interesting foster question

[Wally 'n' Leto]

I was contacted by the president of the rescue I am involved in this morning asking for any good ideas...

She wrote:
"One of my foster family has many dogs and ALL of them are obese and not a little, they are all on the high rank of the obesity scale...........every pug they foster is sure to gain weight even though I kindly ask them to follow the feeding amount provided and NOT to give TONS of treats every day, one or 2 is OK.........I am at the point where I don't know what to do or think or if I should let them foster anymore.
[snip] .. in my book, they are killing their dogs by allowing them to become overweight.
I do understand foster pugs are treated like family members but it kills me everytime I see their dogs and the pugs they foster gaining weight week after week.
Do you have any suggestion or advice ? I have tried everything and they won't listen to me, they rather laugh and change the conversation and say that my pugs are too thin.
The problem in that house is:
1) the intake of food the dogs are getting every day
2) the amount of treats they are getting every day (which is WAY too high)
3) the lack of exercise"

I wrote back:
"Oof. That's really tough. I'm going to have to think on this, and I think I'll make the question generic and post it on the 'Pug Rescue' board at Pug Village and see what some of the other rescue organizations do.

Off the top of my head, I think that the trick is going to be to do this really definitively without being too pointed, and see if that helps. What if you write a 'Guide for Fosters' that you distribute in paper or online to all of the foster families or post on the website? That would also give you some leverage right from the get-go if you find this happens with foster families in the future. You could frame it as the rescue wanting to standardize and optimize the care given in foster families, and state outright that failure to follow these guidelines could result in being disapproved as a foster family.

You could include an information sheet on exercising/conditioning the under-exercised dog, positive training techniques, feeding, health
issues to watch as they come into foster care (like how to ID kennel cough, parasites etc). In the feeding section, we could include the obesity scale with a photo of pugs at each level. I'd be happy to help you write it if you wanted to go this way.

Another idea might be to get foster to sign into Pug Village -- I have found that it's a really good source of information, and we are not
above commenting on each other's dogs' photos "Oh look, long nails must be in this season" or giving encouragement for weight loss. There's a definitely lack of fat pugs as role models in that community."

Does anyone have any other bright ideas?????

Thanks!

[po3try]

What if you write a 'Guide for Fosters

This, printed so that they at least look at it a bit. With all the basic caring for your pug info and special needs. Have it online too and even a 'helpful websites' bit.

[Uggapugg]

An organization wouldn't continue to place their animals in a foster home that continues to malnourish their dogs, the same should go for those that overfeed. If the suggestions to better the dog's health and life are repeatedly ignored or laughed off, they don't sound like a great foster home to begin with. Most people like that aren't willing to listen to suggestions, whether they're said in person, or written on paper/website.

I think overall though, the guidelines are a great idea. Does the rescue group provide the food? Something in the guidelines stating "XXX Rescue will provide XX pounds of food each month for dogs in foster care. We recommend XX cups of food per dog, per day." Type of thing....

I say all this while sitting on the couch with my overweight chihuahua, so I'm not completely judgemental or completely without blame when it comes to fat dogs, but someone who doesn't make an effort to change it doesn't seem to have the dogs' best interest in mind.....

[Wonka & Nilla]

I know that most rescues struggle to find enough foster homes for all the dogs in need so this is a tough choice for the organization. I really like the idea of writing a guide and including pictures of pugs that are underweight, just right and overweight.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

We have a few fosters like this as well, and also a few who feed sub-par food (our rescue does not provide food), either because they feel it is fine or because they can't afford better. It is a very touchy subject because people can get quite defensive if criticized....especially when their hearts are in the right place and they are trying to help out an organization.

A printed manual is great, and is something our group is working on as well, but my instinct would be to place mainly fosters with them that need to GAIN weight or will be shorter term and easily adoptable. I too find it very difficult to bite my tongue when I see a morbidly obese pug, but we also have to realize that we can't control others.

Take care,
Lisa

[tall grass pugs]

Can you do a presentation with two disposable paper bowls, ala picnics, and fill each bowl with the proper amount of kibble----doing two allows you to label one breakfast, and the other dinner. I would bet they are free feeding their animals and if they are, it would be a deal breaker. Also insist that any treats be a few kibbles from the breakfast or dinner bowl offered during the day. Honest, they really don't require lamb lung, buttered toast crust, bits of egg from breakfast or anything on their treat list. Give the people heads up on pancreatitis, and remind them that weight issues may make the animals harder to place.

[Pat's Crew]

please include in your manual if you write one.....how tough it is to get the weight off these pugs if need be. I am getting it and getting good results but wow what an eye opener it is to get the weight off them.
I too was not that worried about the weight as much as I should have been......NOW I am very careful in what goes into the mouths of the pugs..lol.
the benefits of a healthy weight needs to be included in their too

agree pics of a overweight pug and a pug that is just right really helps people to get the idea

I have a friend that works in bulldog rescue here and she said all dogs can be free fed....and I Said not not the pugs.........they would eat until they drop. she feeds all of her rescues free fed food. I could easily do this with the bulldogs here too.......but the PUGS NOT at all. they are food aholics at any chance they get

[CSollers]

I also think a written guide is a great idea. With the dearth of families willing and able to foster, your group may just have to put up with it. I realize all the issues this thinking raises. I'm considering it the lesser of evils. Leaving a dog in a kill shelter to die is , IMHO, worse than fostering them where they'll be overfed. An overfed dog can be recovered , a dead one is gone.

[Pugpillow]

Pugalug Pug Rescue has a Fostering Manual which you can access here: Rescue - click under Fostering where it says "Click Here". It talks about feeding on page 4. On page 20 there is a Fostering Agreement which each of our foster homes has to sign. It entitles us to take away the dog if, in the sole discretion of the Rescue, anything goes against our standards. We take obesity very seriously as a threat to health and life, and would have no problems taking the dog away from that foster home and not using them again. Foster homes don't grow on trees but we feel that it is our duty to ensure the dogs are given proper care. In cases where dogs come to us overweight, we work diligently to reduce their weight during foster care and will put in as a Special Instruction in the Adoption Agreement that the adopter must maintain the dog's weight within a certain range, or that they will continue the weight loss programme with a target of such-and-such a weight by a specified time. And we follow that up with a phone call to their vet.

[snowsprite]

I guess if positive coaching (brochures, flyers, pics and stories of dogs in pain and crippled by obesity) doesn't work, then perhaps letting the foster family know that dietary guidelines should be kept, and issues such as malnourishment and obesity would be viewed the same as any other form of neglect or abuse, and the fostering contracts would have to be reviewed. When it comes down to it, a pug immobilized or crippled by it's weight isn't any different than a pug that's immobilized or crippled by confinement. There's a lot of neglectful and abusive pet owners out there who think they are doing the right thing, or are 'at least better than' some other abusive situations the animals could be in. Sadly, fosters shouldn't be absolved because of good intent.