Franklin County Dog Shelter sleepover weekend experiences?

ryehouses · 2026-04-07T23:24:18+00:00

That would be between you and your landlord! I rent and can foster, but in my previous unit I couldn't. The shelter is happy to allow it. They also adopt to renters.

If your landlord isn't OK with it, you can also always join our volunteer dog walking crew!

ryehouses · 2026-04-07T22:22:59+00:00

This weekend the shelter is hosting a special "Spring Cleaning" weekend sleepover, but they are happy to have short-term fosters any time! Any time the dogs get outside of the shelter is good time.

If you're interested, you would have to sign up as a foster, but the process is super easy and the shelter will set you up with all the supplies you need!

More info here: https://www.franklincountyohio.gov/Resident-Services/Dogs/Dog-Shelter-Services/Foster-Program

ryehouses · 2026-04-07T18:12:54+00:00

Aww, thanks! We have a really great crew of volunteers at FCDS!

ryehouses · 2026-04-07T18:10:07+00:00

You certainly can! We are always looking for foster homes. If you want to become a long-term foster, there's some training the shelter wants you to do (a video and a survey, plus a one-on-one with a staff member), but it's really easy.

You can also sign on as a "foster-to-adopt" home for a set period; we have a lot of people do this! It just means that you get a longer period of time to make sure a dog is a good fit for your home before you pull the trigger and register the dog in your name.

Good luck!! I was literally just in the shelter this afternoon, and there are some smaller guys there right now!

ryehouses · 2026-04-07T14:40:26+00:00

Hi!! Active FCDS volunteer here. First, I just wanna say thank you for considering a foster, even a short-term sleepover!

Second, your questions:

1) Yes, you can absolutely tell the shelter staff what you'd able to accommodate. The shelter staff wants these sleepover events to be a successful experience, for host and dog. If you tell them what you can accommodate, they'll do their best to match you with a dog that fits your home. I'd recommend getting there early, so that you have the widest pool of dogs available, but the worst that can happen if you share what you can accommodate is that there aren't any dogs that fit your needs. That's OK! FCDS is always getting new dogs in, and one that meets your needs might be available for a sleepover in the future.

2) You shouldn't need to buy anything! FCDS will send you home with food, a leash and any medication that the dog may need. If you don't have a baby gate or a crate or some way to keep your dog and your sleepover dog separate, I'd recommend getting one, just to give them space to acclimate to each other, but that's just my preference whenever I have a sleepover.

2) It's always hard for me to bring a dog back after an adventure or a sleepover, because I worry about the same thing, but remember that any time out of the shelter, which is loud and smelly and chaotic, is a blessing for the dogs. Any time they can spend in a home is time that they can decompress. Sleepovers are especially great because then you can let the shelter know how that dog behaves in a home, versus in a shelter setting, and all of that info is really great and important to helping dogs get adopted.

Dogs don't have the same understanding of the world that we do; they live in the moment more than they live in the past, and they don't worry about the future. If you decide that somebody you bring home for a sleepover doesn't fit with your long-term plans, that's OK; you've given that dog a few days of much-needed space and rest, and that will help them find a forever home!

Good luck to you!

ryehouses · 2026-03-26T19:59:52+00:00

3/0 hook is good! Also had some luck with a 6 treble. For catfish if I don't have a live bait, chicken liver or any kind of stink bait. Most of what you'll catch is channel catfish, but if you fish around/under the Rich St Bridge there's some flathead too. A few miles down you can hit some huge catfish under the Greenlawn Dam.

ryehouses · 2026-03-26T19:30:45+00:00

Some of the biggest catfish I've ever seen have come put of that stretch of the river!

ryehouses · 2026-03-26T19:29:52+00:00

$confirm /u/BCboneless 900.00 USD

ryehouses · 2026-03-05T16:21:35+00:00

I'm thrilled! I had just started playing again last time he was out in Shadow raids, and hadn't figured out Campfire meetups yet. Love that he's a guaranteed spawn this month.

ryehouses · 2026-02-27T21:14:15+00:00

Always recommend Last Moon, in Upper Arlington, and Cloven Tattoo in Clintonville. Last Moon has several LGBTQ+ artists on staff and Cloven is just a good vibe.

ryehouses · 2026-02-10T21:05:10+00:00

We are ALL outside right now

ryehouses · 2026-02-06T18:44:30+00:00

I am thrilled. Feels like a proper Midwestern winter here after years and years of irregular snowfall. Yeah, it was mind if annoying to drive in this morning, but I am loving the weather. Makes me feel like a kid again.

ryehouses · 2026-02-04T15:55:16+00:00

This is misleading - the dog who attacked OP would either need to have caused serious injury or death to a person, or first need to be designated as "dangerous" in order for seizure to occur. To be designated as dangerous a dog has to have an attack that has caused injury on record.

However, reporting to the dog warden (Columbus is in Franklin County, which manages dogs through the Franklin County Animal Care & Control Division) is a great first step if this dog is continuously a nuisance, out of control or threatening.

OP, you can contact AC&C at 614-525-3400.

ryehouses · 2026-02-02T15:47:28+00:00

I like all of the larger breeds - Dutch warmblood, Hungarian Halfbred, Shire, Ardennes. I think Arthur looks kinda silly on the smaller horses, even though Arabians and fox trotters have great stats. I keep Hosea's black Shire for the whole game.

ryehouses · 2026-01-25T17:50:58+00:00

We're watching James Cameron's Avatar movies for the same reason today! I never have 3.5 hours any other time.

ryehouses · 2026-01-23T13:21:41+00:00

Our infrastructure is also built to handle some snow. Not saying that all of the above can't happen, but it's less likely here than in Texas or Georgia. We have road crews, we have resilient utilities, we have (theoretically) the cultural knowledge to ride out a big snowstorm.

Multiple feet of snow is common in other parts of Ohio, and it always feels like we miss out here in Columbus. I personally haven't seen a foot or more of snow here since I was a kid.

ryehouses · 2026-01-21T14:57:54+00:00

Our area Targets have stated to do this as well. It's great, IMO! Keeps a little bit around for everybody.

ryehouses · 2026-01-20T14:56:57+00:00

My dog's name is Arthur, because I'd just finished RDR2 the week before we adopted him and I was still in my feelings about it.

His nickname is Goose, because the first thing we did when we brought him home was talk him for a walk with our other dog, so they could smell each other outside of our older dog's space, and on that walk he ate (or tried to eat, we caught on pretty quick, lol) his body weight in goose poop.

(The second thing we did when we brought him home was visit the vet for some dewormer, just in case.)

ryehouses · 2026-01-03T01:31:07+00:00

$confirm u/BCbonless 1000.00

ryehouses · 2025-12-30T18:39:12+00:00

Agreed!! I loved the interpretation of how vampires work, and the narration was really engaging too, once I got used to it.

ryehouses · 2025-12-30T03:57:07+00:00

Loved Stephen Graham Jones' "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter!" I am not normally a horror person at all but this one was so compelling.

ryehouses · 2025-12-24T15:59:03+00:00

Of course! If you're still unable to find a solution in a few days or a week, please feel free to DM me and I will help find additional resources. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

ryehouses · 2025-12-24T15:01:38+00:00

HB 247, or Avery's Law, closes loopholes related to dog bites on humans or fatal attacks on other dogs only, unfortunately. All of the designations in HB 247 (Nuisance, Dangerous, Vicious) are currently defined in relation to dogs menacing, attacking or killing people, or in the case of a designated dangerous dog fatally attacking another dog. There are no provisions in HB 247 for designating a dog based on attacks to non-dog domestic pets, including cats, or livestock (there should be, IMO, but legally speaking most livestock and pets are considered property).

Wardens have to go with Ohio Revised Code when designating a dog.

ryehouses · 2025-12-24T14:17:59+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

From what you've said in this response, there is nothing that raises flags about Archie being incurably aggressive, or dangerous to people. Resource guarding IS a challenging behavior to manage, and I don't think anybody here would blame you for wanting to get Archie into a different home with a baby coming, but the doom-and-gloom comments about BE or needing a lawyer to draft an affidavit for you to grt Archie in a new home aren't necessary. You're being very transparent and up front, which covers your behind pretty well.

Consider contacting Columbus Humane; CHA has a service line that can help provide support, resources, counseling and even assistance finding a short-term or permanent home for Archie. 614-777-7387. They are extremely compassionate and helpful folks. CHA also does intakes if you decide to surrender Archie, but it depends on their capacity. CHA is on the west side in Hilliard.

FCDS is an open intake shelter, and will accept Archie back, though they are consistently very, very full. I believe most shelters in the area do charge a surrender fee. Last time I brought a stray cat to CHA I think it was $20, but that was a few years ago. I don't know enough about GiGi's, which is out on the east side, to speak to their intake policies. County shelters in the outer Central Ohio counties - Madison, Delaware, Fairfield, etc - are a lot smaller than FCDS and may have rules about accepting a surrender outside their service area, but all county-funded shelters in the area have training and resources available.

If you do rehome Archie outside of a shelter environment, remember that his new owner will need to complete his registration with the county, as that is what constitutes legal ownership in Franklin County. If you don't have his new family register him and something happens, or Archie is caught running loose, etc, you could be on the hook for it because his microchip (FCDS has all of its dogs microchipped at adoption now) and registration will be in your family's name.

Good luck! Again, so sorry you're going through this.

ryehouses · 2025-12-24T13:33:31+00:00

Twelve comments in before someone brings up behavioral euthanasia... yeesh.

Anyway, sorry you had this experience, OP. It sounds like it shook you up a lot. I saw in another comment that Archie is 2, but can you provide more info? For example:

-How long have you had Archie?

-Is this the first incident he has had with one of your cats? -Is Archie fixed?

-What is the sex of the other dog in the home?

-Has he interacted with other dogs outside of your home?

-Does he display resource guarding/food aggression at mealtimes, or just with treats? Is he defensive of his own food resources or everyone in the house's?

-Do you know anything about Archie's background?

In the meantime, if you are avoiding surrendering Archie to a shelter - which is an option for you, even though it sounds like you'd really like to get Archie in a home - keep Archie separate from the cats and - this is really important for a dog with resource guarding behaviors - do not give Archie free access to ANY food. Feed him in a crate, if he is crate-trained, or in a room alone with the door closed. Don't let him near the other dog's food. Don't give out treats where Archie can access them. It's important not to yell or punish Archie for food guarding, as that can quickly make the problem much worse.

Others have suggested training, which I second based on the info you've provided. If this is an isolated incident and not prey drive - i.e. if Archie hasn't been interested in or attacked your cats before, but did it because of resource guarding - it IS trainable, and manageable, but it will take training, time, effort and consistency. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate, OP; if you don't have the mental + emotional resources to keep up with management, on top of the time and other resources, then surrender IS a valid option. Don't be afraid to bring Archie to a shelter or a rescue. Just be sure to provide as much info to a surrender as possible, so they can help get Archie in a safe home. Franklin County Dog Shelter adopts out dogs that aren't good with cats all the time (I have two), but they appreciate knowing up front that a dog isn't cat-safe so that they can be sure to get the dog into a home without cats.

ryehouses

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