Anyone foster dogs?

Does anyone else here foster dogs? My gf has been fostering for a while and so far I have not liked a single dog shes brought home. She brought home a new one yesterday. Im pretty sure she was abused at some point. They told us she was afraid of men and sure enough she bit me.
Do you get dogs like this often, Im about ready to tell her no more cuz I cant stand any of them.

I foster lots of dogs. Most of them are imperfect/untrained/in need of socialization.

My current foster was scheduled for euthanasia by a no-kill(!) rescue for severe agression. Today he is a happy, cheerful, easy-to handle snugglebug. He even earned his Canine Good Citizen title! To see him now demanding to sleep under the covers, and eagerly greeting strangers, you'd never guess that he'd been in rabies quarantine twice and put one girl in stitches.

Perhaps your expectations are a bit high? None of them start out perfect...the beauty comes from finding the good sound balanced dog that is hiding in the shivering carpet-soiling shoe-shredding beast. Fostering saves lives; your gf is doing a wonderful thing and if you can't be proud or at least supportive of that, I dunno what to tell you. Personally, I wouldn't date a guy wasn't tolerant of my rescue work.

When I look around at the sea of faces...thousands of dogs, in such desperate need of help...it's overwhelming. I'm continually disappointed by people who don't see that, or think it doesn't matter, or say it's not their problem, or somebody else will do it. The dogs don't have that luxury; it's their lives on the line. Hundreds of thousands of wonderful dogs die every year, because along the way, out of all the people who passed by them, nobody stepped up and made the commitment to save them.

My commendation and respect to your girlfriend, from one rescuer to another.

PS: If you have been warned that the dog is afraid of men, you should not have even been within biting range. Out of all the bites I've gotten from dogs, every one was a result of my failure to appropriately read and interpret the dog's communications to me.

I'm linking you to some good handouts on reading body language and managing defensive fear, as well as desnsitizing dogs to objects of fear. You can look around on that website for more information applicable to your specific situation.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1391

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=2400

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1405

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1811

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...S=0&C=0&A=1612

As she stated above, they have problems when they come to you. One part of fostering is working out the problems so they can adjust to a permanent home. If they were perfect dogs they would probably never end up in rescue. Many problems they come in with are due to the handling issues of previous owners.
I respect your girlfriend for putting the effort out. We need more like her.:)

Jess couldn't have said things better.

Kudos to your gf for fostering..I know I couldn't..I would end up keeping every dog I took in.

One thing a lot of folks do with "abused" dogs is tell them it is fine to behave badly since they were abused, instead of correcting the problems so they can be well-socialized happy dogs. Hopefully your girlfriend is working with some professional, or experianced folks to correct the behavior.
I've fostered dogs, and I do NOT tolerate biting. There have been dogs that I kept and took back with the reccomendation that they be put down, and some that were perfect after a few months. Not every dog is salvagable. Sorry, but that's my opinion.
If you were warned the dog was a biter, you should have taken precautions. She should have put precautions into effect.
Fostering is a REAL labor of love to save those dogs that would otherwise have no hope, and I give your girlfriend kudos for her efforts.
If it's a real issue, or if she doesn't have the necasary experiance to keep aggressive dogs, I would reccomend she stick with non-agressive foster dogs. There's usually a LOT of dogs that need foster homes, and she can get one that doesn't have a biting problem, and let the more experianced folks deal with the aggression issues.

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Originally Posted by slartibartfast

PS: If you have been warned that the dog is afraid of men, you should not have even been within biting range. Out of all the bites I've gotten from dogs, every one was a result of my failure to appropriately read and interpret the dog's communications to me.

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I got bit sitting on the couch after she jumped up and I said no. She let me pet her and hold her earlier. She also tried biting my gf.

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Perhaps your expectations are a bit high? None of them start out perfect...the beauty comes from finding the good sound balanced dog that is hiding in the shivering carpet-soiling shoe-shredding beast. Fostering saves lives; your gf is doing a wonderful thing and if you can't be proud or at least supportive of that, I dunno what to tell you. Personally, I wouldn't date a guy wasn't tolerant of my rescue work.

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Im tolerant and supportive of what shes doing but its MY house the dogs are staying at. She lives with me but I pay 100% of the bills and am home more than she is so Im the one thats taking care of the dogs most of the time, not to mention we already have a dog thats hers. The only reason I allow her to do it is because of my love for her and for animals.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

One thing a lot of folks do with "abused" dogs is tell them it is fine to behave badly since they were abused, instead of correcting the problems so they can be well-socialized happy dogs. Hopefully your girlfriend is working with some professional, or experianced folks to correct the behavior.

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My gf does this too. She does not enforce rules like getting on furniture, or taking stuff away from our other dog and when she is its very inconsistant. So far, other than the dog we currently are fostering, every dog has listened to me and completely ignored her. They go to her when I say no about something then she usually picks them up and puts them on her lap or plays with them. Its very frustrating

I think you need to really sit down and talk to her about the training issue then. If she's not helping teach basics, and instead is just giving out the lovings no matter what behavior, then she's not helping the dog reform into a "great family pet".
Foster is ideally MORE than just a temp house. It's learning ot be the dog they have potential to be.