Fostering can be an amazing and rewarding experience for you and your family. You can feel good knowing that you have helped save a dog’s life! Even better, you’ve created space in the shelter to accommodate other homeless dogs. Foster dogs provide companionship and purpose to you. Your act of kindness is repaid in rewards that are beyond words. Fostering is also a great way to see if you’re ready to add a new member to your family permanently!

Some of the most common reasons that a dog needs foster care prior to going to its forever home: Since we are a foster based rescue, we do not have a physical shelter so we rely on foster homes to care for our dogs until suitable forever homes are found. A puppy may be too young to be adopted and needs a safe place to stay until they are old enough to go to its forever home. A dog is recovering from surgery, illness, or injury and needs a safe place to be cared for. A dog has not lived in a home before or has not been socialized properly. A dog may need to decompress after being in a very stressful or unsafe environment.

It completely depends on the dog and the situation. The average stay in a foster home is about 2 months. However, most puppies and some dogs may stay only a few weeks. Others, recovering from an injury, medical care, certain breeds and senior dogs, may stay much longer.

Foster parents provide shelter, basic training, exercise and love for the dog. When you foster a dog, we will provide all the supplies needed such as a crate, leash, collar, toys, treats, food and medical care when needed. You just provide all the love and care the dog will need. *ALL supplies must be returned to Love At First Mutt when your dog is adopted so that we can continue to use them for future dogs we save.*

Thinking about adopting but aren't 100% sure? The Foster-to-Adopt program works as such: There is a $200 non-refundable foster-to-adopt donation fee. You'd have one week to decide on proceeding with adoption.

YES! As long as foster parents meet the requirements necessary for adoption, foster parents have first choice to adopt their foster dog.

No, but we do need your help! Once a qualified applicant is found, we will ask you to schedule a meet and greet with your foster dog and the potential adopter. Your quick response and then final input on the potential adopter is very important to finding a great match. Many times a foster parent will find a perfect match through their own network of friends, family and colleagues. We absolutely welcome these referrals! If you think you have found a perfect forever home for your foster dog, just remember they still must go through the application process and be approved by Love At First Mutt beforehand.