fostering is free, flexible, and saves lives.

hart can only rescue as many animals as we have foster homes for. Foster home volunteers provide a temporary home and basic training and socialization experiences to our rescued animals. All supplies and medical care are provided by hart.

Fostering is free to the foster parent as hart covers all expenses. Every foster home receives all required supplies such as food, toys, treats, crate, leash and collar, blankets, etc. Behavioral training and all medical costs are covered by hart.

Fostering is flexible thanks to a large network of volunteers. Worried about vacations? hart will arrange a temporary stay-cation for your foster dog if you have to leave town.

Fostering is empowering because you play a huge role in saving lives. Fostering provides companionship to everyone regardless of home dynamic – single, couple, with children, empty nester, etc. It can also bring lessons in caring, patience, giving and volunteerism.

foster guidelines

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. 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.

Basic 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. 

Medical care

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. As a foster parent we will need your help to transport the dog to and from veterinary appointments and to attend Vaccination Clinics. Prior to adoption all dogs will be spayed/neutered, microchipped and will receive vaccines (DACPP, Bordatella and Rabies) as well as antiparasitics.

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 when medical and behaviour clearance is granted.

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.

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.  

ready to save a life?