Fostering 101: Why foster is the key to dog rescue
Written by Sara R., foster & volunteer since 2019
Foster homes lead to more adoption success for dogs
The sad reality is the demand for rescue far exceeds the capacity of many shelters and foster homes throughout the city and the country. As a foster-based rescue, Badass Animal Rescue relies entirely on our foster community. The amount of available foster homes directly impacts the number of dogs we can save.
At Badass, we are constantly asked to bring dogs into our care; shelters are overwhelmed, and we often cannot save them all because we do not have an available foster to give them a safe, loving home.
This is where you can come in and help.
The need for full-time foster care is critical to help alleviate the pressure in shelters. This would help our mission to ensure each and every dog is given the chance they deserve for a happy life. Beyond the need for space to rescue these dogs, a foster home provides numerous other benefits for a recently rescued dog.
Even the most reputable shelters can be stressful and overwhelming to a dog who has just been abandoned, discarded, or injured. The longer a dog spends in a shelter, the harder it will be for them to find a forever home.
Teaching trust and basic skills
Foster homes make a huge difference in a dog’s ability to trust. A dog in foster care learns how to succeed and thrive, which gives them the upper hand when it comes to being adopted. Dogs in foster care have the opportunity to build trust and relationships with people, as well as other animals. They learn the basic skills they need to live in a home, such as a good foundation of house-training, crate-training, leash skills, and basic obedience training sets that dog up for a successful future.
Getting critical medical care
The most immediate life-changing impact a foster home can have is for those dogs that have medical needs. Typically shelters do not have the resources to support dogs in need of medical care, whereas Badass never turns a dog away due to medical needs. Having a foster for our medical cases gives these dogs a chance at life that they otherwise quite literally wouldn’t have.
Badass has rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of dogs with medical needs ranging from minor care to major surgeries; including vaccinations, spay/neuter procedures, antibiotics for infections, heartworm treatment, lumpectomies, cardiovascular surgeries, and much more. This also includes dogs with life-long medical needs that are manageable with the right regime and groundwork of care. All of which may not have been possible without committed fosters to give these dogs a safe place to recover.
Addressing behavioral needs
With the help of fosters, we also have the opportunity to give a second chance to dogs with behavioral needs. A dog that has a history of resource guarding or leash reactivity can be intimidating, especially for first-time dog owners. In a foster home, we support our fosters with the tools and training—including a network of professional trainers— to help the dog overcome its behavioral challenges. We are able to share a story of success, set expectations, and give adopters a solid foundation to build off of.
At Badass, we provide training, guidance, and we work with several training partners with years of experience to give fosters everything they need to manage training for a rescue dog. Badass can bring the resources, but we still need homes and fosters who are willing to work with these dogs.
Discovering their true personalities
Once dogs have the chance to get into in a foster home, they start to open up and let us know who they really are. This is an amazing opportunity to really discover a dog's personality, energy level, and overall temperament on a deeper level. It gives us insight into whether additional training or medical care is needed.
With this additional time and understanding of each and every dog, we are able to make a better match up with adopters. Working with foster families can be the difference of finding that dog a lifelong home, or them finding their way back into a shelter.
Why fosters are such a critical part of dog rescue
Without committed fosters, Badass is limited in the number of dogs we can bring into our care. We have to wait for a new foster home to open up before we can save another dog.
However, if we know a foster home will be available once a dog is adopted, we can start lining up future rescues. When you join the Badass community and offer your home and heart as a full-time foster, you allow Badass to commit to rescuing dogs of all ages and sizes.
This even includes those with medical needs, behavioral needs, and those that just need some extra TLC before they meet their forever families. We recognize the level of commitment it requires to welcome a rescue dog into your life—the time and energy can be a huge responsibility. But our foster families also get so much in return from the dogs: they get to see them blossom, find forever homes, and experience the joy of a dog living in a home for often the very first time.
It’s for this reason that our foster families continue to foster with Badass. They are part of their journey and join a community that is dedicated to loving and caring for each and every dog that is saved by Badass.
There is no feeling quite like being the reason a dog finds their forever family. By becoming a foster, you will be joining a Badass community making a life-changing impact for amazing, deserving dogs.