Get involved and become a foster family!

 

Why foster? 

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• For you: it is an incredibly rewarding experience. You get to take a dog out of the shelter, prep him/her for life with a family, and help determine what type of family is best fitted for the dog. It is really an essential role. Incidentally, if you are thinking of adopting a dog, it is a really good way to ascertain that you are ready for all it entails.

 

• For the dog: dogs out of the shelter get a lot more visibility than those still in it and are therefore more likely to get adopted.

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• For the shelter: it is overcrowded. At this point, it is impossible to take more animals in, despite the constant demand. By taking a dog out, you are allowing another one to be rescued.

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What to expect? 

Fostering is not just giving a dog a place to stay. It's caring for the dog as if he/she was yours (although we can provide food if needed and we will cover vet fees).

Please note that in most cases, the dog will come to you fresh from the shelter.

This means... house training, which admittedly is not very exciting. On the plus side: if you put the right amount of effort at the beginning, it only takes about 7-10 days for the dog to be fully house trained. We do recommend that you take a few days off from work / work from home the first few days after welcoming the dog, so that you can be consistent with the training.

Most dogs need a couple of weeks to come out of their shells and start showing their personalities. At that point, you will be able to assess the dog more precisely than what can be done in the shelter. Does the dog have an unlimited amount of energy? Does he/she seem chill enough to be able to handle living with young children? All this information will be useful to find the best possible family for the dog - and ensure that he/she will not be returned to the shelter.

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The association will advertise the dog once you tell them he/she is ready for adoption. It would be greatly appreciated if on your end you could also ask your friends/family/colleagues to share.

We will also expect you to facilitate at least one meeting between the prospective owners and the dog.

If you have questions or concerns along the way, you can of course be in touch with us at any time.

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How long will the dog be with you? 

Sadly, we can't tell you. Sometimes you will luck out and one of your friends will fall in love with the dog and decide to adopt right away. Sometimes it takes longer.

We do advise that you take this into consideration, and if you have travel plans coming up, that you make sure someone will be able to look after the dog while you're away. We will ask you to keep us informed in that event, and give us the contact details of the carer.

What we really want to try to avoid is the dog navigating from family to family and eventually returning to the shelter, more broken than before.

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Letting go of the foster dog 

A lot of people are wary of fostering because of the thought that they will be heartbroken when the dog leaves. The truth is: yes, saying goodbye to your foster dog is hard. You might be sad for a few days. But the satisfaction of knowing that the dog is now living a better life he/she could have ever hoped for absolutely makes up for it.

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Short term foster 

Very occasionally, we need families to accommodate dogs for a few days (if a long term foster unexpectedly has to go abroad for instance and can't find anyone to look after the dog last minute).

If you can provide temporary assistance, please be in touch!