[wannabeamomma]

Hello,

I am new here but have been reading up on all the wonderful post as my dh and I are going throught the licensing process. We will be doing foster-adopt and we are excited yet nervous. Anyway, I was wondering if pets would be an obstacle in licensing? The reason I ask is because we have a 140lb lab. he's not agressive (although he's never been around children) but he loves to play and due to his size I'm afraid that they would be worried to place a younger child (newborn to 5) within our age range. His playful nature could knock a smaller child down if there was no supervision (of couse I would always be around just to make sure they get along). Anyway, has anyone had issues getting licensed because of a large dog? He is indoor/outdoor. Any input would be greatly appreciated. TIA

[momofbgtwins]

I have small dogs, but one is not very friendly and we got licensed. Make sure all of your dogs shots are up to date.

[Mystik]

I have personally not heard of any issues getting licensed with having pets. We had 3 dogs when we first were licensed and we just needed to provide proof that they were current on all vaccinations. I think they trust your judgment as to whether your pet will be safe around children, but if something should happen to a child by your pet while in your care then you will be held liable. I also remember being asked during one of our interviews what we would do if we were placed with a child who was afraid of dogs.

It's been over a year and we now have zero dogs. I swore going into all this that we would never give up our pets because they were our "kids" too. But it quickly ended up feeling like having 5 toddlers running around all demanding my attention. The 2 older dogs developed intense jealousy issues and although they had NEVER done so before they began "marking" anything to do with the babies from blankets to strollers to car seats etc. and one in particular started growling at them through the baby gate to the living room, so after great thought we simply had to let them go. The children and their safety came first.

[mamaboogerbear]

Just to help ease your worries, my friend and her hubby have been fostering for YEARS and have a German Shepherd who is about 120 pounds also indoor/outdoor and have had no problems at all.

[Lumpkin]

The only "typical" pets that I could see being questionable would be known aggressive dogs (rots?) that are illegal in many areas, and maybe large snakes (pythons?). I know of a family locally who had their baby killed by a large snake while they slept I'd definitely question the ability to keep a baby safe from such an animal.

A big dog? Not a problem, unless it attacks the SW. And if it does attack the SW, I have a SW that I'd like him to meet

[meshsgrl]

I have a 150 lb mastiff... huge dog... and he is big and clumsy, and when he gets excited he can knock over an adult. He loves kids.... When I asked my agency about the dog being around the kids, they were more worried about the kids being mean to the dog, then the dog hurting the kids. The kid I have now is petrified of him, he is an indoor/ outdoor dog, so I have to keep him tied up at all times. I was worried about him getting jealous, but havent seen anything yet.

[onhazier]

I have thee pets. My largest is a 165 lb Bernese Mountain Dog. All we had to show was the proof of vaccinations and current county dog licenses. They were both in and out of the house during our inspections. Other than the "Oh my! He's HUGE!" comments, the cw stated that our dogs were sweet and very well trained. They were not a hinderance for our process at all.

[Chancey]

We have a lab/golden retriever mix. She is basically indoor, and has never been a problem. She has knocked down a couple foster children when she was excited, but it has never been an issue. Don't worry about it.

[HopefulMommy]

Originally Posted by Lumpkin

The only "typical" pets that I could see being questionable would be known aggressive dogs (rots?) that are illegal in many areas... )

I have to defend my rotts!!! It is sad that these dogs are seen as aggressive. Typical, well raised rottweilers are NOT aggressive!!!!

We had to put down our full rottie, Kyler, last fall. I was devistated! And so were our 3 cats. I think Trinity is still looking for her.

Scooter our rottie mix is a big baby!

Please, please, please do not make assumptions that all rotts are aggressive, mean, illtempered dogs.

I know there are some areas a that feel people should not own rottweilers or pit bulls, and create laws that do prevent this. Some insurance companies also wrongly punish policy holders just because of the breed of the dogs they own.

All dogs have the potential to be dangerous. We as dog owners, no matter the breed, must be responsible. Socialize our animals, have basic obedience training and make sure they are properly restrained and controlled.

People approaching dogs should ALWAYS ask for permission before petting or touching that dog.

Ok off my soap box!

That said wannabemamma, As you can see from my sig, we have a load of pets. Scooter is ~100#. He practically crawls up into our SW lap every time she is here. It is a good thing she is a dog person!

[Tuppy]

We have two mastiff's, got our first one (sadly she died at four years old) almost fifteen years ago and have never had another kind of dog. We now have two mastiff girls, and love them like crazy.

Our sw wanted to meet them and make sure they were up to date on shots, but they were no concern to her.

Our homestudy SW interviewed us with a snoring mastiff at her feet, LOL! We also have 4 cats, 2 ferrets, 1 cockatiel, 1 hamster, 1 tarantula, 1 whiptail scorpion, 24 chickens, 9 geese, 10 ducks, 3 turkeys and 2 nigerian dwarf goats.

I think they just want to make sure your animals well-behaved and well cared for.

Deb

[sonia1959]

When we got our license we had 2 big labs, we did not have any problem.

[kimb1005]

I have a Great Dane, 3 cats, an Irish Setter puppy, 2 birds, 2 rabbits and a guinea pig. My SW thought it was great for kids to be exposed to animals so we had no problems at all.

[sdiedre]

Three large dogs here - licensing just wanted to see them to make sure they weren't aggressive and I have to provide regular updates on their vaccinations.

They can be really handy when you want to get rid of a pesky cw

[EandDmom]

Hopefullmommy I know what you mean.. we had a doberman and it makes me crazy how they always show them as evil demon dogs in movies and tv. He was the sweetest, smartest, most loving dog we ever owned. The entire family was crushed when he died at age 12. He loved my kids like crazy and was always wonderful with them from infancy up.
Tuppy, my son has a mastif at his dad's. She is sweet but wow is she huge. She is 1 1/2 and weighs 160 lbs when she stands on her back legs and puts her front paws on your shoulder she is almost 6 ft tall. Son gets upset he can't bring her here when he stays here but she is just too large for our house.
Sorry to get so off topic but just felt like chatting.

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

The biggest problem I have seen where pets and fostering is concerned is the children being afraid of dogs.

Newborns obviously would not care, but ages 2-5 can be very fearful of animals if: 1) they have never been around them 2) they have been hurt by one before 3) their parents kept vicious pets to keep people away from their drug house

I think if you are REALLY concerned, you should start weaning the dog to be more of an outside animal than inside.

Either way.....rabies shots must be up-to-date.

Kim