This post is sponsored by Swiffer.
There are some common threads among those who relate to what I share about cleaning and organizing.
They are lovely people with great intentions about lots of things in life, not just cleaning and organizing.
Really. One of the most exciting things about sharing my deep dark secret on the world wide web has been meeting so many lovely friends.
I’ve shared how I use Swiffer in my own home to help me manage the realities of having two dogs, and how we manage dealing with rainy days and shedding puppies so much better with their pet-specific tools.
Today, I asked if I could share my best friend’s story as part of my #SwifferFanatic Swiffer Ambassador gig. A few years ago, she started fostering for dog rescues and I’ve watched the process through her and have learned a lot about what is involved. Knowing that many of us are the types who wonder about such things, I’m sharing her answers to some questions I asked her in case this is something you’ve ever considered.
But first, a little background on Jenn. She has six kids and two dogs of her own. Do I need to say more?
She grew up with dogs, including the world’s furriest chow that she found wandering the streets when we were teenagers.
She was always an animal lover, so this current way to volunteer her time and home is right up her alley.
How did she get involved in fostering dogs?
She wanted to do something helpful with animals, so she approached a few people who had rescued and posted about it on her community’s social media pages. Jenn thought she’d go somewhere to volunteer, but found that most rescues are foster based.
Where do the dogs come from?
All different places. Most suburban shelters have a list of rescue groups they work with and if they’re near capacity or have a dog with medical needs, they’ll reach out to the rescue groups. Some are randomly found dogs, or dumped dogs, or ones whose owner has died.
What are your obligations, financially and otherwise, when you foster?
The foster family provides shelter, attention, socialization, affection and food. She also takes the dogs to adoption events, but doesn’t have to stay with the dog at the events. If her family has obligations on the day of an event, someone will come pick up the dog to take it.
Watching Jenn post on Facebook, I also see that she’s an advocate for the dogs. With six kids and two of her own dogs, she’s able to post lots of snuggling photos and playing photos so people can see how the dogs interact. All the photos above (except my Cinder in the middle) are dogs she has fostered.
Rescues take care of medical care, making sure all dogs are vetted, up to date on shots, and usually spayed or neutered. They also handle advertising, putting the dogs on Petfinder, and adoption events. Jenn tries to take her fosters to the vet since she feels like they’re less scared with her there, but others who foster can’t always do that.
What are the advantages of a dog being in an in-home foster situation?
In a foster situation, dogs have the chance to get acclimated to living with a family. Because Jenn has had experience with dogs coming out of situations where they never had interactions with people, she knows to be patient as they learn to not be fearful. She also is able to not “take it personally” when a dog is scared because it’s not “her” dog. A scared dog isn’t attractive to most adopters, so if she can work with them through that phase, the dog’s chance of being adopted goes up a lot. Several of her dogs have been scared of men when they first arrived, but with her husband, two teenage boys and two elementary boys, they had the chance to learn to get over those fears.
Sometimes, people come to her house to meet the dog and since the dog is comfortable there, they get to really see them at their best. Jenn can also answer questions about personality, and can share if a dog needs to be in a home without kids or other animals. She also knows exactly where the dog is in the house-training process.
Is it hard to let them go? Have you ever considered keeping a dog?
Yes. “Foster fails” are very common and no one gets upset about them. That’s what her organization calls it when someone decides to keep their foster dog.
Jenn hasn’t kept any yet (though she’s thought about it) because she knows she’d have to be done fostering if she ever foster failed.
What’s the biggest challenge of constantly bringing new dogs into your home?
Before I even asked, Jenn said that the number one challenge when fostering dogs is that almost none of the dogs who come into her home are house-trained when they get there. That means there’s a lot of cleanup. Which means Swiffer products are a huge help.
I’m excited that Swiffer is sending Jenn some of their great pet-specific products to help!
If you’re in the “thinking” stage about either fostering or adopting a new pet, I hope this information is helpful. While Swiffer is there so you #dontsweatyourpet and all of his/her messes, perhaps checking into adopting from a rescue will help with some of your other fears.
You don’t have to fear muddy paw prints (or worse) and shed filled pet messes this spring with the help of the Swiffer Sweeper and Dry and Wet Pet Refills with Febreze Odor Defense that Trap + Lock or Swiffer Dusters and Heavy Duty Pet Refills which you can find at Kroger.
Tell me about your fur baby in the comments to be entered to win a $50 prize package of Swiffer products! Continental U.S. only (sorry!), must comment here on the site, giveaway will close April 4, 2019 at 9 p.m. Central. Winner must respond to my email within 48 hours or I will have to choose another winner. See all my giveaway policies here.
--Nony
Hi! We have three fur babies: one indoor/outdoor cat plus two small dogs who love the big fenced yard. We have an electric dog door for the dogs who have 24/7 access to the backyard… which is currently pretty soggy as our Minnesota snow is melting. This means LOTS of little piddy prints! My pups would love to win the giveaway!! The cat said she doesn’t care one or the other. 😉
We’ve volunteered with dog rescues for a number of years. and, yes, we’ve been foster failures. We love being part of helping homeless dogs find loving and committed homes. Rescue transport, fostering, pet food drives, finding rescues for dogs in need, donating supplies, equipment or money, fundraising, education about pet car, advocating with local and state authorities, whatever it takes to help the animals. There’s always something each person can do to help companion animals. The reward? Looking out my back door to see our rescued Bubby and our hospice foster Midas lying safely and peacefully and contentedly in the afternoon sun.
German shepherd as big as my 8-year-old…. nuff said!
We have a rescue dog that sheds some, not a lot. Then I began swiffering most days and I can’t believe how much I pick up daily with the Swiffer. Interested in trying their pet products!
We have a rescue dog. She loves our family to pieces, but barks and has a fit if anyone approaches the house.
We have three furbabies – two kittens we rescued from the same litter, and a GSD mix puppy we got from the pound last August… I love seeing your German Shepherd! I’m a huge fan of spray mopping to help with the paw prints – even after wiping/drying off when he comes in, there’s still damp little paw prints through the house, lol. Spray mopping also helps with the messes my toddler makes, but the dog also helps with that, too 😉
I finally gave in to years of begging from my family and we just recently adopted a bernedoodle puppy. While he doesn’t shed, his giant paws pick up lots of mud to track all over the kitchen. A swiffer wet mop would make it much easier to stay on top of the mud at this time of year!
We have 4 fur babies. 1 dog & 3 cats, they are all indoor/outdoor but there is still a lot of fur that needs cleaning up every day.
We have one big yellow lab, Pippin. He has made the food messes from my five kids disappear, but increased the dirt messes and blown up the hair problem!
We just got our first rescue puppy–a German/Australian Shepard mix. I have never had an inside dog, so this has been a learning experience! Especially trying to find the best way to clean up!
We have a little maltipoo who thinks he is a large dog. He’s adorable, which is good since we have light carpets and he likes to mark on them.
I have a rescue named Gunner. He’s a chocolate lab/pointer mix (we think). He’s a wonderful fur baby even when his muddy or wet footprints cover the just-cleaned floor. I can’t figure out how he still has fur given how many fur balls roll around. Lol.
I have one big fur baby, a Newfoundland named Uschi. She is my constant companion and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you know about Newfies, they have a double coat and “blow” it twice a year. My kids say I could knit another dog with what she sheds! Other times of the year, she just “normally” sheds! My dust bunnies have dust bunnies!
We have a long haired border collie with I’ll swear 8″ fur on her tail and almost that long everywhere else. Swiffer dusters are my salvation! I love the new 360 ones!
We have two kitties.. My 14 year old playful white kitty. Who sheds. All the time.
And then our scared of everything 4 year old kitty who we found along as an itty bitty thing at my husband’s work.
But there is hair. Everywhere. On everything. But I LOVES them 🙂
Our two indoor cats (brothers) were unwanted kittens from a stray cat that had kittens in a neighbor’s yard. An amazing program in our area called the Animal Welfare Association helped us with low cost neutering and now a year later our happy “big boys” are spoiled rotten! We like to say that our cats drive us crazy and we are crazy about our cats!!!
Love the idea of swiffering away some excess cat hair in the house!! 😊
We live on a farm, so lots of fur-babies, but in the house are 3 dogs & 3 cats…long-haired cats. So lots of hair & muddy footprints!
We rescued our current dog as a puppy two years ago – she is always close to us no matter how far we go since her hair is EVERYWHERE!
My furry chow mix is like a giant swiffer, the only problem is she sweeps up all the dirt and grit from outside and brings it in. Haven’t figured out how to train her to reverse the process and drop the house dirt outside yet 🤔
Someone else in the household has an Akita and a Japanese Chin. My black socks and fleece jacket are always covered in white hair. I need more Swiffer! (and someone to use it)
We have a big old bouncy lab cross, an extra fluffy elderly cat, i I have been running a home day care for 40 years, so lots of fuzz and dirt, but everything needs to be clean. I couldn’t do it without Swiffer products. Thank you for inventing so many ways to make my life easier and more joyful.
Ahhh this interview could have been me (sans the actual kiddos 😉 – The hubby and I were dog fosters with the local beagle rescue and have been foster fails in the process… once we did that, we knew we couldn’t foster any more – we discovered that 3 dogs is definitely our limit. It’s been wonderful to watch the timid pups become more confident and turn into happy, better trained versions of themselves as the go to their fur-ever homes. I just wish we could train them to shed outside, not on the couch.
We have 3 dogs and 1 cat currently. And if it were up to my husband and daughter we would have more! The hair is a constant. But I wouldn’t change a thing because having pets in your life is so rewarding.
Thank goodness that people open their homes and foster. We have rescued dogs over our 44 year marriage and most were returned adoptions, which pulled at our heartstrings even more.
They have been wonderful additions to our family, our children andnow our grandchildren. We couldn’t imagine life without them. Now with that said, my husband, my children and my grandchildren, are messy too, not just tge canine family members. I don’t know how we survived pre swiffer days!
My knees and back are grateful for the variety of swiffer products, especially as I age! Keeping and maintaining a cleaner, healthier home for the entire family isn’t a dreaded chore with Swiffer!
I have two cats who were fostered before I adopted them. I’m in my 60s, so when I retire I plan to foster cats (or maybe dogs.) Once my two kitties cross over the Rainbow Bridge, I plan to foster rather than adopt. I see so many posts where homes are needed. I appreciate all who open their homes to abandoned pets.
I’ve got 3 cats & 5 small dogs (2 of them are foster fails). They’re the loves of my life. The house is always hectic… always furry… always full of love.
As a dog owner and a mother of young boys, I use Swiffer wet pads for clean-up often! Would love to win some.
5 fur babies here! 4 small in house and 1 who is inside and outside. 1 mini schnauzer rescue, a geriatric yorkie (with major potty problems 😩), 2 mini long haired dachshunds- one of which is a rescue and our large smooth coat border collie that literally sheds year round without reason. They’re work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!! We love them all so much!!
Why did I have NO Idea Swiffer has products for pets?!?
2 furry fellas here – Sheldon (because, you know) and Foxy. Very messy cats. Sheldon likes to throw his food around and Foxy likes to leave giant piles of fur everywhere. Great giveaway!
We have a beautiful calico we rescued six years ago. She love to sleep on our sofa; so she sheds a little. I would love to see if the Swiffer pet products would help. Thanks!
3 cats, 2 of which shed enough for 3. I have about 10 lint rollers placed throughout the house at any given moment.
Thank you for posting this. I currently have one fur baby. We got her from a rescue about 3 years ago. She needs a friend. My husband and I have been going back and forth on whether or not we should get a second dog or foster. I’m still not sure, but this has been helpful.
Heart ache when they are gone.
Something I look forward to doing after retirement when I can be home with them!
We have a 12yo tuxedo putty (adopted as a baby) and an 8’ish y.o. Shepherd mix (rescue). They are our 3rd and 4th children, for sure! Spoiled rotten, treats, scratches, tummy rubs, you name it. The dog got out once and I nearly lost my mind; the guys scoured the neighborhood looking for him (thankfully, an awesome neighbor let him follow her & her 2 furbabies home and then posted pics of him). I don’t ever want to imagine life without them!
My favorite do ever was a huge pomeranian. Like 14 pounds huge. Talk about hair everywhere if I didn’t brush her very regularly. The dust bunnies had dust bunnies!
My current dog is a cocker spaniel, also good shedders. I find drifts of hair under the couches on the wood floors.
We are moving and my new house is all wood and tile floors….this gave me pause because of all of the corners and vacuums not being super on hard surfaces, but the swiffer stuff would do wonders!
Check your email!
My fur baby is Abby, a very smart Boston Terrier. She is 10. I also care for my “Grandkitty” since pets are not allowed by his new landlord. My 85 year old mom fell before Christmas and I’ve been taking care of her and her 9 year old German Spitz sweetie named Tina. Love all my fur babies! Oh, and Swiffer products ROCK!!
Really want a dog!! But with 4 young kids, I want to make sure I can stay up on the house before adding on another mess maker. Swifter looks like it would make that easier!
Twilla Jane and Snuggles [sisters]are rescue cats that were inside kittens but grew fast and furry! They are part time house dwellers and part time outdoor loungers.
They love our attention and now have “donated” their fur as indoor decor …Help!
Don’t even get me started about muddy paw prints! lol! Is it just me, or has it rained way more than usual for the past 3 years?
Thank you for advocating for fostering through this blog. Just one of many reasons why I appreciate you! 🙂
My furbaby is an 80 pound Standard Poodle who turns 8 on 4-4-19!
We have 2 kitties, one tabby and one long-haired super-fluffy gal who sheds all over the place! They both like to make a mess of their eating area. I need all the cleaning help I can get!
I foster pregnant moms and litters of puppies. Floor cleaning and laundry is a huge part of the job as the mom takes care of most of the hard lifting at first. I am grateful to be able to do what I do. I do have to pace myself as it can involve some sleepless nights that can wear me down and there is always a dog in need. I meet wonderful people that give their heart and souls to make lives better for needy animals to turn them into someone’s beloved pet.
I have been rescuing and fostering since 2012 when we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas. The pet problem is out of control in this area and we have mostly high kill shelters.
My very patient and amazing husband and I have 8 of our own dogs, all Rescues, and 1 foster undergoing heartworm treatment. If anyone can put Swiffer’s Pet Products to use it’s us!
Thank You,
The Davidson Pack – Molly, Zeus, Cleo, Cowboy, Ranger, Ryder, Duke, Bryn, and Daisy 😎🐾❤️
Oh, and three foster fails that couldnt be adopted for different reasons. So right now 4 dogs and 10 puppies, LOTs of swiffering!
Rescue is my favorite breed! I have had 3 of them. bests family members, so grateful to their new guardians. they know the have been saved! I can’t foster because of my job, so I put my money helping other rescue organizations. Two many animals are euthanized every day. I adore Bully breeds, and prefer a black dog as they are the least adopted. working and traveling for my job, is tough, with ant thing that looks like a pit bull type dog. kicked out of RV parks, even a small town in Nebraska before.
thank you for bring fostering to the forefront! Its so rewarding!
We have rescued a dog out of the shelter, and muddy paw prints are always around when it rains. Swiffer always comes to the rescue. Love to find out about the pet versions.
Dogs leave paw prints on our hearts forever!
Hello, from Seattle.
I don’t have a pet because of allergies. But my uncle had several Guide Dogs. my family got to know a foster/trainer couple from my area that cared for one of his retired dogs. Thanks for the hard work.
I would appreciate the swifters because of me fibromyalgia these may help mopping take less time.
We currently have 2 dogs (at one point we had 7!) all of our dogs in the past 30 years have been rescues- either we found them or they found us through friends and family. Once they come here we are their forever home. Some have been difficult and our current 2 were abused in their previous life. We love our fur babies. We also have 7 cats in the house and multiple porch cats and feral cats.
We have a rescue dog who is our total life! We did also have a rescue bunny and cat for over 10 years, but they both passed away in the last year. We fostered kittens, dogs, and bunnies in the past too, so our house really knows fur/pee/hay situations. We have carpet in most places now but are getting ready to put new hard floors throughout!
I have a Bernadoodle and she loves going outside, whatever the season, snow, rain, currently mud. She does shed and I have started using a Swiffer and it helps get the hair off the wood floors.
I enjoyed reading this information about fostering. I admire dog fosterers, not least because I suspect that it would be very difficult for me to relinquish a foster dog.
I am not a dog owner, but I have two beautiful “grand-dogs,” a “big brother”and a “little sister”. I enjoy getting their favorite fish treats for them!
Despite not needing a Swiffer for cleaning up after pets, I am sure that a Swiffer would be very, very useful in our home.
I have 2 dogs and 2 cats – all rescues. I have fostered many furry friends in the past but am taking a break from fostering now because it was stressing out one of my dogs. I also volunteer at my county animal shelter and HelpingLostPets.com in Michigan. I use my Swiffer Wet Jet almost every day!
I have a dear friend that spends every day walking, playing and socializing dogs that have been dropped at the shelter. Some of these dogs just need a friend and to relearn how to integrate back in society. It is fun to see all the pictures from across the US and enjoy her work. I have cats. Some are mine and some just stop off at our neighborhood food trough. I have to take some of the homeless to the vet for issues. Thanks for bringing this topic to to your blog. v
Our rescue, Paco, came home with our son from a mission trip to Mexico. He sheds “tumble weeds” all summer long.
We have furry nieces and nephews – all dogs – that I try to welcome into my home with open arms, but clearly we need these resources to really do it right and stop being so anxious about mess when they visit!
I’ve had Golden Retrievers most of my adult life. My last one died in 2016 but I believe I’m still finding his hair! I’ve been thinking about fostering once I retire because I truly miss having dogs in my house despite the mess they can make. All the love is worth it!
2 cats, 2 dogs, and 3 kids in the house – along with other assorted rodents and reptiles!
It is so great that you can foster, Bless you for doing that. I have kitties and the hair, litter and hair balls are a challenge sometimes.
My family has world’s sweetest rescued pup! We are Swiffer fans anyway, but the spring shedding means we are more like Swiffer fanatics!
As I read this blog, my sweet adopted fur baby, Rina (which means “joy”) is purring and sleeping on my lap. I got her almost 13 years ago from an organization that relies completely on fostering. I ended up volunteering for them for a few years, helping with adoptions and even doing a little fostering of my own at times.
As someone who just spent my spring break reading both of your books, and actually doing a little cleaning because of it, I would love the Swiffer pet products to help with all the kitty dust in my small “container”!!
Thanks for all you do!!!
My beloved 14.5 year old furry companion died in September of old-age related ailments. I have not found a new dog yet, but I hope to in the next year or so. I cannot do that without a better way to keep the inside of the house free of fur. I’m hoping to win the Swiffer products to get me one step closer back to dog ownership.
I have two fur babies, Patty, a shepherd/husky mix with two different colored eyes, and Anya, a black cat with a tiny white patch on her chest who is a really good mouser. 😊
I have 4 fur babies. All kitties ranging from 6 1/2 months old to 5 years. One of them is basically a stray that lives inside, won’t let anyone touch him but loves to beg for food. At least he loves all of the others as much as they love him lol.
I have one pomeranian who has enough fur to cover the house. I would love to try the Swiffer products!
What an awesome thing to do for so many pets!
I have an older pup and she is beginning to have accidents, so the Swiffer products are a lifesaver. I lost my second dog last August and still miss him terribly. Both were rescues. I have been thinking about fostering because the thought of adopting again is still too painful. This article answered many of my questions. I think people who open their homes to animals – even it’s not forever -are real heroes.
We have 3 fur babies a big German shepherd and 2 cats. We are always sweeping up the messes they bring in from the outside.
Aw your friend sounds wonderful. I have two rescue greyhounds who were discarded when they were retired. One was only a year old and due to be destroyed (!!!) and the other is a successful racer who was retired at 4. They’re 4 and 5 now. I hate that animals are ever used for sport, it’s barbaric. I want to rescue them all and get mildly psychotic when people bet on races and what not.
I can’t enter your competition as I’m in the UK but I wanted to comment anyway. I’m off to see if I can get swiffer here, they sound great. X
I foster dogs for a German Shepherd rescue. It’s such a great feeling to play a part in finding love and care for an animal.
Thank you for sharing Jenn’s Story. I have thought about fostering dogs before but never looked into it. Today is my birthday and I can’t think of a better gift. I will be looking into fostering today!
Dogs shed no way around it. Sweet as they are dog hair on floors is embarrassing.
I have a “Hair-Everywhere-Big-White-Fluffy-Great-Pyrenese-Mix” dog. Sometimes it seems like she sheds a small dog once a week! I just recently bought a Swiffer Pet Duster and a new Swiffer Sweeper, because what I had just wasn’t working. Would love to win some refills!
We have boxer who has to be a mostly outdoors dog due to my daughter’s allergies. I would love to try out the swiffer pet products to see if they would reduce allergy symptoms so that our dog could be inside with the family more.
I have two sweet kitties and it’s easy to tell when spring has come because I start seeing more cat fur on the hardwood floors! Swiffer to the rescue for those quick clean-ups.
I have two Pekes who shed a lot on my laminate floor. The 14 year old doesn’t always want to go outside to do his business and have to clean that up before it soaks into the floor. I am in a wheelchair and so I appreciate the convenience of using the Swiffer wet since I can’t handle a mop and bucket. I like that I can throw the pads away and my house still smells clean.
We have two big furry golden retrievers who shed a ton! We use Swiffer products already but have yet to try the pet products – looking forward to it!
The neighbor’s dog abandon me. I have heard so much good stuff about dogs that the thought she’d do that never entered my mind.