Are you thinking about getting a dog but aren’t sure whether you can make any commitment other than unconditional, forever love? Fostering one might be a way to find out if you’re ready.
Dogs stuck in a kennel for weeks or months often experience kennel stress, which manifests in barking at passersby, wall-to-wall pacing and jumping or spinning in the kennel. Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) volunteers lovingly deal with the stress: they take the dogs to the play yard or the pup pool for socializing and playing; take long walks with them for stimulation, exercise and leash training; cuddle with them; and sometimes take them on one-to-one Fido Field Trips. These involve a car ride to the volunteer’s home, the dog beach, the Zoom Room, or anywhere that dogs can have fun. The trips often end with a stop at In-N-Out for a Pup Patty.
But at the literal end of the day, the dogs go back to the kennels, and it’s more waiting unless someone gives them a two-week break from the monotony. LBACS has a foster program whose purpose is to give the dogs the happy experience of knowing — or remembering — what it’s like to live in a loving home for a couple of weeks.
“Shelter environment isn’t the best for dogs, and they get generally stressed,” LBACS superintendent Alma Vera-Lima said. “So, the idea is to get them out for a time, especially the long-stay legends—dogs who have been in the shelter over a year.”
Vera-Lima said that besides giving the dog a vacation from the kennel, shelter staff and volunteers will get a better picture of what a dog is like in an actual home compared to life in the shelter. The dog’ll learn, too!
A kennel break isn’t the only benefit that a fostered dog gets. Recently, a big guy named Berkely was at Rosie’s Dog Beach with his foster and met a family from Arizona who fell in love with him. They came to the shelter shortly after to adopt him. Berkely’s now enjoying his day in the sun — lots of them.
Shelter staff and volunteers also foster animals. LBACS manager Dr. Melanie Wagner fostered “an Australian cattle dog with a splash of street mutt” and fell madly in love. Wagner adopted the dog, named her Maple, and now takes her to sheep-herding training to keep her busy. That dog is the maple of “Dr. Wags’” eye.
That’s called foster failing, in the most loving sense of the word. Maple herself may have her own foster failure — a shelter cat whom Wagner renamed Mumble. Mumble had a red bacterial deformity on his nose, but it’s healing nicely. The deformity is gone, but Mumble’s still there.
“I don’t know if he’ll ever leave because he and Maple are BFFs!” Wagner said.
Speaking of cats, LBACS also has a foster program for newborn kittens. Fosters bottle-feed newborns, monitor growth and save their little lives.
LBACS covers costs for food, toys and any medical care. Dogs need to be in the shelter for a minimum of 30 days to qualify for fostering. This doesn’t include puppies and popular purebreds such as French bulldogs, as they get adopted quickly.
If this sounds good, visit longbeach.gov/acs and click on the little circle that says foster. You’ll get all the information you need and an application link. The foster team will contact you and schedule an orientation. Once approved, the team will let you know when an animal that corresponds with your request is available. Then, get ready to give a doggie a break!
And if the dog asks real nicely to stay forever, yes, you may adopt them.
“Fosters have first dibs!” Vera-Lima said.