We praise you for wanting to offer the best gift of all to an animal in need, the gift of LIFE.  Without foster homes, they would not have this chance.  Paws of Tomorrow owes our success to our fosters.  So many of the high-kill shelters we work with euthanize quickly. This does not give a person enough time to find the sweet dog sitting in the corner.  Foster parents give them the hope of escaping this horror and offer them a chance. You as a foster give these dogs the love, support, and training needed to make a smooth transition into their adoptive homes. It will be one of the most rewarding things you ever do.  When you look in the eyes of a dog that was once abandoned, watch them grow under your care and then go to their forever family!

As a foster, you will take a dog into your home on a temporary basis - until we find the dog a permanent adoptive home. You provide it the love and support the dog needs in order to adjust to life in a home. Fosters are generally responsible for the cost of food however; we can assist with this as well when we have received donated food. Fosters also play a critical role in the adoption process. Because they know the dogs so well, they can tell us if the dog will fit well into the applicant’s home.  This is why you must send us updates, photos, and information on their personality.  All dogs come to April before going to a foster home so that she can learn more about them and find the perfect foster for them.  However, you will continue to learn more about them and we need you to share these details with us to insure they go to the PEFECT forever home.

Please be aware that fostering is also a lot of work.  A lot of these dogs arrive from shelters with stressed, scared, and not housebroken.  Remember that these dogs have not had the best life before coming to us and most dogs that are found in shelters have not been fully vetted. This is why our foster program is so essential, to prepare these animals for adoption. We work with them before sending them to a foster home and insure they are wormed, up to date, and spay/neutered.  Although at times we will need you to continue with the vetting with our vets office as we get everything schedule accordingly. Remember, we depend completely on you to house our dogs. When you decided to foster, you commit to taking the good with the bad. We do test the dogs well before they come to you however; you never know a pet until it is in a comfortable environment.  In our experience, the bad habits often work themselves out quickly because the dogs are so eager to please you. They are smart creatures and are very grateful for the chance they have been given.  And, if the situation does not get better after the dog gets comfortable for example, a dog that is “supposedly” good with cats and you find that the dogs doesn’t seem to like you furry feline, we will move the dog to another foster home as soon as possible.

What we offer to our Foster Families:

• We have partnered with local veterinarians (Primarly Berlin Animal Hosptial, Berlin, MD) to provide routine and emergency care…at no cost to you.  Although, you will be required to take them to and from their appointments.
• We can provide supplies such as collars, leashes, and bowls.  We can arrange for you to get these items when you pick up your new foster. You will be required to pick these items up from us as we do not have the means to deliver them.
• We will post your foster dogs on our website as well as other dog adoption sites.
• We will hold adoption days (once a month) to help find your foster an adoptive home.
• To insure that the dog remains on heartworm preventative, and frontline, we will provide this for you, you will need to pick up when needed.  Please keep the date listed so that you are aware of when it is needed.  Contact Lyssa Sabia if you are unsure of this date.
• Constant support from other fosters and Paws staff volunteers.

Responsibilities as a Foster:

• You provide the food, water, training, and exercise of your foster dog.
• You provide the unconditional love and affection.
• You bring your foster to as many events as possible, you must agree to attend or make arrangements for your foster to attend our adoption event each month.
• You help your adoption and foster coordinator by providing up to date information and description of your foster, especially photos, participating in the screening of potential adopters, and actively market your foster dog. Please send this to Sherry Shaffer for the information to be accurately updated.
•  Many of our fosters find that they cannot let go of their foster after they have cared for them.  You are welcome to adopt your foster; however, you are still responsible for the adoption fees and application.  We have many costs involved with obtaining these pets and we must cover our expenses in order to save another. Please notify us of your intent to adopt as soon as you decide so we can remove them from our adoptions page. We will also notify you when we have a potential adopter, at that time you will have 24 hours to notify us of your decision to adopt.  You cannot wait until we have finalized the adoption and change your mind.  At that time, it is too late.

Foster Coordinator

Sherry Shaffer

sherry@pawsoftomorrow.com

(443)-783-1489

VETTING:

Fosters never pay vet expenses, as long as they abide by the following rules.  We have set up an account with our local vets office and they bill us directly for this cost.  However, Paws of Tomorrow will not be responsible for vet care that is not provided by one of our veterinarians.

BEFORE doing anything, you must contact Lyssa Sabia to speak with her about the problem.  She has worked in our vets office for 20 yrs and will determine the severity of the problem.  She will then determine what needs to be done and approve all vetting.  YOU MUST have her approval for vetting before it is done.

 Please know that for some things, we will require you to visit our emergency or acute care vets.  We are also aware that many things may seem like an emergency to a foster parent that are not, so please DO NOT take the dog to a vet without speaking to us first.  We will NOT cover the charge otherwise.  This is the only way we can eliminate needless emergency vet visits with SUPER high charges.  We have a veterinarian that can offer advice for most things. 

1.     All vetting considered during a visit must be approved by us prior to treatment.  This includes any vaccines given, unless prior authorization was given.  You can not approve treatment. 

2.  We have vetted the animal prior to you receiving the animal.  Worming treatment may require more than one treatment.  If you feel the animal has worms, please contact us prior to contacting a vet.  Treatment may take a few days to fully work and may have been given recently.  Heartworm tests have been completed and are not to be performed again unless approved.  Sterilization cannot be performed at general vetting locations.  This will be done by one of our Spay/neuter clinics. Paws of Tomorrow will make all of the arrangements for this to be done and you will then be contacted to arrange the appointment.  Most of our fosters have been spay/neutered before they come to your home, however, at times this may not be possible.

3.    Some of these animals will get sick or get diarrhea after being transported to you.  This is normal.  The dog was recently wormed, has been transported a long distance, and may have had a change in diet.  We are not likely to know what the dog was fed in the shelter.  They are usually lucky to be fed!  So we are not able to find out what the shelter used that day for feeding.  Unfortunately this means that you will probably have diarrhea problems from a change in diet. 

4.     We treat for kennel cough prior to transport also.  The dog may cough a little; this can be caused by the vaccine given.  If this continues, please contact Lyssa, we have antibiotics for this that will be sent out.

5.    We feed our animal Purina One 95% of the time and ask that if you can that you continue this.  It makes the process of them adjusting to your home easier and we can then pass this information along to adopters.  If you do chose to use another food, please give us the brand and name when the dog gets adopted so that we can pass the information along to the adopter.

If you have other concerned about the animal or are unsure what the dog has received in regards to vetting, please feel free to contact the vetting coordinator.  We keep very accurate records and can answer your questions quickly.  If you are interested in having your foster groomed, also contact Lyssa Sabia and she will arrange a time for this.

Vetting Director

Lyssa Sabia

lyssa@pawsoftomorrow.com

(410)-726-4530

Other information:

We have "Adopt Me" banners for each of our dogs…  This will let everyone know that the dog is being fostered for Paws of Tomorrow.  This gives us the opportunity to meet potential foster parents and adopters as well.  We also have T-Shirts for our foster parents.  Please contact us with your T-Shirt size to receive one of them.

Currently Paws of Tomorrow is arranging many public events for the coming months.  We are going to have adoption days, fund raisers, and meet and greets.  We are hoping that you and your new fostered pet will be able to attend.  We will post these events online under events.  Please let us know if you know of anything in your area that may be good for Paws to become involved in as well.  You can view the details for this on our events page.  We will need volunteers for each event, if you are able to attend, please let us know.