A foster home offers a temporary home-like setting for an orphaned puppy under the care of a rescue group or animal shelter organization. Rather than keep the puppies in cages at the shelter, the puppies are farmed out to private homes. Foster puppy parents are typically screened by rescue clubs and animal shelter groups to make sure that they provide a positive environment that encourages socialization and obedience training for puppies. The goal of a foster home is to give a good head start for puppies to make them more adoptable to permanent homes.
Reputable rescue groups maintain good relationships with shelter staff members who alert them whenever a purebred arrives. By picking up that dog from the shelter and keeping it in a foster home, we are able to free up space in a shelter for another deserving dog that may find a good home, says Christiansen.
If you are considering adopting a dog from a rescue group, Christiansen suggests you obtain answers for the following questions:
- Why was the dog removed from its original home?
- What is the dogs temperament?
- Is the dog good with children? Other dogs? Other pets?
- Does it have any habits that need correcting, such as chasing cars or incessant barking?
- Is it healthy? For instance, are there any incidents of seizures or does it have a heart murmur?
- Does the dog have allergies?
And, expect to be scrutinized by the rescue group. We prefer to place a rescued Sheltie with someone who has experience with this breed and good knowledge on how to raise and train a dog, says Christiansen. We can be blunt and sometimes hurt peoples feelings, but we put the dogs welfare first. We do our best to make sure that this dog finds a new home and does not bounce from one home to the next.
Making a Selection at a Shelter
Lots of great shelter puppies are looking for love. A shelter is an animal rescue center-public or private-that tries to find homes for homeless and stray animals. Most dogs at shelters range in age from 6 months to 2 years: from the post-aren't-you-adorable-puppy stage to the welcome-to-the-aggravating-adolescence stage, says Renae Hansen, adoption director at the Dumb Friends League (DFL) in Denver, Colorado, one of the countrys largest humane society shelters.
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