We are currently fostering a dog from a dog rehoming centre that needs funding and support to stay open and keep doing the amazing job it's doing in the area. The dog we're fostering is called Talli, he's an adorable six month old Border Collie pup and he's the loveliest thing ever. He was ignored and locked in a shed for the first five months of his life, so all he wants is fuss, fuss and more fuss, and we're trying to give it to him!

Does anyone else here foster any dogs or any other pets, and do you have any advice on what to do when the time comes for them to go to new owners? We know that this hopefully won't be the last dog we foster, even though he's the first, but I can already feel myself becoming attatched to the little fella.

What a lovely & kind thing to do ~ I really admire you for doing this. I'm sure I'd get too attached & end up with a house load of dogs!

The only second~hand experience I have is from the Dogs Trust dog fosterers. They take in the dogs that cannot cope in kennels & from all accounts do a wonderful job. Some dogs just can't cope with kennel life & become so stressed that they develop behavioural problems that make them very difficult to rehome. By going to a foster home, they can settle back into life with a family & have a much better chance of a getting a permanent home.

I don't have any advice other than to give the dogs love & kindness & gradually introduce them to the sorts of things they'll meet in life, such as getting them used to being handled, groomed, getting them used to children etc. No doubt it will be hard to let them go but you can comfort yourself with the fact that you will then be able to help another poor dog.

Well done to you ~ keep up the good work.

I'm probably the worst person to give advice since my attempts at fostering a cat ended with me keeping him. We fell into it by accident though after finding him as a stray and being asked by cat protection to foster him till they found a home.

I think the thing to do when the time comes and he's ready to leave is rationalize things, by reminding yourself is that letting him go means that you can then help another dog in need and so on. It's going to be hard of course, but at least you know you've helped him on his way to a happy future in his new home.

We foster small animals now for a local charity, mainly gerbils, hamsters, mice and the occasional bird and I still struggle to let them go (I have kept a few along the way) There's always more in need of a foster home though, so we don't have much time to dwell on it.