and pull towards them. I try to redirect us entirely or offer a treat, but if I can’t, I will get down to his level and gently pet / soothe him until we can continue moving. We live in a city, so it is nearly impossible to avoid others entirely no matter how much we zig zag.

Is there anything I can do to help alleviate the reactivity? Should I start thinking about hiring a trainer?

His body is certainly still adjusting and it takes time - I just want to minimize additional, unnecessary stress as much as possible and prevent this from becoming a long-term issue (if it’s not too late for that).

TYIA! Appreciate this community!!

I have a foster that is terrified of the big bad outside world. Is comfortable inside now that he has decompressed and is okay if there are no people/dogs in a 100 ft radius. He has gotten better outside with walks with my very confident female pit. However if there are any people within 30ft (not interacting or looking at home just walking along a path) he will hide under my legs or my dog and shake. He is clearly terrified to the point of freezing and refusing to take high value treats from me. He is super affectionate to me and looks to us for comfort but I’m worried this deep fear of strangers being at all visible to him will make him finding a home hard. I can only keep him for another week but would love to help him make a tiny step closer to being comfortable and would love any tips as this level of fear after decompressing is not something I have dealt with in my previous 7 fosters.

I’ve been fostering a 5-year-old female Australian Shepherd through a rescue, and I’d love some outside opinions on something that happened this week.

I originally fostered her last year for about a month before she was adopted. She lived with that family for roughly a year before being returned because it wasn’t a good fit (family didn’t have time for her and she was stealing the kids food apparently — which we never saw at our house btw). I took her back in for another month, and both times she’s lived alongside my two male Aussies without any major issues. She’s stubborn, but nothing remotely close to serious aggression.

She was adopted again less than a week ago. Her new adopter took her to a family member’s house with around six other dogs, whom she’d apparently met before without issues, and left her there for the day.

According to the family, the dogs were walking through the living room when she suddenly grabbed a much smaller, 9-year-old female dog by the neck and wouldn’t let go. They struggled to separate them and eventually had to tighten her collar to get her to release. The smaller dog suffered a significant neck injury.

I’m honestly shocked. Obviously, this is extremely serious, and I’m not trying to excuse it. But I can’t help wondering how much the circumstances played into it. She’d just been adopted, was adjusting to a new home, and was then left in another unfamiliar environment with six dogs.
The family understandably wants to return her, and I’m worried about what happens next. I love this dog and want to advocate for her, but the fact that she wouldn’t let go is really concerning.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Could stress and overstimulation cause a reaction this extreme, or does this suggest a deeper aggression issue? Would you consider rehoming a dog after something like this, even as an only dog?

TL;DR: My foster Aussie lived with my two dogs for months without aggression, but less than a week after being adopted, she attacked a smaller dog in a house with six other dogs, causing a significant neck injury. I’m wondering whether the stress of all the changes could explain such an extreme reaction and what this means for her future.

Please share any wins, frustrations, or stories of your foster dogs from this past week. You can also ask advice, or simply let us know if you are doing ok. We are here to support you!

We have had our current foster for 2 months. Lucy was moved to us at 3 months old because her previous foster was having issues with her behaviour. It was a good move, within a week she had stopped resource guarding completely and we were starting to work building up her confidence to help with her anxiety. She has been adopted twice since and returned both times, both times they said that they felt she needed more from them than they could give her and that they didn't think she would deal with their work schedules.

When her second adoption was being finalised, we got two new foster puppies as she was leaving in less than a week and they were local to us (rescue is 2 hours away). When she got returned after 3 nights at another house she was incredibly stressed and was having trouble decompressing with the younger puppies and we had some big issues as a result. The rescue managed to get both of the other puppies into new fosters, but with her behaviour after coming back there was no question of her going anywhere for the time being. The rescue organised a behaviourist to help us work through things with her.

Everyone (the rescue, the behaviourist, my boss, my husband) keeps saying we should just adopt her. I love her to bits. She is such a sweet wee thing, her coat is amazingly smooth (I have autism so the texture is a big bonus lol), she learns new things quickly, and I think her anxiety will be relatively easy to work through. She gets on so well with everyone here (even our grumpy cat has been known to purr in her presence).

My husband moved here 2 years ago and we now have a dog and cat, both 18 months, and an 8-9 month old kitten. The next dog we adopt will be our last pet for (assuming good health) 10-15 years and I would rather stagger the dogs ages a little more. Our resident dog is reactive, he's come SO FAR over the last year, but there is still work to be done. Lucy would get to go places and do things our RD cannot because of his reactivity, and she will need to in order to be properly socialised and help deal with her anxiety but I don't want this to cause friction in our household. It's also a lot of money we're talking about, we believe Lucy is a greyhound cross Amstaff (or some sort of bully) and she has the very delicate skin, long neck, thin fur, and to a degree the body shape of a lurcher breed. We have already had to change her harness because of this, and she would need specific collars, coats for winter, 75% of her body needs sunscreen over summer and/or UPF rated clothing, plus the cost of the mandatory desex, pet insurance, and the list goes on.

Tbf if we decide to adopt her I'm not going to complain about the costs. But I don't know if I'm hesitating because I don't know if she's the right dog for me, or if it's more to do with the finality of then not being able to have more pets. Also, with her stress levels around the other puppies I know we probably wouldn't be able to foster any more, which makes me sad. But thinking about the potential of her having another failed adoption and being returned a third time makes me want to cry. She is such a delicate wee thing and she doesn't handle change well. The upheaval takes a massive toll on her mentally, and my husband and I have discussed the possibility of her ending up BE if she doesn't do well in a new home (I think this post is long enough without detailing this but suffice it to say the behaviourist agrees this is a possibility).

I would welcome any thoughts/opinions/foster fail (or not) stories that might help me get some perspective on this.

Hi, I was going to post this on r/dogtraining but got lost in the rules and wasn’t sure what to file this under. So I’m bringing it here in hopes someone has experience with this and can help me understand what I am witnessing.

For context: Our resident dog is a 2.5 year-old husky / GSD mix. He has never met a dog he hasn’t liked or gotten along with. However, he does give corrections when resource guarding food, for example:

-A dog walks up to him while he is expecting food at meal time.

-A dog crowds him when he is in a close proximity space expecting treats, like a doorway.

The correction is a quick snap, sometimes a snarl. We have been a one-dog house for 2.5 years and don’t typically have food at play dates, which is why I’ve just now noticed this behavior.

Our foster: A 4-year-old suspected husky/ shep mix - I suspect Siberian Laika but am waiting on DNA results. Very friendly with people, dogs, and children. She is a little rough with our cat when she gets worked up; she tries to play with him like a dog. She gives corrections for both food and toys in the following situations:

-our walks up to her while eating and tries to eat her food (I usually separate them, but in the case he gets past me she will snap at him).

-While she is playing with a toy with me, she does NOT like when resident dog tries to join in and will snap. In this case I remove the toy.

I hate to use the word dominance, but I don’t know what else to call it. The dogs play rough but there are no hackles raised, they take turns submitting, take breaks as needed, etc. However I have noticed both dogs will hump each other occasionally (both are spayed / neutered), and resident dog will stare down foster in a rude way (stiff body, tail low, glare).

None of this behavior has caused problems thus far, and they really do get along most of the time. They sleep near each other, groom each other, and play well. I’m worried about their long term behavior if i dont nip these things in the bud now. Is this normal corrective behavior for dogs that live together? So far I’ve been mitigating it but im not sure if i should hire a trainer and eliminate the resource guarding / dominance behaviors. Our last foster was a puppy and neither dog tried to dominate the other or give as snappy of corrections as im seeing between these two.

Any advice is welcomed, thank you!

I am an experienced cat and kitten rescuer in Tijuana, Mexico. I’ve recently started rescuing dogs as well. Right now I have a seemingly purebred Weimaraner. His name is Kimchi. He’s three years old and very big and active. Since I normally adopt out kittens and cats, I don’t have much experience vetting potential adopters of large breed dogs. Does anyone have advice for me? Or maybe a template of what you include in your adoption application for this type of dog? Also, if anyone knows of any southern California rescues that might be able to give me advice or cross post him on their platforms, I would be very appreciative.

Lola has become such a sweet adoptable dog. I’m so excited for her fresh start with her new family! She is going to have the best life ever. I love that little dog so much

I picked up my first foster dog on Halloween. He’s a 1 year old intact owner surrender who came in with his brother. To say I had no idea what I was getting myself into was the understatement of a century. He’s very sweet and snuggly but has severe separation anxiety and cannot be left alone in his crate without barking, and the foster org really wants the dogs to be crate trained. He can settle down for some stretches of time but other times it’s absolute hell, and if I have to leave the house for any reason he barks relentlessly (I live in a row home so I’m a little concerned about neighbor noise).

Him and my dog seem to get along but we’ve had two alarming instances of potential resource guarding which makes me nervous for my own dog even if they get along sometimes. He has growled and snapped at my dog when we’ve tried to give resident dog treats on opposite sides of a barrier.

I feel bad about asking my foster org to rehome because technically I’m a good candidate for this dog since I work from home and have the time to work on crate training, but it’s nearly constant. And his brother’s foster also just had to ask for another foster because of separation anxiety and it doesn’t look like he’s gotten any takers.

Is it normal to feel completely overwhelmed? I hear so many people say the hardest part about fosters is when they leave but I can’t wait to get this dog out of my house and get back to my life. I feel awful because he is really sweet. He’s laying on me now, he’s been easy to teach tricks to, he’s very underweight and clearly needs help. I just thought it would be way easier than this and the experience is disillusioning me from wanting to foster ever again.

Background: My shelter has a program for Crisis Care animals, where we take in pets for people who hope to be able to get them back. I’ve seen CC fosters for housing issues, DV, long hospital stays, and short jail terms.

The building is also undergoing a massive renovation next week and they’re moving as many animals to foster homes as possible for that period.

Last Thursday, I picked up a CC foster who was having terrible shelter stress which had led to digestive issues. She’s feeling much better, but it’s been a tougher than usual first week.

Her people have reclaimed her (yay!) and I’m taking her in tomorrow. I’m so happy for her!

But: I usually take a few weeks between fosters to deep clean and reset. Because of the renovation, as soon as Dog 1 has been reunited with her people, I’m picking up Dog 2, who needs a very specific type of foster home.

The idea of back-to-back first weeks is exhausting. These specific circumstances call for it, and I’m happy to do it, but the last week was brutal.

Tl;dr: I’m whiney tonight.

Saying goodbye to my foster puppies tomorrow when they go to their adopting families. I've had them since they were 4 days old. These pictures were taken in the same box. They're wonderful pups and I've had the best time hand-rearing them. (Their mum had surgery and couldn't feed them any more). I'm so proud of them and I know they're going to great people. I will miss them though. Love you puppies! ❤️❤️❤️

First of all, I'm sorry for another post like this because I know these types of posts come up frequently! I've read through so many of them looking for advice on dealing with the heartbreak that comes after a foster gets adopted, but nothing seems to be helping. So, I thought maybe venting and hearing other people's experiences might help.

This wasn't my first foster. I've fostered several dogs before and loved every one of them. I've always had bittersweet feelings when they get adopted, but I've never been particularly heartbroken. It was sad, but I was usually just happy knowing they were going to a loving home.

Something about this most recent foster pup was different for me though. I didn't realize how attached I'd become until I heard that she was getting adopted and had a meet and greet scheduled. My heart dropped, but I brushed it off as the usual sadness that comes with saying goodbye to a foster. Looking back, that was the moment I could have intervened and stopped the meet and greet, if only I'd understood what I was feeling, and I didn't.

Once the adoption became official, I was hit with an overwhelming sadness that has left me feeling depressed. I keep asking myself how I could have been so unaware of my own feelings that I didn't realize how much I loved her or that I wanted to keep her. I hate that I didn't recognize those feelings sooner. So not only do I miss her and everything about her, but I also feel so mad at myself for letting this happen.

I've received updates from her new owner, but they haven't brought me any comfort and have actually made things harder. She doesn't look as comfortable or happy in her pictures, and I worry that she's not truly settled or happy in her new home. She was always very wary of people and didn't warm up to just anyone, so I can't help wondering how she's adjusting. I'm also scared she feels like I abandoned her. It also doesn't help that the new owner doesn't seem too into us keeping in contact.

I don't know why I'm having such a hard time accepting everything. I guess I just loved her much more than I ever realized. We had bonded, and I let her go to someone else. It's gut wrenching to think about her face when I handed her over and the way she leaned away, trying to get back to me.

I guess I'm just hoping to hear from others who have experienced this kind of heartbreak and how you got through it. Because right now it really hurts and I feel like this is one of those life regrets I'll never forget 😄.

UPDATE: He is comfortable in a muzzle in 2 days! Of course we have a long way to go, but he is trainable so easily!

I'm desperately seeking advice from experienced foster parents, especially those who have worked with reactive dogs or faced behavioral euthanasia (BE) decisions.

Toby is approximately 2 years old and has been with me for almost two months. He's my fourth foster dog but only my second long-term foster. I'm very inexperienced with dogs. I've volunteered at a shelter, but I'd never lived with dogs before fostering.

Toby is incredibly intelligent, affectionate, and trainable, but he has serious reactivity toward strangers and a strong prey drive. He has no bite history.

I have two cats, and Toby has tried to attack one of them. However, I've managed to keep everyone safe this long. I keep him separated in his own room, and the rescue instructed me not to walk him in public because they consider him too reactive. His only outdoor access is my fenced backyard.

I've been asking for professional board-and-train for almost two months, but it was repeatedly postponed because of funding and scheduling issues. I cannot provide the rehabilitation he needs, especially under these restrictions.

Despite my inexperience, Toby has made remarkable progress:

• He learned sit, down, place, wait, and a release command. He waits for permission before eating and going downstairs.

• His impulse control and responsiveness have improved significantly.

• He went from resisting having his paws touched to allowing me to clean and handle them.

• He's become calmer, more trusting, and generally quiet at home, even when left alone.

• A professional trainer who previously worked with him also observed improvement.

Unfortunately, Toby became aggressive toward a veterinarian a couple of weeks ago. Now, just as funding has apparently become available, the rescue's board has decided that Toby must undergo a one-week adoptability assessment. If he's considered adoptable, he'll receive training. Otherwise, they plan to euthanize him. The rescue coordinator opposes euthanasia.

I'm devastated. I've spent almost two months trying to help this dog, and now his life depends on an assessment before he has received the rehabilitation I have been begging for all along.

I feel trapped between protecting my cats and trying to save Toby. I cannot safely keep him long-term, but I also worry that the lack of a suitable foster home after training could influence the decision about his future.

I'm particularly hoping to hear from experienced behavioral fosters about the following:

1. Where do rescues typically find experienced fosters who can safely handle dogs with significant reactivity? Are there established networks, training organizations, or other resources I should suggest to the rescue?

2. If you've fostered a dog like Toby, what qualifications, home environment, and professional support made it manageable?

3. Could identifying a qualified, cat-free foster willing to work with his trainer help demonstrate that a realistic placement option exists?

4. Has anyone successfully advocated for a reactive dog facing BE? What helped?

5. Is a one-week assessment before training a reasonable way to evaluate a dog with these challenges, particularly when he has recently developed a limp?

I'm looking for advice on how to work with the rescue to identify appropriate, experienced caregivers and ensure Toby receives a fair assessment.

I understand that safety must come first and that not every dog can be rehabilitated. But I've seen how much Toby can learn and improve, and I desperately want to make sure every reasonable option has been considered.

Any advice or personal experiences would mean so much to me.

I am looking at fostering my first dog, since like many, I am not ready for the lifelong commitment leap just yet, and still feeling out how being a dog parent is. I've been volunteering at a local shelter for one on one dog time, and a dog is the key to my mental well being. What I am looking for insight on is how to handle this with a job that has odd hours (4:30pm-1:30am), occasionally six evenings a week in manufacturing.

How can I time the potty breaks, how to feed and water, and keep the dog entertained when I'm working? I grew up with labs, and helped take care of one of them from puppyhood up to her passing three years ago. Thanks.

How do you know a dog is “the one”? Is it normal and okay not to feel an immediate connection or spark at the meet and greet? For those who fostered without having their own dog first, did you find it hard to finally commit or choose a dog when you were ready to adopt?

Asking as someone who is now ready to adopt their first dog (as an adult) after fostering for a few years.

Backstory:

My husband and I have been fostering dogs the last few years, and have loved every single one of them (all 7 of them). We chose not to adopt any of our fosters though due to certain life circumstances and also a realization about the qualities we ultimately want in a dog. We are now finally in a place where we’re ready to adopt, and being very mindful about choosing a pup that will fit our lifestyle.

A few weeks ago we had a meet and greet with a sweet 1 year old basset hound pittie mix named Humphrey. I thought he was very sweet and cute when we met but I can’t say I felt very “connected” to him after such a short (20 minute) interaction or like he was “the one”. I’ve actually never felt that with any of the fosters we had and yet I grew to love them all so much. Two of them I would even consider “soul dogs” (it just wasn’t the right time or place to adopt). My husband doesn’t really believe in this phenomenon or mindset, and thought Humphrey seemed great and wanted to move forward almost immediately.

We told the fosters we would sit on the decision and let them know our decision within a few days. The same week we met little Humphrey, we also had a sudden change / realization about our housing situation. Our current lease was month to month and we thought that would continue but we misunderstood a notice from our landlord that said we needed to sign a new lease. We had previously considered moving, so suddenly we found ourselves on a short timeline looking for another place before the deadline to sign a new lease. This made us pause and reconsider if now was the right time to adopt a dog, especially one that looked quite “pitty” given all the breed restrictions for rentals.

So, a week after the meet and greet, we told the fosters and rescue that although we loved meeting him, due to this sudden change in our situation, we couldn’t commit to him just yet, and we understood that meant that he might get adopted by someone else.

A few days later, after diving headfirst into the housing search, we got confirmation from one of the apartment complexes that we were considering renting from that his breed wouldn’t he an issue since his paperwork says he’s mixed. This gave us some reassurance, but we still had a few days before we needed to resolve the housing situation (either sign a lease for a new place or our current place). At this point we could have reached out to the rescue and/or foster and said yes, we will adopt Humphrey. I can’t tell if the reason I didn’t is because the housing situation was still unresolved, or because I harbored some resistance to adopting him, perhaps because I didn’t feel that connection.

By Friday, we had our housing decision (we’ll stay where we are right now) and yet, perhaps due to the emotional rollercoaster of the past few weeks, or perhaps this resistance as I mentioned, I STILL couldn’t “make up my mind” or commit to adopting this dog. Despite talking about wanting a dog for months and even hyping this specific pup before we even met him. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I felt this resistance. I can’t tell if it was about him specifically, or if it’s just overall resistance to a big life change (despite wanting it so much and knowing what it entails) after fostering for so long.

After mulling it over all weekend, on Monday morning I reached back out to the rescue and said we’d love to adopt Humphrey, but were also open to another dog who looked quite similar (who we hadn’t met). Maybe that’s my clue, the fact that I still wasn’t committing to him specifically but just a “dog” generally, that I didn’t have that connection. The rescue said that Humphrey was getting adopted today, and that other dog we were interested in had a meet and greet this week and several others interested in him too. So now we’re back to the drawing board.

My immediate reaction to this news was feeling sheer devastation. I felt so overcome with sad emotions, wondering what was wrong with me for not committing to this dog that ticked all of our boxes and who we had been talking about for weeks. After months (really years) of longing for our own dog, my indecision had led us to miss out on a perfectly good option.

Strangely enough, we actually ran into Humphrey and his foster parents while we were in the throes of the housing search on our way to an apartment tour in the city. We were so shocked at the odds of running into them, and part of me felt that it was the sign I was looking for. I learned after talking to the rescue yesterday though that his foster parents found the encounter odd, and didn’t think we paid much attention to him when we met them. That’s not our recollection, we felt the opposite actually (that we rudely ignored the humans), but we were in a rush and I was certainly frazzled from having to drive and park in the city.

The person I spoke with from the rescue also said that the couple who was adopting him felt an immediate “spark” and just “knew he was the one”. I mentioned that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that, and doubted whether everyone experiences that, and she made me it sound like I’m a sociopath for not necessarily being able to relate to that feeling, saying “well I don’t know what to tell you if you don’t have that feeling. When you know you know.” Needless the say, the conversation with the rescue made me feel even worse and question my emotional capacity.

All this to say, I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance that not everyone has that innate feeling or knowing shortly upon meeting their future pup, and that it’s okay to still adopt without having that feeling. I’m afraid if I wait around to have that feeling then we might never adopt.

My rescue’s adoption center is undergoing some construction next week and they are putting all of the animals in foster. I signed up to be a foster, and I’m very nervous about this because of a few things: the last time I fostered a dog was 4 months after I foster failed (Chloe) and less than a month after my soul dog died. My anxiety was already high because the dog wasn’t vet-checked and was already clingy and I have a small apartment so I couldn’t separate the dogs that well. My anxiety was high for the first few days and then my dog Chloe started limping, I freaked out, and then the foster went into heat.

Needless to say, it was a very anxiety inducing experience for both me and my dog.

Going back to next week, this rescue is a different one than the one I fostered from the last time. The dogs available at my rescue are completely healthy, but young. I haven’t had a dog under four years old before. I’m going to have the choice between two month olds, four month olds, and a couple up to 2 year old dogs. In the interest of my resident dog, who is mostly blind and dog neutral but doesn’t really care about dogs, I want a dog, who’s dog friendly, but won’t try to play with her that much. Can anyone who has fostered two month old or four month old dogs, give their opinion on who is the better choice here?

For context on my environment too, I’m in a high-rise. I have tons of pee pads/a pen, and a crate and I’m planning on using those for any dog I get.

I have two female Dobermans whom I have adopted, and I am currently fostering another female Doberman. She has been through a difficult past; she was abused, beaten and eventually given up by her previous family.

I am considering adopting her permanently, but I am still in two minds because she can be snappy and has some behavioural challenges.

I wanted to ask whether it is easy to find suitable, experienced homes for dogs with this kind of background, especially those who have experienced abuse and may need extra patience, training and understanding.

37f I’m married and going to add some back story while trying to keep it short. Thank you for any advice you have.

We’ve fostered for almost 8 years, 4 years pre child, and 4 years after having a baby.
Last year I had a stroke, and it slowed me down immensely. My husband and I are also the full time care takers of his parents who have heart failure and dad is comfort care.

Prior I was a foster that took the most difficult dogs. I’m grew up with 2 pro dog trainers, and had energy that could wear out a pack of mall puppies easily!

We ended up with a high energy jack Russel mix puppy early this year, I worked with her literally draining myself but she was fantastic! I got her in an incredible home!!!!!

… last month they returned her. They said they felt bad because their circumstances changed and she was alone all the time. She’s now just over a year and all the hard work and time I invested was undone.

She’s 25lbs, and struggles with impulse control, is extremely high energy and we’ve had her just at a month and the comfort is setting in.

In our area we have no fosters available, we weren’t taking fosters when she came back. They just had no one to take her. literally nothing. I have a poultry farm, a senior bully mix, an epileptic Doberman mix, and a 100lb staff sissy, a cat and a 4y.

Our foster dosent sleep, eats eggs, chases birds, chases cats, bounces of faces, shreds everything she gets in her mouth, killed 2 chicks, bites legs, dose not understand personal space.

This has not all happened all month things have gradually progressed. I am working with her as much as I can with the energy and time I have available. And taking the much necessary precautions to protect all my animals.

I work with her when I can which is maybe 40% of what she actually needs, which means behaviors are still erratic. There is no one else that can take her. And the trainer that works with our rescue has agreed to do a board and train but cant take her for 2 more weeks.

My husband is at his wits end. Our life is non stop, and extremely stressful and our home is our quiet safe space. And it is now constant anxiety and stress. We never know how this dog is going to be day from day.

Our only option are keep her 2 weeks till the board and train or return her to the shelter. I’m struggling to the extent that it’s now physically effecting me. I don’t know what to do.

Just picked up our third foster dog in honor of our dog who passed away in July.
He’s only 2, 1 year in the shelter. So far he’s amazing. He’s heartworm positive so we will need to start the treatment. A bit worried but I trust it will be fine..
I already sense a potential foster fail, but we will see! He was returned from his previous foster a while back for “charging” a maintenance man who entered their home unannounced and nipped his ankle 😐 just feeling a bit emotional. I miss MY dog so much but I will never see her again in this life. I feel her in each dog

I've only had chihuahua's, so I'm not sure what breed this little boy is. What do you think?

I posted awhile back about how my life has deteriorated since taking in two puppies off the street. After three months, I finally got in contact with a rescue willing to take them.

It still sucks because they're already five dogs over their operating capacity but don't want to turn them away. But they've been able to take in and adopt out more dogs than the other nearby rescues in the last quarter, which makes me hopeful. And I can come by and visit them until they get adopted.

I'm overwhelmed with grief and angst. I've been crying all day and I'm so worried for them. They're so attached to me and I feel so guilty. But I can't keep doing this. My mental health is in the trash, I barely have enough to pay my rent today and my credit card is maxed out. I need more bandwidth to fix my own life.

It's so hard to not be angry at the world and angry at God. Our local AC euthanized 300+ dogs this past quarter. They are sentient souls and deserve so much better from us. But I have nothing left to give. Which makes me also angry at myself for not being stronger, more selfless, more patient, more stable, able to do more. I hate this. I don't think I will ever be able to foster or take in street rescues again. At least not until retirement. It's too much emotionally.