Old Dog Haven is a network of loving private homes spread all over Western Washington, Spokane, and Portland. We work with homeless dogs 8 years old and over, prioritizing the oldest and the sickest. Since we do not have a shelter of any kind, we rely heavily on our foster families who provide a loving safe environment until the end of the dog’s life.
Over the years since Old Dog Haven (ODH) was founded in 2004, as more people began adopting senior dogs from shelters, our focus has become only those dogs who, due to age and/or health, will not be adoptable and so are in the most need. ODH no longer takes in dogs for adoption, all ODH dogs are in permanent foster homes for assisted living and/or hospice care.
All ODH dogs have special needs. They may be very old or have serious medical conditions or have significant emotional issues such as severe separation anxiety. Or they might have all of the above. Our dogs are not just companions, caring for them is a big commitment of time and emotional energy, both at home and in the many vet appointments. The foster parent, the veterinarian, and ODH staff work as a team in making decisions about care so good communication is essential.
ODH pays all medical expenses including prescription food, but all other costs of having a dog in their home are paid by the foster family. We require the dog be fed quality food (not raw or grain-free), receive standard senior dog supplements, and be on a flea preventative.
We never know for sure how long a dog will live once they join their foster family. It may be weeks, months, or years, but the average is about one year. Most often the dogs needing ODH come to us in poor condition, in poor health, and very anxious from being abandoned.
Euthanasia is the ultimate gift we give our dogs. Our goal is they experience the best health and comfort possible and that they then die with peace and dignity in the arms of their foster family. We are there to help our foster parents know when that time has come. We don’t want the dog to suffer and making that decision a week too early is better than a day too late.
Our foster parents are a unique group. They may start out with a dog who is hairless, may have open sores, large ugly tumors, bulging eyes, or rotting teeth. Some are blind, many are deaf. Many will need surgery. The dog may have separation anxiety and they may take a long time to trust and feel safe. The fosters parents willingly take on all of this and the many sleepless nights, even knowing that at the end there will be tears. May of our homes do it over and over again. They celebrate the victories and hang in there with love through the hard times. All will say they gained a lot more from these wonderful old dogs than they gave. There is nothing else like the love of an old dog.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT OLD DOG HAVEN FOSTERING
How is permanent fostering different from adoption? Adoptable seniors are often younger and healthier than ODH dogs. When you adopt, that dog belongs to you and you make the decisions about their care in a way that fits for your family. You are also financially responsible for that care. ODH dogs, although living in your home, will continue to belong to ODH for the remainder of their lives. We pay their medical costs (including medical supplies and prescription diets) and we also are ultimately responsible for the decisions involving their care. We work as a team with the foster parent and the dog’s vet, but if there is a disagreement about the care, ODH together with the vet will have the final say.
Where do the dogs that need ODH homes come from? The dogs who need our homes come from one of the many area shelters or from owners who can no longer care for their dogs.
What do I have to do to get approved as an ODH foster home? How long will it take? The foster approval process starts with completing an application which will be reviewed by a team. If it looks like fostering might work for you, the next step is a phone interview and then a home visit. At each stage if we think this might not be a good fit for you we will let you know. It will take 2-3 weeks for approval but much is dependent on coordinating schedules. If you are declined as a foster home but then your situation changes, please get in touch again.
Do you have a limit to where you can place an ODH dog and why? ODH is a network of foster homes in Western WA, Spokane, and Portland OR. We have particular vet clinics that we have worked with for years and who have expertise with the needs of our medically fragile dogs. There are a LOT of vet appointments so you need to live within a reasonable distance from one of these clinics. You could be going twice a day for drop offs and pickups, or a quick run for something like picking up meds, so think about how far you would be driving. In addition you need to be in an area where there are specialists and not too far from an emergency clinic (you may be going in the middle of the night). Unless it is a clinic we work with, you will not be taking your ODH dog to your personal vet.
Can I apply in advance and have you keep the application on file until I am ready? We ask that you not apply until you are ready to foster, we do not keep applications on file to review at a later date since things can change.
Should I wait to see you post a dog that I am interested in before I complete an application? Most dogs are NOT posted on our website or social media, rather they are on our waitlist. If a dog matches with a home already approved, they will not be seen on our website or social media.
If I can’t see a list of available dogs, how do I know you have a dog I would be interested in? We keep a waitlist of dogs who are needing ODH foster homes along with the information we know about each dog. We also keep a list of approved foster homes with their information. We match dog with family based on the specific needs of the dog (medical and behavioral) and those of the family (eg size, gender, etc). The prospective home is told all that we know about the dog along with pictures, and they have the opportunity to say yes or no.
When will I and my dog get to meet the ODH dog ahead of time? How will we know we will like the dog and that everyone will get along? You will not get the opportunity to meet the ODH dog in advance. You and your dog meeting the foster dog at that point will not really tell you much. The dog will be in a strange environment, they will be anxious and sick, they are being approached by strange people and a strange dog. They will not be the dog you will see weeks down the road in your home. Fostering an ODH dog is a leap of faith and a commitment that this will work. We have ideas and suggestions for integrating a new old dog into the family (we’ve been doing it for many years) but it will be weeks before you will really learn who the dog is after they are feeling secure in your home. Our staff and our community of foster homes will be there for support and problem-solving if needed.
I have a cat. Can I get an ODH dog that will get along with cats? We can never guarantee how a dog will respond to cats. In many cases we don’t know if they have ever lived with cats. Even if they’ve been with cats before, it will take time for the dog and cat to get to know one another. There are tips for gradually introducing a dog and cat that we will share with you. In choosing a dog for you we will stay away from breeds who have a high prey drive. However if it is essential to you that the ODH dog respect your cat from the time the dog arrives, fostering may not be the right fit for you.
What if the dog is aggressive? We don’t accept and place dogs with a known history of aggression. If at any time an ODH dog presents a risk of serious harm to anyone in the household, human or pet, we will remove the dog and euthanize them as the kindest option for them.
If it’s not working, will you move the dog to a different home? After a proper introduction, it will take some time for everyone to establish their place in the pack, their relationship with one another and with you. Remember the Rule of Threes: 3 days to decompress, 3 weeks to learn your routine, 3 months to start to feel at home with you. The dog you see come in your door will not be the dog you have three months later. We do not have back up homes and we remove a dog only if the dog is aggressive and presenting a risk to the family, human or pet. It is important to go into ODH fostering with the commitment to make this work which can take time, effort, and creativity on your part.
Longer term fostering is not going to work for me now, are there opportunities for shorter periods of fostering? If you can commit only shorter blocks of time and someone is at home most of the time, we occasionally do need short term foster homes, usually 2-4 weeks, to help us get some dogs into urgent medical care until there is a permanent home available. We also need homes with no other dogs where the new ODH dog can be quarantined for two weeks if they might have been exposed to kennel cough. If you have the heart for it we at times need a short term hospice home.
My elderly mother/neighbor/friend or myself would be a wonderful home for a dog but can’t afford the costs. Would ODH fostering be a way to have a dog? It depends, but probably not. Our dogs are not easy, they take a very big commitment, a lot of energy, and a lot of driving (including in the middle of the night). We wish we had dogs that needed only a loving lap, but our dogs need much more. That being said, many of our foster homes cannot afford the unpredictable costs of a senior dog. If your mother/neighbor/friend or yourself are prepared for the commitment and challenge of an ODH dog, we would certainly like to hear from them/you.
Permanent fostering is not going to work for me. Can I adopt a senior dog from you? ODH does not have dogs for adoption, all of our dogs are permanent fosters. We do post adoptable seniors on our website as a courtesy for other rescues and to help owners who are forced to rehome their dogs. These aren’t ODH dogs. Contact information for each dog is contained within their posting. If you can’t foster, please consider adopting, whether a dog posted on our website or a senior dog in your community.
Our dogs are unique and it takes a special situation for ODH fostering to be a fit. It doesn’t work for everyone or at all points of time in their lives. If you answer yes to any of the following questions, fostering might not work for you right now. If you aren’t sure, have questions, or think you may be an exception, email us at the address below and let’s look at it.
- Do you have children under the age of 5?
- Do you have a dog under the age of 2?
- Do you work outside of the home full time?
- Do you live more than 30-45 minutes from an animal emergency clinic?
- Have you had no previous experience with senior dogs or euthanasia?
- Do you not own a car and drive?
- Do you like to travel frequently?
- Do you provide dog care in your home?
- Do you have an active busy household?
Being an ODH foster home is a huge commitment that requires time, experience, flexibility, and the ability to communicate and work well with a team. If this sounds like you and the timing is right, we would love to hear from you.
If you think ODH fostering would be a fit for you, email applications@olddoghaven.org for more information. Please be sure to tell us where you are located and a little about your situation. We hate to have someone take the time to complete an application if we might have been able to tell them upfront that ODH fostering may not work for them.
**Please note: If you request an application and do not hear back from us within 24 hours, please check your spam/junk file.
If fostering an ODH dog isn’t what you are looking for or doesn’t fit for you currently, please consider adopting a senior, either one posted on our website or one in your community. There are so many homeless or soon to be homeless adoptable dogs needing homes. You could make a big difference in a dog’s life by becoming their forever home whether it is through ODH fostering or through adoption. Either way, a senior dog wins.
