Unlike pet dogs that have only ever known a sheltered, pampered home life, the dogs we rescue have endured and suffered much more. A fosterer is not taking a perfect dog into their home; they are rescuing a damaged dog and helping it to get its life back on track, bit by bit.
Just after their rescue, HOPE's dogs are often fearful, confused, untrained, and usually in bad shape. It's the job of fosterers to nurse them back to health, to train and socialize them, and to get them ready for adoption. A fosterer helps a dog become the best that it can be. It's like taking a raw hunk of coal and turning it into a diamond. It is by no means an easy task!
Being a fosterer means keeping a watchful eye on a foster dog, feeding it nutritious food and giving it its medications, making notes on its progress, looking out for any abnormalities, teaching it how to act with humans and other animals, and of course, giving it lots and lots of love. All of this requires a lot of time and dedication, arguably more so than just caring for a healthy pet.
After all of this, a fosterer is sure to develop an emotional bond with his or her foster dog, which is essential to the development of the dog. A foster dog needs to learn how to form healthy and trusting relationships, something that is new to a lot of street dogs and abused dogs. Loving a foster dog, and having it love you in return, is the healthiest and the best thing that you can do for it. It makes for a bittersweet goodbye at the time of adoption. After all, it's never easy giving up a piece of your heart. But at the same time, you'd know that you've helped to groom a dog into the perfect pet, and you'd be proud.
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| Chester, when he was first rescued. |
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| Chester, after fostering |
HOPE Dog Rescue is always in need of foster homes for our rescued dogs. As far as possible, we refrain from ever putting our fresh rescues in commercial boarding kennels. Lonely and neglected, a recovering dog will never receive an adequate level of care at these places. Financially, placing dogs in kennels also doesn't make sense, as the money could be better used to pay for medications and medical care.
Read our Fostering FAQ to find out more.
If you feel that you are ready for this life-changing experience (and the responsibilities that come with it), please fill up online form here.
