-How much does it cost to foster at VIP RESCUE?
VIP RESCUE provides the food, vet care, grooming, crate, food/water bowls, leash, harness, etc. YOU provide the love, the shelter, and the nurturing to get your foster dog ready to be adopted. Fosters may need to pick up their dog at an agreed to location near Clearwater/St. Pete and surrounding communities, take your foster dog to a vet appointment for treatment, or travel to a local adoption event with your foster dog.
-Can I foster if I already have dogs for VIP RESCUE?
Of course you can foster if you already have a dog. Sometimes your own dogs act as trainers for your Foster dog! As part of the application and interview process, we’ll ask about your pets and their personalities to make sure that both your furry friends and our rescues will be comfortable together. Be sure to list cats, chickens, goats, etc, you have at your home in your application too! Having a fenced in yard is very beneficial when fostering, because not all foster dogs are used to humans yet or leash walking and having that fenced area to contain them for their safety while working on their social skills is very helpful.
-What if I want to adopt my Foster Dog at VIP RESCUE?
Although this is called “foster failure”, our goal is to place all our pups in a loving home… and if you decide to keep your foster, that is certainly NOT a failure! Sometimes that ONE sneaks into your heart. However, please know that our fosters are asked NOT to go into fostering with the intention of “trying” dogs out to find the one they want. VIP invests considerable time, supplies, and training with new fosters and prefer not to do that if you are only looking to adopt. When a Foster adopts a dog, they pay the same adoption donation as does any adopter.
-Are all foster dogs housebroken already?
Our rescue dogs come from all sorts of situations and until they come in, it is difficult to know their elimination habits. However, with patience and treats, all healthy dogs can learn housebreaking skills! Our experienced fosters can help you to housetrain your foster dog with some easy tips. –
What is fostering at VIP Rescue?
Fostering a dog is taking care of him/her until we can find him/her a loving furever home, which depending on the dog, averages between 1 and 4 weeks. Our foster homes do need to be located in Clearwater/St. Pete and surrounding communities, as we pay for all medical care and grooming at our designated rescue partners. Fosters provide shelter, a patient loving nurturing environment, and work with the dog to become adoptable. Many of our dogs come from animal control on their “last day” so your FOSTER HOME literally allows another dogs life to be saved. As the foster family you are involved in determining the best adopter for your dog. We screen our adoption applicants but the foster family is consulted on potential adopters for their dog, meets the potential adopters and decides whether or not the family is a good match for their dog.
-Ready to apply? Live in the Clearwater/St. Pete and surrounding communities? Complete a VOLUNTEER application and put FOSTER in the Comments.
-Click here for the link to the foster application. https://viprescue.org/volunteer-application/
THANK YOU for opening your heart to FOSTER a RESCUE DOG at VIP RESCUE! ________________________________________________________
FAQ I’m not sure I could give up a dog that had been in my home as a foster. How do you do it? Is it hard? While you definitely get attached to the foster dogs you bring into your home, you should get into it knowing that your purpose is to give them love and help them get prepared for life with their adopting family. It is best to take in a foster dog knowing you are helping save his/her life by doing so, and cry when they leave me for a good family that will love him/her forever, than not foster and wonder if a dog survived death row at a shelter. There is an emotional sacrifice for the sake of giving a dog a second chance at happiness and love, and a high reward in self-esteem for doing so.
Do you pick your foster dog?
Your VIP Foster Coordinator generally picks your foster dogs. Our Foster Coordinators are seasoned Fosters and have a vast range of experience with fostering themselves. Your Foster Coordinator receives a list of the dogs that need rescued from shelters with information like age, heart worm status, breed best guess, weight, gender, a photo. The Foster Coordinator chooses those dogs VIP can rescue most times without ever seeing them in person. The VIP Foster Coordinator in the process of your Foster Home Interview and getting to know your household can best select a foster dog for you based on size, gender, and compatibility with the rescue dog information they have been given. The VIP Rescue staff is great at helping match up Foster Dogs with Foster Homes. The Foster Coordinator receives very little behavior and information on incoming Foster Dogs however they do try to gather all information available to them. VIP Rescue learns the most about our Foster dogs from the Foster Home themselves. Frequent communication about your Foster Dog with your Foster Coordinator is essential in finding the right Adoption Home.
