About Fostering
Being a foster parent to any of our Recycled Doggies is an extremely rewarding experience. Most of our animals have experienced pain, loss and suffering prior to joining our rescue, so they’re desperate for love and affection. Many times, the love and security experienced by our dogs in their foster homes is the first such love and security they have ever felt. It’s the sad reality we face everyday.
Aside from regular day-to-day care like feeding, grooming and exercise, the responsibilities of a foster home may include basic training (like housetraining, walking on leash, sit, down, etc.), behavior modification (to correct problems such as marking, jumping, mouthing, barking, destructive chewing, dashing through doors, etc.), socialization and temperament evaluation (to determine whether the dog is a good fit with different types of people and other animals), medical care (dispensing medication, taking the dog to vet appointments) and of course plenty of playtime and snuggling. We also rely on our foster families to take lots of pictures of their foster dog and to let us know how the dog is doing as far as good and bad behaviors so we can share that information with potential adopters. We expect that our foster parents will work to address bad behaviors to help make them more adoptable. Foster parents are expected to report any significant bad behaviors to the leaders of Recycled Doggies immediately so we can address those behaviors proactively.
We provide all necessary vet care at our approved vet office, but ask that you get pre-approval before visiting the vet. Foster parents are also responsible for bringing their foster dog to adoption events (held primarily on Saturdays in Mason, Ohio) so that they can be introduced to potential adopters. Because this is the primary place where potential adopters meet our dogs, if you are unable to commit to bringing your foster dog to our weekly events (drop off/pick up is fine if you’re not able to stay), then fostering through Recycled Doggies won’t work.
Unless other arrangements are made in advance, we ask that foster parents commit to keeping the foster dog until the dog is placed in its forever home. We will always work to get the dog placed into a permanent home as quickly as we can, but that requires the dog to attend adoption events and for us to have good pictures of the dog for use on Facebook and Petfinder. We are unable to guarantee that a dog will find its new home within a set amount of time. Our goal is to find the right match so we do not rush the process.
Fostering dogs is not for everyone, but is extremely rewarding and is a very tangible way to make a difference in the lives of a homeless doggy. You’ll get to spend time with very special dogs in a loving home environment and watch them transform into amazing pets. Their new owners get a dog that is better adapted to home life, and therefore has a better chance of remaining in the new home permanently. We couldn’t do what we do without our amazing, generous foster families.
Please note: Fostering is not a chance to try out a dog before adopting. While out foster families do sometimes fall in love with their foster dogs and choose to adopt them (which is great!), the purpose of fostering is to be a temporary placement until the right forever home comes along.
Foster Parent Application
Having more foster homes means that we can save more dogs from euthanasia. If you have any questions about becoming a foster parent for Recycled Doggies, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you would like to apply to become a foster home, please complete the form below. All pets in your home must be spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccines (and, if a dog, on monthly heartworm prevention) before we can approve you for fostering. This is for the protection of your pets and our doggies. So if you want to foster but they’re not up to date yet, please take care of that first before submitting your foster parent application. Also, everyone in the home must be okay with fostering (humans and other pets) – it’s a family commitment! We can only accept foster families that live in the Greater Cincinnati area because our vet office and adoption events are located in the Greater Cincinnati area.
