As a foster home, you are providing a safe, loving, stable and consistent environment for the senior dog. Through the time spent together and the bonds that are formed, foster families have the ability to change the life of this dog. Fostering requires dedication, commitment and patience. However, it is a hugely rewarding experience for the entire foster family and you are helping to prepare your foster dog for adoption into their forever home.
We rescue senior dogs from over-crowded shelters where they often have very little chance of being saved, cases of abuse and neglect, select situations where their family can no longer care for them, etc. Many of these dogs would otherwise be euthanized if they were not rescued. We are only able to rescue dogs for which we have an available foster home so every foster family helps save a life we may not have been able to save otherwise. When you foster, you save a life.
FOSTERING FAQS
What does it mean to foster a senior dog?
As a foster parent, you are providing them a safe, comfortable place to live until he or she is adopted. Foster parents are responsible for caring for their foster dogs' every day needs, much like they would their own pet.
What's included with fostering for Tails of Gray?
Tails of Gray provides all veterinary care to all foster dogs. Food and supplies can be provided, as needed.
How long will I have the dog?
It depends. The length in which a foster family will have a dog in their care is very much dependent on that dog's needs. It can be difficult to predict the length of time it will take for a senior dog to be adopted. Sometimes it can be a matter of days and weeks, other times it can take several months or longer.
What are some of the responsibilities involved in being a foster parent?
Above all else, you are responsible for providing safety and love.
Our senior dogs are often in need of medical procedures and you must be comfortable caring for them as they recover. You need to be prepared to provide transportation to and from vet appointments. We rely upon you to help coordinate and arrange meet and greets with prospective adopters. You'll be asked to provide information on your foster dog to Tails of Gray, and then follow up with regular updates and photos.
If you are no longer able to foster a senior dog in your care, you agree to provide 7 days notice to Tails of Gray so that another appropriate foster home can be secured. In that time, you agree to continue to offer a loving and safe environment for your foster dog.
What is "Hospice Care" and what is involved?
Hospice care fosters and adopters are a special group of people who provide end-of-life-care for terminally ill dogs. If it is determined that one of our rescued dogs might not have that long left to live, but is not thought to be suffering or whose symptoms can be appropriately managed, a foster or adoptive family may opt to provide that dog with a home where he or she can comfortably spend their time remaining loved and medically cared for until it is time to say goodbye. If you are interested in providing hospice care to a dog in need, please indicate this on your Foster Application.
How do I get started?
If interested, please complete the Foster Application. A Tails of Gray representative will reach out once your application has been reviewed! Have additional questions about fostering a senior dog? Please email foster@tailsofgray.org.
BENEFITS OF FOSTERING A SENIOR DOG:
Both the foster family and the dog can benefit from a unique and nurturing situation when a senior dog is invited temporarily into the home.
- Fostering a senior dog is the reward of saving this dog. You can look at him or her and know that you are responsible for having helped save this precious and important life.
– Receive unconditional love and interact with many different types of dogs.
– Help adopters find the right dog based on information you provide about the dog’s personality.
- You will experience the joy of seeing your foster dog off to their forever home. It is often a bittersweet experience, in that you will miss them, but you come to realize that there is another needy dog waiting for the now empty dog bed in your home.
- In addition to the amazing dogs you will meet, you will cross paths with equally amazing people who love senior dogs as much as we do.
- Fostering senior dogs is a lifesaving endeavor.