Quite often we put up pleas for foster homes and have people apply to foster. There are some basic things that people need to consider before applying to foster for NESSR

 

1) If you are looking for a new permanent doggie member for your house please apply to adopt a dog. Fostering is not a way of jumping the queue, trying before you "buy" or getting a free dog. Any of our foster carers who “fail” and end up keeping NESSR dogs are still expected to complete the adoption form and give a donation.

 

2) Foster carers MUST have experience of owning dogs and ideally this should be springers or cockers.

 

3) Your own dogs will ideally be neutered but if this is not the case then it will limit what you are able to foster as we will not put entire dogs and bitches in the same house. Your own dogs also need to be very well socialized, confident and get on with any sort of dog that will come into their home. Do not expect the foster dog to “bond” with your pack immediately or at all, some dogs just don’t. There may be the odd grumble or fight and if these were to get out of hand we would move the foster dog on. However you need to accept that the odd snarl, disagreement over toys, food, beds etc will happen especially in the first few days. We recommend that foster dogs are fed separately.

 

4) If you have children they ideally should be older, many of our dogs are not tested with children.

 

5) If you are out at work all day even if you pop home at lunchtime or have a dog walker this is not ideal for a foster dog. We need people who are home most of the time as we need the dogs to be assessed fully.

 

6) If your own dogs are kennel dogs then this may suit a small number of our foster dogs but on the whole we want our dogs to live in your home so they can be properly assessed.

 

7) We can not always tell how long a dog will be in NESSR's care before it is rehomed, therefore if you are only willing to commit to a dog for a short period of time we need to know this at the start. We do have people that can only offer one or two nights B&B but what we need the most are people who can commit to a few weeks or sometimes a few months.

 

8) Foster dogs, like all rescue dogs, are not perfect. Some will have been poorly socialized, have house training issues, jump up, pull on the lead, chew things, bark when left or at night, have poor recall, no manners etc etc etc it is your job as a foster carer to use positive methods to start their training and socialization. It can be time consuming, tiring and at times frustrating but the rewards when you see that dog move on to their forever home are so very worth it.

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f you think you have the time and patience to foster please fill in our application form, if we feel you would make a suitable foster home you will need to have a home check and vet references (as with adopting a dog) before we can place a dog with you. As soon as we have made all the checks and you are happy to do so, we will place your details on our foster home database and you could make a huge difference to the life of a NESSR dog who is looking for a new home.  You will either need to be close to one of our vets, or your vet must be willing to do a charity discount rate in the event you need to take a foster dog for veterinary care.

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Please read our fostering pack pdf which explains the whole process, and if you feel fostering could be for you, please fill in our online application form.