Fostering

[nabi]

Hello,
I decided to foster a dog from a shelter this weekend because I wanted to do my bit to help (the shelter was going to close down). This is my first time so my questions may seem a little silly, but any advice/help would be greatly appreciated! :)
I took her to the vet on Sunday where she got all her injections, front-line (flea stuff) and heartworm was negative, she was given a clean bill of health :) She's just got ear-mites which I'm taking her back to the vet every 3 days to be cleaned and treated. The vet said they should be gone by 2 weeks.
Now, I thought it would take a little longer to train her before I could start looking to find her a permanent home - but I'm guessing she has been a house dog before her time in the shelter because I haven't had to do anything! She actually waits til I take her for a walk to do her business, I do have the toilet mat in the house but she's only used it once :). I went to work yesterday, having bought her a chew so she doesn't chew anything - came home and nothing was touched. She walks on the lead fine and seems very loyal.
She seems the perfect dog already! Is it too soon for me to put her up for adoption, or should I foster her a little longer first?? I just figured the sooner she finds a new permanent home the better, the more she settles with me the more stressful it'll be for her when she has to move again, so if I don't find her a new home by mid-January would anyone here be willing to take her and foster her for me, as I won't be here for a month. A dogsitter would be my second choice. I really hope to have found her a new home by then, cause I don't want her to have to keep moving around!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and anything you have to say would be great!~

[nabi]

PS
Also, how much is right to charge the person that adopts the animal? I read it's best not to advertise as 'free'.
Thanks.

[Wibidad]

Hi Nabi.

I don't advertise the pet as free, but if the adopter has to spend a lot of money taking the KTX to pick up the pet and there are health costs looming, I might not ask for any fee. But if the pet is perfectly healthy and the adopter doesn't have to travel far, I think either asking for reimbursement for some of your expenses (tests, vaccines etc) is reasonable. The amount is entirely up to you, but I think 50,000 won is a reasonable token of the adopter's seriousness.

[skeera]

I have a dog that I got at the shelter in Daejon. She is a very good dog and I am completely in love with her. The problem is that she knows Korean commands and I only know about two commands in Korean. When she hears commands from people who are playing with her in the streets she gets very happy and listens. She knows how to shake and roll over but I don`t know how to tell her to do these things. What are some commands in Korean besides `anja` or just other sayings that people say to their dogs? Please remember to also put the English translation up as well.

I think actually this would be very helpful for the people who adopted dogs from the shelter since the woman taking care of them spoke to them in Korean.

[nabi]

Thanks W - I think she's ready to go already, but I feel guilty as I guess I imagined I would be fostering her longer first, but I think the sooner she gets her new 'forever' home and can settle for good, the better.

I agree, I had a Korean friend come round the other day and she told my dog some commands in Korean (my dig is very loyal to who she believes is her owner so she ignored her), so I tried repeating some of these 'commands' and she obeyed me! I couldn't believe it as I've spent days trying to teach her to sit and what-not, it turns out she's already trained!
I think my fostered doggy is ready for her permanent home - I really hope she finds it soon as I'd hate for her to completely settle with me just to be uprooted and have the stress of moving and settling in again!

Here are the Korean commands I can remember (I've spelled them phonetically, as I don't actually know Korean);

sit = an ja

stand up = e roh soh

eat = moh goh

don't = ha jima (sounds a little like agema to me!!)

[cyrax]

Hello nabi.
Put a dog up for adoption when you feel that dog and has no issues that you cannot solve. When I foster a dog I put the dog up for adoption only after the dog is well behaved. Gimli is the best example. He had food related aggression and I put him up for adoption one week after I started fostering him. I managed to fix the biting/aggression on the second or the third day but I kept testing his behaviour for the rest of the week. Hinata is a different example. She was blind but was well mannered. So I put her up for adoption quite early.
In general ask for the adopter to give you @least 50% of the medical bills. I do not count food, grooming and regular check ups as expenses. I generally give the crate, leash and collar with the dog.