CANINE FOSTERING BASICS:

• We do not pre-assign fosters to specific animals unless it’s a special case such as a behavior issue, medical need, or foster transfer. You will be matched at the shelter. 

• If you’re fostering young puppies, we ask that you foster a minimum of 2 together. If you absolutely cannot, that is ok as long as you have another dog (or puppy) in the home. We do not like to send littles to foster solo. It’s nice to have a friend to cuddle with, and the animals window of socialization and learning is important at such a young age. 

• We ask that you commit to holding the foster animal anywhere from 4-8 weeks, or until we can get all vetting accomplished and the animal is adopted. If you only have a few weeks available to foster, please be sure to remind the foster team of your time commitment so that we can support you in finding a replacement foster. If you are time limited or travel for work, you may choose to be a coverage foster -- this is a very important position where you cover for other fosters as they go on vacations or trips. 

• All of our animals already have preassigned names. It is very important to use the animals preassigned name when referring to the animal. The moment we say we will help a rez animal, that animal is assigned a name and placed on a transport log. If the transport log doesn’t match the name of the animals we have in our care, we can get into pretty big trouble. You can call a foster animal whatever you’d like in your home, but in communication with the shelter, please be sure to use their assigned name. 

• You should never take your foster animal to a veterinarian or clinic on your own without approval first from Soul Dog staff. You will not be reimbursed. We have veterinary services at our facility and can’t afford regular vet prices except in the most rare emergency cases, any of which must first be approved by Soul Dog. As a rule, all animals will be directed to our shelter for care. 

• If you can no longer keep your foster, please give us 48 hours advance notice so that we can line up an alternative foster and avoid the animal going back into the shelter. 

• Any animal new to an environment can be destructive. We do not reimburse for destroyed or damaged items. It is best to keep a foster in an enclosed, safe space at first and do slow introductions with other members of the family. 

• Always supervise play with fosters, including with toys, to ensure that they can safely play. Many fosters have never had a toy before, and may not know what to do at first. Similarly, if you’ve never a toy before, it’s hard to distinguish between a toy and a shoe! Be patient, and keep things out of reach that you don’t want ruined.

• If you do not have a separate space or room where your foster puppies will live, we highly recommend a crate surrounded by a puppy pen lined with a tarp, puppy pads, newspaper, sheets. etc. This will help them be quieter during sleeping hours as they will have a clean spade and a potty space. Keeping puppies solely in a crate during sleeping hours often results in loud puppies and may interfere with your sleep.

FOSTER SUPPLIES:

We do not have the funding to reimburse for supplies purchased. If you need supplies, please come to the shelter, but check first to ensure we have the items in stock. If you need a donation receipt email admin@souldog.org. When you are picking up your foster, let us know what supplies you will need. We can provide the following, providing we have it in stock: 

● Pet taxi 

● Dog/puppy hard food 

● Dog/puppy soft food 

● Puppy formula 

● Potty pads 

● Leashes/harnesses 

● Puppy pens