Fostering a dog awaiting his/her adoption is a very rewarding, hands on experience; one that truly makes a difference in the life of a dog in need, and one that we are sure will enrich your life too. You'll get to meet and spend time with a variety of dogs, all with their own unique personalities. Taking part in the happy endings when they find their "forever homes", knowing you brought happiness to the adoptive family and truly gave a special dog a second chance at life is rewarding beyond words.
We've not had one foster volunteer who said they regretted the experience.
Costs incurred while fostering (ie. medical care, food, etc.) are fully covered by HART; all you need to provide is a home filled with love and understanding for your new house guest. Volunteer coordinators are on hand to assist with advice, training suggestions and support. We're only a phone call or email away!
Most dogs requiring a foster home find themselves homeless through no fault of their own, but rather a change in their previous owners life such as divorce, a new baby, a new job or re-locating.
Most foster dogs are normal dogs with no major behavioural issues
Yes, for sure they may need help with things like walking nicely on leash, housetraining, crate training and not jumping up but typically they are not aggressive with people or other dogs. One of our foster volunteers who has fostered over 100 dogs says that she's only ever had ONE dog that could not live harmoniously with her own dogs. ONE dog out of over 100. So you see, the dogs we ask our volunteers to take just need somewhere to hang out until they are adopted. This is where you come in, caring for and providing basic training as needed and calm leadership to ensure your foster dog feels secure and comfortable with your family.
Something for Everyone
We match our foster homes with the right dog to ensure a good fit. For instance, we would not place an energetic large breed dog who jumped up constantly in a foster home with young children. We'd just be asking for trouble (unless the kids were particularly sturdy and didn't mind being knocked over... tee hee, this was meant as a joke!) We're sure that no matter what your home situation is, we would have a dog that would suit you because as an all-breed rescue we see a wide variety of dogs through our doors.
HART has foster volunteers all over Ontario; East to Ottawa, West to London, South to Niagara and North to Sudbury and everywhere in between. We're all over this great province!!
Love at First Sight
This beautiful and touching picture was snapped just as HART dog Coco met her new Dad for the very first time. THIS picture is the reason we foster. It's the type of picture that keeps us rescuers going and if we're ever blue about a foster dog being adopted, we look back on pictures like this and know it's all worthwhile.