foster guidelines

1. Socialization
2. Basic Training
3. Medical Care and Monitoring
4. Adoption Days
5. Exposure
6. Dog Profiles
1. Socialization
Many of the dogs that are rescued by hart are new to a home and
will need your patience while learning about this foreign
environment. Elements that we and our resident pets may take
for granted such as a fan, the beeping of a microwave or stairs
might be unfamiliar to a foster dog. With your help, a foster
dog will become comfortable with a home and
learn the rules associated with being in a
home.
Once you have built trust with your foster dog, it is important
to provide opportunities
for your dog to explore new people, places, sounds and
things. Interact with other people, dogs, cats etc., as
appropriate. Introduce them to car rides and different ground
surfaces. We encourage you to incorporate a foster dog into all
aspects of your lifestyle including visits with family and friends
as well as trips to dog friendly environments. Please use
your judgment when introducing a foster dog to these new
experiences and only do so if they are suitable for the temperament
of the foster dog. Your patience and positive reinforcement
will keep the new experiences positive for your foster
dog.
Off-leash areas can be
a great deal of fun but, as unexpected situations can arise
(rabbits, aggressive dogs), we prefer not to have our hart dogs
off-leash.
2. Basic Training
hart has volunteer
trainers, professional trainers, and behaviorists who will work
with you and your foster dog to ensure adoptability.
While the dog is in your care, we expect that some basics can be worked on
such as housetraining and crate training.
hart dogs are often new to a home environment and therefore are
not familiar with house rules or doing their business
outside. In most cases, older dogs will not want to make a
mess in the area that they will be sleeping, but they will need
your help to figure out where to go and how to let you know that
they need to go outside. Puppies will need your help to learn
what acceptable behavior is. The more consistent you are with
housetraining procedures, the quicker your foster dog will figure
it out. Please be realistic though, there will be accidents
with older dogs and puppies alike.
hart provides crates for all dogs and we strongly recommend that
you crate train. The crate offers the dog a safe place to
retreat to as well as keeping your home safe when you are not
available to supervise the dog. hart cannot be held financially
responsible for damage to your home which may occur as a result of
fostering. While your foster dog may not take to
his/her crate immediately, in time, he/she will come to recognize
the crate as a safe place and their own space. Crate training
is a very desirable trait from the perspective of potential
adoptive parents.
Please ensure that the dog is supervised carefully when in your
backyard to prevent any attempts to escape. Many of these
dogs are not familiar with the idea of a backyard and may want to
roam further. hart dogs are issued an identification tag that
must be worn on their collar in case an escape occurs.
3. Medical Care and Monitoring
Dogs that are rescued by hart come to us in all states of
health. Some of the dogs that we rescue may be very healthy,
however, others may come to us malnourished, sick or injured.
hart veterinary partners provide medical care and advice on health
related issues.
When dogs are
initially rescued, they are assessed for obvious issues, and based
on their age given medication for worms, flea/lice, mange and their
first round of vaccinations. Once the dog arrives at
your home we ask that they not be bathed for 48
hours to give the flea/lice medication time to take
effect. It is strongly recommended to keep them away from your
pets for this 48 hour period (as well as carpets and rugs)
and to wash all used bedding in hot water after the 48 hours have
passed. It is
important to pick up each bowel movement immediately and dispose of
the fecal matter for the next 10 days to avoid spreading worms to
other dogs.
A quarantine period
of 2 weeks will take effect when the foster
arrives at your home where the dog is to have limited contact with
other animals outside the home. During this time frame,
please observe the dog's health and behavior closely and keep the
dog on your property and away from public areas. It is
important that your resident pets have their vaccinations up to
date and are not ill when bringing a new foster into your home to
protect your pet's health. Your foster dog is not to be
out in public until the quarantine period has passed and the second
round of shots have been given to protect your new foster
dog's health. (Adult dogs receive just one round of
vaccinations.)
As a foster parent we will need your help to transport the dog
to and from veterinary appointments if an appointment is necessary
and to set up times with hart's medical coordinator to administer
the second round of vaccinations and schedule spaying or
neutering.
If a veterinary visit is deemed necessary by our medical
coordinator then all
costs for necessary medical procedures will be paid by hart when
the dog is taken to a hart veterinary partner and the visit has
been pre-authorized with our medical coordinator.
All hart dogs, without
exception, will be spayed and neutered. This procedure
will take place after the two week quarantine period to make sure
there are no other medical concerns. Scheduling of the spay
or neuter is also based on the dogs age as well as the vet and hart
schedules. Pediatric spays and neuters are performed on puppies
generally as early as 8-10 weeks. The medical coordinator will
advise you of which vet you can take your foster to for the
spay/neuter, and you will be able to schedule an appointment that
works for you.
4. Adoption
Once an animal is rescued, it is hart's priority to find them a
loving, safe and stable life-long home. Adoptions are not
approached on a "first-come, first served" basis, instead hart
works through a multi-step adoption process to find the best match
for the dog.
The dog will be deemed ready for adoption once the two week
quarantine period has passed and he/she appears to be medically
stable. If a dog is adopted before the second round of
medications the financial responsibility of those shots fall to the
new adoptive family.
If an adoption should take place before the spaying or
neutering, we will make arrangements with the new adoptive family
for the procedure to be done at one of hart's veterinary partners
at hart's expense.
It is important to
bring your foster to hart adoption events once the quarantine
period has passed and he/she has received the second round of shots
(adult dogs need only the first round of shots but do require the
Rabies vaccination before going to Adoption Days at
Petsmart). Being out in public gives your foster the best
chance to be adopted. If you cannot attend an event,
transportation and handling of your foster at the event can be
arranged. However, as you know your dog best, it is
preferred that you attend and answer questions and keep your foster
comfortable. We ask that your foster dog attend at least one
adoption event a month.
hart's
photographer will contact you to arrange for photos to be
taken of your foster dog so that your dog can be featured on hart's
website and facebook page as soon as possible. These photos
ensure successful adoption interest. The photos can arrange to be
taken at a vaccination party or an adoption event.
"Adopt Me"
vests are given to each foster dog and we ask you to have
your foster dog wear this vest to adoption events and out in public
at all times. The adoption vest will be signed out by you and will need
to be returned to hart when the dog is adopted.
5. Contact with hart
While you are fostering with hart, you can expect to receive calls or
emails from more than one volunteer. We have many
areas of responsibility and volunteers may be calling you for
different reasons such as arrangements for medical appointments,
Adoption Days, special events, food and supplies and status
updates.
We will attempt to keep in regular contact with you to check in
but will also be relying on you to keep hart informed of how things
are going with your foster dog. Whether it is run of the mill
or remarkable, please
keep us informed. In order to best pre-screen
potential adopters we need as much information on your foster dog
as possible. You will be asked to fill out a dog profile form within 2 - 3
weeks of getting your foster dog and we ask you to update it as your foster
dog evolves in your care.
Should a hart
volunteer contact you to ask if you can take on a new foster, we
almost always need to know within 24 hours. We
understand that situations occur that might prevent that from
happening but we need to hear back from you as soon as
possible. Often there is a dog in precarious circumstances
during that period of time.
6. Support
As a foster parent, you are never
alone. We are more than happy to answer any questions
that you have.
When you open your home and your heart to a rescue dog, often
you are giving the gift of a new life filled with warmth and
happiness. Fostering can be challenging, but the rewards of
knowing that without your help an innocent dog may have suffered or
died are far greater.
