Thank you for helping us save a life! Please read this document and all future correspondence thoroughly as they include important information regarding the care of your foster dog. Most of our correspondence with you is via email; therefore, we ask that you check your email daily. Please make sure that we have the best email address for you.
Please refer to this Foster Team Contact List, which lists the most important C.A.R.E contacts for you as a foster parent. We want your foster experience to be rewarding and enjoyable, so please don’t hesitate to contact us.
If you can no longer keep your foster dog, we will try to find a new foster home for him/her as soon as possible. Please give us as much advance notice as possible as it can take several days for us to make alternate arrangements. Please tell us immediately if you are experiencing any issue with your foster dog so that we can provide help before it becomes a serious problem!
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION:
- Please make sure your resident animals are fully vaccinated* before taking any foster dog.
- Notify our Dog Foster Care Team ([email protected]) immediately if your foster dog is showing any sign of illness or injury.
- Follow DOs and DON’Ts for fosters and do not hesitate to call if you have any questions.
- Even though your resident animals should be fully vaccinated* before taking any foster dog, please keep your foster dog separated from any resident animal for at least the first week.
- This can be done by crating your foster dog, keeping them in a separate room, or both. This is important to ensure the safety and health of your foster dog and any resident animal. In most cases, we will require a meet and greet between your foster dog and your resident dog(s). But even if you have done a meet and greet between your foster dog and your resident dog(s), we can’t guarantee how they will interact in your home (in general, C.A.R.E. cannot guarantee the temperament or behavior of any animal). If you want to introduce your foster dog to your resident dog(s) after the first week, we can provide more information on the “best practice” for introducing dogs upon request. Otherwise, please do not introduce your foster dog to any other animal except your resident animal(s) (unless the Behavior Team advises against any such introduction). This generally means maintaining a 10-foot bubble between your foster dog and any other dog at all times.
- Even after you have successfully integrated your foster dog with your resident dog(s), do not give them food, treats, or toys together.
- Never leave your foster dog unattended with any other dog, even after you have successfully integrated your foster dog with your resident dog(s). Again, we can’t guarantee how they will interact together.
- Your safety and the safety of any resident animal and your foster dog is paramount. We especially want to avoid any chance that your foster dog would injure you or any resident animal. If you observe any “dominant” or “aggressive” behavior, please contact the Behavior Team and C.A.R.E. immediately. If there is a bite, please follow this Dog Foster Bite Protocol.
- We encourage you to provide exercise for your foster dog; however, never allow him/her to be off leash in public or in an off leash area. This means no dog parks or any areas where dogs will be off leash, even if your foster will be on leash.
- Do not leave a foster dog unattended in a fenced yard. If you have a doggy door, please keep it closed unless you are present to monitor the dog(s) at all times in the fenced yard.
- We strongly encourage you to crate your foster dog (unless he/she has crating issues), especially when you are not home. We can provide more information on the “best practice” for crating upon request.
- We feed the dogs in our Shelter Hill’s Science Diet. We will supply all food that is needed for your foster dog. Puppies and nursing or pregnant moms should get puppy food or gruel (depending on their age). Please consult the Dog Foster Care Team ([email protected]) if you are unsure about what to feed your foster dog.
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- If you are fostering a shy or “scaredy” dog, follow our Dog Foster Scared Dog Behavior Handout and make sure the dog is secure at all times. These dogs have an uncanny ability to dart out a door, escape a yard, or chew through a leash.
- We will check in within the first 48 hrs of you having your foster dogs and then we will ask you to give weekly check-ins via your Foster Portal. We will provide weekly check-in questions to answer.
- If at any point you would like to adopt your foster dog, please let us know as soon as you can! We love when fosters turn into forever homes and can facilitate the process. While your foster dog is with you, they are still up for adoption and can be adopted at any time.
- Adopter appointments: Please make sure that your availability is known to the C.A.R.E team for bringing in your foster for adopter appointments (or meeting with potential adopters at other locations). It is very important that we are able to schedule appointments on short notice.
- IF YOUR FOSTER DOG GETS LOOSE OR IS LOST, IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY C.A.R.E.
