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Although it’s the job of shelters or rescue groups to find and care for ill, injured, or abandoned animals, there’s only so much they can do. This is where animal fostering comes in, and in this case, you can volunteer to foster dogs or cats before they move to their forever home.
Dog fostering is a fun and rewarding task, especially for animal lovers. If this is something you might be interested in, read until the end to find out everything you need to know about fostering a dog and how your short-term commitment can come with long-term rewards.
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Table of Contents Show
What’s Dog Fostering?
Dog fostering is simply the act of making your house a temporary home for a dog for a certain period or until the animal’s adopted. You’ll provide all the love, care, and attention it needs during that period.
These are some of the reasons foster care is a thing in society today:
- A local shelter is running out of space for adoptable pets
- A rescue group lacks a physical location to shelter animals and needs foster homes to house these dogs until they move to their permanent homes
- Some animals have not had much contact with human society, so fostering helps them socialize
- Some dogs are ill, injured, or recovering from surgery and need an ideal home environment to get better
- Dog owners have an emergency or trying to overcome a disaster and need a foster family for their furry friends while they set things in order
- Similar to the previous point, military personnel may need the fostering program for their pets while they’re away on deployment, especially if they don’t have reliable friends or family to ask for help
- Puppies are too young to be adopted and require a place to stay until they’re old enough to move to forever homes
Rescue groups and shelters will try to assign animals to homes based on the dog’s needs and the foster parent’s lifestyle.
Foster Failures
Foster failure is when a volunteer decides to adopt their foster dog legally. This is usually because they’ve grown attached to the animal in their care.
It’s called a foster failure because the volunteer can no longer care for more temporary animals.
What Are the Benefits of Fostering?
These are some of the reasons you should consider dog fostering:
It Provides a Safe Haven for Injured and Abandoned Animals
As a foster parent, your job is to provide injured and abandoned animals with a safe and healthy environment before they finally move to a permanent home. This includes the love, care, and resources they need to make their transition easier.
It Prepares You for Your Dog
If you’re considering getting your own dog, fostering is one way to prepare you for the new addition. For one, most rescue groups will supply everything you need to care for a foster dog, and you can always pick up the necessary skills to become a dog owner along the way.
Even if you already own a dog, you can test the waters to see how well you can handle another furry friend in your house. You may end up keeping the foster as a permanent dog, becoming one of the foster fails we hear about.
It Creates More Resources for Helpless Animals
Rescue groups and animal shelters need all the space and resources to accommodate animals. Placing some dogs in foster homes means they have more resources to take in other strays. Therefore, foster parents are doing animal welfare organizations a lot of good.
It Increases the Chances of Adoption
Foster dogs are exposed to their caregivers’ family and friends, which increases their chances of getting adopted. Plus, some animals may feel uncomfortable in a shelter environment and not show their behaviors and personalities in a crowded space.
It’s easier for these dogs to reveal their true self in a foster home. Housing these animals means you can take note of the dog’s personality and needs and give potential adopters a complete rundown of these traits.
How Can I Become a Foster Dog Parent?
As interesting as animal fostering is, not everyone can become a foster caregiver. These are some of the qualities you must possess before you can be a successful foster parent:
- Be an animal lover
- A compassionate nature
- Some knowledge of animal behavior
- A flexible lifestyle
- Cooperation of your family or anyone you’re living with
Once you tick most of the boxes above, you can sign up as a foster caregiver. Each adoption organization has procedures and policies for fostering animals, but most will need you to complete and submit a foster application. You may also need to attend a training session.
Plus, the shelter staff may inspect your home before assigning you a foster dog based on your preferences.
If you already own a dog, some organizations can ask you to ensure your animal has received all its vaccinations before sending a foster dog your way.
Resources You May Need as a Foster Caregiver
These are some items you may need to foster a dog:
Food and Water
You should speak with the rescue group or animal shelter to know the right kind of food and quantity to give your dog. They’ll also let you know if you need to include any particular diet or supplement in their meals. This will ensure that you aren’t leaving anything out regarding nutrition.
In terms of water, always supply clean, fresh water. If your foster animal is small, use shallow bowls to prevent drowning.
A House for the Dog
Besides opening up your home for a foster dog’s care, you must also provide a little house for them. It could be a cardboard box, a crate, or even the carrier you used to take the dog home.
Foster cats will be more comfortable with a litter box, especially if they have little ones soon. You can speak to the shelter for more information about this.
Other things you should consider getting include toys, a heating pad to warm up the room, disinfectant, adoption applications, etc. Plus, try as much as possible to eliminate or put away anything your foster dog can chew, such as electrical cords, drapes, or lampshades.
What Are the Responsibilities of a Foster Parent?
The first thing you should know is that fostering saves lives, so if you choose to volunteer, you’re saving lives.
You should also note that you’ll be dedicating your time and energy to ensuring that the foster animals in your care have the time of their lives.
Foster parents need to take on these responsibilities to care for dogs adequately:
- Take foster dogs for all necessary veterinary care, including sterilization and vaccination
- Train dogs for socialization and standard behaviors
- Take note of their peculiar personality traits and reveal them to potential adopters or shelter homes
- Groom the animal regularly and provide good food and water
- Connect the dog with potential adopters
- Take the dog to adoption events as organized by the foster program
In addition, shelter or rescue homes are full of contagious germs. This is why you should ensure the foster dog has all the necessary vaccinations. And if you already own a dog, it’s better to quarantine the shelter dog to prevent the spread of diseases.
Stories of Foster Success
There are several instances of foster success where people were able to foster animals until it was time for the dogs to move to a new home.
A typical example is the Klaskin family, who adopted a dog named Princess. When they first met the puppy, she was very sick with the flu. They decided to use a foster program to get her to recover until she was fine enough to be adopted into the family.
Another case is Amy, who fostered Clover, a senior dog. Her previous owners returned this dog to an animal shelter because she was uncomfortable with the kids in the house. Clover had a lot of behavioral issues, and the shelter had to be extra careful in getting her used to the environment.
Amy decided to foster Clover for six weeks, and during that time, she helped Clover come out of her shell. Clover was finally adopted by a couple. Now, Clover has no issues relating to the children in her new family.
Wrap-Up: Transitioning From Foster to Forever Home
Dog fostering aims to get the shelter dog back to where they belong. Essentially, you’re the bridge between the pet and its forever home. That’s why whatever role you play in the dog’s life will go a long way in determining how well the animal will settle down in its new home.
The most painful part of fostering is saying goodbye to the dogs as they move to their permanent home. It’s natural to feel sad about letting them go as you’ve grown very attached to these animals.
However, you should also be happy for playing a significant role in helping a helpless animal find its place in human society. And remember, while this is supposed to be a short-term commitment, it can end up as a long-term one if you decide to adopt the dog as yours.