The main reason to foster is to help save lives of very deserving dogs! There are always more than we can help, but the number of foster homes that we have in our group limits the number of lives we save. At this time, we only have 5 permanent foster homes, many of our dogs are in temporary foster situations where someone has stepped forward to foster a stray they found or their own dog that they need to re-home. These homes are great and very much appreciated, however, we cannot place another dog in that spot once the current dog is adopted like we do with permanent foster homes.

Fostering provides an opportunity to learn more about mixed breeds, different pure breeds and types of dogs. It is very exciting to learn more about dogs in general, but also to see the difference in breeds. You may even find a breed you like that you never would've considered as a pet for yourself!

Another benefit is that now you will have friends, who gladly and openly discuss dog poop in all its variations and other dog / pet issues that you may never had the opportunity to discuss! Plus, if your house currently has carpeting and you want to talk your partner into Pergo flooring, just foster a couple litters of puppies and they'll come around!

The numbers do speak for themselves, for every foster home that fosters 10 months a year, we can save approximately another 6 dogs and even more puppies (they tend not to stay in the foster home as long).

Why not to foster (Yes, you read it right!)

Hmmmm, this is a little tougher for someone who so enjoys the foster dogs, but there are some very solid reasons not to foster. The main reason would be not having enough time’ you can work a full-time job and foster, but you have to be willing to get up a little earlier than normal to exercise the foster dog and expect to come home and spend time once again exercising and working with the foster dog’ expect a minimum of 2-3 hours per day that need to be spent with the foster dog, it can slip rather easily into a daily schedule.

If you are not ready to devote at least this much time to a new dog, fostering is probably not for you. (There are many other volunteer opportunities that you could help us with’ see our volunteer opportunites).

Attachment to personal and household items’ even an adult foster dog may chew on an inappropriate item or have an accident in the house. This is just part of adjusting a new dog to home-life, some come in very easy, others can be very nervous the first couple days and do inappropriate things.

Puppies, well, they are guaranteed to chew up something you don't want them to and have accidents.

If you want to foster, and you leave things in a room with an unattended-to dog/puppy, you have to be able to accept the fact that something you cherish (expensive shoes/craft item, etc) can get destroyed. It is truly amazing, especially with puppies, what they can get into when you go into another room, for just a minute.

The reward for fostering

Okay, we went over the tangible reasons to foster and the solid reasons not to foster, now comes the part that is a little harder to define.For those of us that have fostered for a while, we can really feel the reward of all our hard work!

The basic/easy reward for fostering is seeing one of our foster dogs set off with their new family, everyone all smiles and eager to start their lives together!

Another satisfying reward for fostering is getting an update a few months after adoption (picture included), showing the whole family, dog in the center! Getting an update a year or more later with/without picture, telling you how wonderful things still are and how they couldn't imagine their home without their furry companion is the ultimate!

These are all pretty simple, but very motivating rewards. There are some very special rewards that we earn as a result of fostering dogs/ puppies that require extra effort and time to adjust to home life, take a little longer to understand basic obedience and take a while to learn that going new places is fun and not scary. Sending them off happily to their new homes is very gratifying.

After some time, you have the reward of looking back at all the dogs/puppies that you have fostered and you realize you could have never kept ALL of them. But, you WERE able to keep them temporarily till their permanent home could be found and you did enjoy each different dog's personality and antics. And, when you have a visit from a former foster and the family is happy and the dog is happy you forget about any destruction / messes that they had caused you!

The trials of fostering

To be honest, it is not all joy and fun fostering there are difficulties and as was touched on earlier sometimes destruction.

We recommend and try to adjust all foster dogs (and puppies especially) to crate training. This can prove interesting to say the least. Some puppies take to it readily, others will amaze you with their lung capacity and stamina! Some adults are also pretty good at expressing their dislike of this new arrangement. On a good note - 99% of all puppies and dogs do adjust to crate training within a few days. We recommend to new foster homes that they get their first foster dog on a Fri. so they have a few days to adjust without having to get up and go to work!

Destruction -- I have been amazed at what some dogs/puppies target for destruction. Shoes and socks are definitely on the main list they smell like you and provide comfort to the dog / puppy. They don't mean to be mean it is more of a compliment! They miss you and like you, so they want something that smells like you! (Compliment/not, I realize only so many shoes can be lost to the teeth of a puppy/dog I've learned to put them on top of crates!) Wooden furniture - this is a real UGH!, especially if you have some really nice/antique furniture. There are ways to prevent damage, but for real precious pieces, not leaving the pup/dog alone for a second in a room with this piece of furniture is the best prevention. Possibly even moving the furniture to a room that can be closed off would be the safest thing to do. And of course, anything that a pup can put in their mouth, pillows (they are like stuffed toys!) and plastic objects, hard enough to be interesting, soft enough to break pieces off are always fun to be able to get a result from the chewing!

House-breaking accidents -- puppies tend to have more accidents, plus often come into the organization with worms. Consistency in feeding and potty break schedules usually gets the housebreaking down within a week. Puppies under 10 weeks of age usually don't get it’ so if you want to foster pups at this age expect cleanup time!

No house manners -- many dogs come into our rescue not realizing that standing up to check out what's on the counter/table is NOT proper behavior. Again, consistency and patience is needed in this area.

There are various ways to eliminate this behavior that we explain and review with a new foster home. Usually this does not take long to correct. Many dogs also jump up on people and are pushy about getting people food. All of these are things are examples of inappropriate behavior, and the foster home needs to correct the dog in these behaviors.

No basic obedience training -- it is extremely rare that a dog comes in with any basic obedience training.

This is often a reason people get rid of a dog, no control/communication set up between them and the dog. We recommend that all foster homes begin basic obedience training. Sit is very important and the best/easiest command to start with. The others: down’ stay’ come are commands that the foster can build on, as they like. This basic training is really beneficial for a dog going off to his new home. And, it doesn't require any special knowledge or excess time. We can demonstrate and go over how to do basic obedience training - it really only takes a few minutes per day...and as always, some patience.

Other more serious issues -- we sometimes do get a dog that shows signs of other issues that are more serious and more difficult to handle. Food aggression, dog/other pet aggression, avoidance of men/women, severe general shyness, and separation anxiety are some issues that we may face.

If there is ANY issue with which a foster home is not comfortable, we remove the dog from the home ASAP, often within hours. The dog will either go to a more experienced foster home for evaluation and possible correction of the behavior, or temporarily to a kennel (if acceptable and no other foster home is available). We have a few experienced foster homes that can handle multiple dogs, so the majority of the time, the dogs is moved immediately into one of these homes. The trials may seem many, but usually you only have one/two minor issues that you need to work through with an adult dog. These issues may often be cute, but not wanted behaviors, like trying to crawl on your lap while you are sitting in a chair or expecting people food. With puppies, it's just dealing with typical puppy issues as usually they don't really have any bad behaviors just puppy behaviors. Most dogs are just so happy to have a warm safe place to sleep and hands to pet them that they are usually very eager to please.They learn what is proper behavior rather quickly and are very happy to just settle peacefully in the house.

How to let that first foster dog go

This is often the hardest part of learning to foster -- letting go. Especially letting go of your first foster dog. You will be so pleased and surprised how easily and how well the dog has adjusted to your home that you just hate to give them up and just feel that they have found a home at your place. This is very true if the dog has resided with you for a month or more. (We refer to it as -- gottadoptimitus syndrome -- as it is very common.)

If you are able to let go of that first one and continue fostering, you will soon learn just how many dogs can readily adapt to your home and be very enjoyable companions! That is one of the truly nice things about most dogs, they readily adapt to all kinds of environments and homes.

You will also open your home to saving more than just this one special dog, as there are many, many more very special dogs just in need of a little patience to adjust to home life and some time to find their permanent home.

We also provide several shoulders to cry on and friends to lean on as your first special baby walks out the door to his/her new home. We've all been there and we all understand how difficult it is to let the first one go. Occasionally there is another special one that comes along the road of fostering that also becomes very difficult to let go, we've all felt it and gone through it, we are here to support you in the on-going joy of fostering.

The support system and basics

We provide new foster homes with a TON of information, about shots, vet visits, crate training, and housebreaking. You name it; we probably have an info sheet on it! We also provide all items needed to foster -- bowls, crates, food, vaccines, preventatives, shampoo, toys, ANYTHING that is needed for the foster dog and foster home to be successful.

We also provide telephone numbers and email addresses of our more experienced foster homes that are available 24/7 if there are any questions that need to be answered immediately.

We will also help with screening applicants for new fosters. However, the foster home has the final right of approval/refusal for whatever reason. Only the foster truly knows the dog and can really feel if the home is right for the dog.

The emergency system

The key volunteers whose contact information is provided to you (and there are several, you are not relying on one person, but a core group of people that can resolve anything as quickly as possible) are available 24/7.

For obvious physical emergencies, the closest emergency vet to your home is acceptable to our rescue. We will also remove a foster dog ASAP for whatever reason.

We believe that the foster relationship is a partnership of foster home to foster dog and if it is not working for whatever reason, we accept that and will provide another location for the dog.

The joy of the rescue

WOO HOO! -- Okay, there is A LOT of fun and joy in rescuing such as the joy of seeing the dogs off to their new homes, meeting new people and making friends with a group of people who are very interested in the well-being of the furry kids! The adoption events are always hectic, but very fun, as many couples, families, and single people are out looking for their match!

Obviously, all of us that have been doing this for some time, really enjoy all aspects of the rescue or we wouldn't be continuing to do it, because it is ALL VOLUNTEER effort, patience, time and commitment!

If you would like to learn more details about fostering and/or how to get started fostering for our group, you can fill out our online volunteer application, email our volunteer coordinator, or call our voicemail number.