How About Fostering?
So I’m a foster parent. Now what?
Congratulations and thank you for volunteering to foster a rescue pug! Fostering is a rewarding and integral function of our rescue group. Foster parents care for, rehabilitate, love, and nurture our rescues until they find their forever homes. Your foster pug will be a part of your family until adoption—maybe just a few days, but possibly several months while we find the perfect family for him.
Ok! But what exactly do I do?
Basically, foster families treat the rescues in their care just like they treat their own dogs! They take their pugs to the vet if they get sick. They clean the pugs’ eyes, ears, and wrinkles to prevent infection. They take them for walks. Foster families work with the pugs on rehabilitation and training.
Foster parents feed their foundlings high quality food and make sure the pugs take their medicine, if they have any.
How long will the foster pug stay with me?
That is the $64,000 question! Fostering is often unpredictable in terms of the pug’s length of stay with you. To help both foster parents and Pug Pals understand each other’s expectations, we have three types of foster care:
–Emergency: We need a place for a foster pug NOW. After the health clearance, vaccinations and heartworm test, we take the pug to a foster home for anywhere from a day/night to a few days;
–Short Term: Foster family agrees to foster a pug for a certain amount of time, such as one or two weeks;
–Regular: Foster family agrees to foster a pug until she or he finds a Forever Home. This can be anywhere from a few days to several months. Let us know if you foresee having to limit your time as a foster. And certainly, if you are uncomfortable at any time with your foster pug and need to find him a new foster home, let us know right away.
What do I need to do when my foster pug has surgery, such as spay/neuter?
Rescue pugs often require surgery or medical procedures in the first few weeks they are with us. We ask foster parents to treat the pug as their own in taking him to the surgery appointment on time, withholding food and water as instructed the night before, picking up the pug after the surgery, getting instructions on medicines, and making appointments for follow-up visits such as for removal of stitches or staples.
This sounds like it could be expensive. What is my cost for caring for a foster pug?
Pug Pals is responsible for the cost of veterinary care for foster pugs as long as they remain in foster care. In the case of foster pugs on a prescription diet, Pug Pals also pays for their food. We ask foster families to pay only for food and for transportation costs to and from the vet.
What about toys and treats? Foster families are encouraged to buy toys and treats for the pugs in their care if they choose to do so. Please remember to send any toys, clothes, etc. along with the pug when she is adopted. If the pug came to the group with a bed, blankets, or a crate, please make sure those items go to the adoptive family as well.
Can I walk my foster pug off leash?
Fosters are notoriously skittish and unpredictable during this difficult transition in their lives. Therefore, we ask that you please always walk them on a leash and ALWAYS leave their collars and foster tags on. It’s the only ID many of them have.
You said something about rehabilitation…?
Sometimes dogs come into our care ill, injured, young, or undersocialized. In these cases, foster
families who have agreed to do so take on the added responsibilities of housetraining, basic training,
and physical and mental rehabilitation. If rehabilitation and training are areas you would like to help
with, please contact email us.
She’s so great. I think I want to adopt my foster pug! What do I do?
Wonderful! Your foster application and home visit have already been done, so all we have to do is have you sign a placement agreement and pay the adoption fee.
Fostering is a vital part of our mission as a rescue group. We literally can’t do it without you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!