Hi All,
I was wondering if any of you know of dog fostering programms/organisations where I could volunteer (ideally around Zurich, but doesnt have to be).

I have asked several shelters but they are actually not very keen on this type of help.

Dogs with special needs, or rescues would be the best.

Thank you in advance for all your suggestions!

Nalatajka

As you have seen, there seems to be less need for volunteers in established Swiss rescues than in the past. In the last decade or so, there has been a move towards professionalizing animal welfare work. Much of the work previously done by volunteers is now done by students during their Prakticum.

Additionally, the number of dogs in Swiss shelters has dropped. There are fewer homeless 'Swiss' dogs these days, largely due to the efforts made over the past decade in owner preparation and education, as well as traceability and control via AMICUS.

(Now that mandatory courses have been abolished, though, I fear the number of homeless Swiss dogs may climb in the coming years... but that's another thread.)

At present most Tierheim operate as a mix of holiday dog care kennels as well as providing kennels for a few dogs in need of homes. Another reason why there are not as many volunteer opportunities - when paying for one's dog to stay at a kennel clients expect professional care, not volunteers.

So.... how can a good-hearted animal lover help?

There are stil a few rescues who use foster homes, mostly those who concentrate on partnering with rescues abroad, where the needs is far greater than here. These often bring the dogs abroad to Switzerland, and use foster homes to work with the dogs to get them ready for adoption.

One such with a good repuation is Animal Happy End, here:

https://www.animal-happyend.ch

(I am not affiliated with this rescue in any way, I'm just an admirer of the good work they do.)

It's a good idea to approach the first contact just as you would a job search. Write the rescues you are interested in giving a full description of your experience, of your family situation and accomodation, what you can provide, what limits you might have.

Be aware that it might take time to get a response. The COVID situation has slowed down or paused much of the cross-border animal travel, so there might not be dogs to foster at the moment.

There are other small rescue groups partnering with rescues abroad, search for those and ask if help is needed.

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A word of caution, though: Bad actors, battery farms and dog dealers posing as rescues are sadly a problem here in Switzerland. Due diligence is needed, especially with small new rescue groups. Spend time learning about the group before getting too involved.

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As you have mentioned an interest in dogs with special needs, another way to help animals in Switzerland:

It is almost impossible to find responsible experienced private dogsitters for dogs with special needs, especially those offering holiday care. Owners of dogs with medical or behavioral needs, dogs that cannot go into kennels, are generally desperate for a sitter offering holiday care who truly understands these dogs and is capable of caring for them.

If you can't find a Tierheim interested in your volunteer offer, would you consider dogsitting?

While at first glance this might not be what you are looking to offer, this is true animal welfare work as well, as these dogs (and their owners!) need a level of help that is not available. If you could provide the right kind of care for special needs dogs you'd be doing a wonderful thing. You could make a real difference in the qualify of life for these dogs.

ETA:

One of the reasons that special needs dogs have trouble finding homes in Switzerland is that potential adopters know that appropriate holiday care for these dogs is so very difficult to find here, and so cannot take on dogs for whom they otherwise could provide a great home. If you could offer special needs holiday care, you'd be doing something concrete to help these dogs find homes.

An added plus: Owners of these dogs are generally willing to pay well for the right person.

Just a thought.

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Good luck with the search - and kudos for wanting to help!

I have also been looking for awhile to foster a dog. I did come upon www.grisette.ch and hopefully will start with a foster dog for them soon. It actually hasn't been easy to find an organization that was willing to answer my questions regarding their practices (eg. how they select dogs, how they select new homes, etc).

Our new dog joined us 5 days ago from Grisette, he was in a foster and I believe they're always on the look out for fosterers, preferably ones with experience of sighthounds.


I was impressed with Grisette because, unlike the 2-3 line ads most of the rescues put up, they put comprehensive information about their dogs, they are completely open and up front about health issue (right down to posting X-rays), and seem very careful about where they place their dogs.

Wonderful news, Eng_ch!

Here's to your new friend, and much happiness to you all.

This is an organization that was recommended (on here somewhere, I think?). It requires a long-term commitment and you cannot work >50% (much less for puppies). You get free training with the dog throughout your time with them, which sounds pretty great!
https://www.blindenhundeschule.ch/

Give them a call - they're very friendly on the phone and are happy to speak English.

Thank you! It's 10 months since we lost Heros to dementia at 13 years and 8 months. Which is the longest I've been without a dog in the house or the immediate family circle since I was 4. Our home feels complete again.

Conrgratulations! Which dog did you adopt?
I have Tiger (from grisette) currently as my foster dog

This is a great organization. Last I looked, however, you cannot participate if you’re 64 or older.

Nalatajka, an organization that you might contact to see how you might be able to help special needs dogs would be the Verein für Behindert Hunde:

https://www.behinderte-hunde.ch

This is our new family member:

http://www.grisette.ch/Max_Galgo_Refugio.html

I'd have been very interested in Tiger if we didn't already have Shadow!

Great news!

I took the liberty of peeking at Tiger's dossier... oh my, what a love he is!

You are doing a wonderful thing.

Be still my heart!

I love that last pic - greys are sooooo expressive. How is your gorgeous lad settling in?

Now y'all have me longing for a pointy... maybe one day....

He's getting there. He still doesn't believe yet - hardly surprising after only 3.5 weeks - but he's relaxing enough to be curious. Anything new is very scary (including snow), but once he sees something twice, it's much better.
He's still scared of the cat, though, but I think more out of habit than actual fear. It's clear he's been badly attacked by a cat in the past - he has scars on one ear and his nose. He and Carrot will sleep on the same sofa quite happily, and he'll even get up on the sofa when Carrot's already there (yeah, the no dogs on furniture rule don't work with Windhunde ). But if Carrot tries to snuggle or touch him or join him in his bed, he still runs away. Which is a shame, because Carrot is just *desperate* to be friends
He's an absolute love, and home feels complete now there's a dog again.

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....and he's just panicked at seeing his reflection in the back door. I've usually closed the curtain by now, so it could well be the first time he's seen his reflection and doesn't really know what it is

Shadow caught my eye previously too! Beautiful grey dog! Enjoy the upcoming adventures with your new family member These galgos are quite the interesting creatures, so elegant yet goofy

Tiger will be moving to his new home very soon, but living only a few minutes away
Having mainly only herding dogs in the past, it's been interesting to have a sighthound around....so calm I don't know if I got super lucky with Tiger as my first galgo or if all galgos are such nice dogs?! He has been a really great family dog.

I had a feeling Tiger would find a new home sooner rather than later. You're a better woman than I am - I think fosterers are amazing, I could never give a dog up once it's crossed my threshold.

As Meloncollie will remember, I had a deerhound for over 10 years. The American Deerhound Club describe them as excellent watchdogs because they lie back and watch everything that's going on. Typical sighthound I believe. As is the couch potato trait. Shadow displays the same characteristics.

From what I understand, where galgos and deerhounds differ from English greyhounds and other sighthounds is they tend to be more reasoning. An English grey, for instance, will just blindly chase little fluffy things along the path they take and push through hedges on that quest. Whereas galgos have the reasoning to work out how to cut off the fluffiest' path and deerhounds will lose interest once they're out of sight (through the hedge).

Of course with galgos, the fact that most of the dogs in CH were regularly mistreated working dogs in Spain means that their temperament depends not just on nature, but to an extent on their past experiences (maybe even more than with other rescues). Shadow, for instance, is in no way a natural hunter (which is probably why he was dumped in the first place) and is quite a timid chap; others that worked well but just got too old might have a much stronger hunting instinct making them unsuitable for households with cats.

In short, I think sighthounds in general and galgos in particular are by nature just very nice - and sensitive - dogs; but their sensitivity means their nurture has an above-average impact.

Although I've had 2 giant schnauzers, and Heros was just the best dog, I always said I'd have another deerhound in a heartbeat, but can't really because of the boat. Shadow is a lot smaller than a deerhound, and although the same height as Heros was, he's half the width and only just over half the weight, and tougher than he looks, so the boat is viable.

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