What is involved in being a foster parent to a PUGS pug?
Being a foster has some administrative responsibilities but the most important and the most basic part of the foster’s role is taking care of the dog as you would if he/she was your own. You will be assigned an experienced Adoption Coordinator (AC) who is a PUGS volunteer having experience assessing applicants and placing each dog in a forever home. This person will help you with all of the “work” involved in placing your foster including guiding you through the adoption process, helping you to obtain any vet care needed for your foster, providing you with approved applications of adopters for you to review for your foster, and assisting you in making arrangements for the adoption.
The basic responsibilities of a foster home are to:
• Provide a safe, loving, and healthy home for the foster pug(s) and humanely work with the pug on basic obedience, socialization, house training and house manners.
• Schedule and transport pugs for veterinary care, if necessary, and administer any medication prescribed to the pug; obtain preauthorization for any nonemergency vet care or other purchases related to a foster pug; scan and email, if able, copies of all receipts and pet care paperwork to the pugsugottasave.org volunteer email address; and retain copies of all receipts and forward the originals to PUGS by mail.
• Provide an initial assessment and multiple periodic assessments of your foster pug(s) to your adoption coordinator and remain in consistent contact with your coordinator through out the time that your PUGS foster is in your home.
• Provide (via e-mail) a digital photograph and a “personals ad” of the pug(s) in your home to your adoption coordinator. For additional information about taking pictures see this FAQ.
• Handle any phone calls and/or emails to prospective adopters and PUGS volunteers promptly and professionally and participate in periodic phone, email, or video discussions with the coordinator to determine adoption roles, process updates and to help select a forever home for your foster(s).
• Correspond with adoptive family and adoption coordinator as agreed and attend to the associated details in a timely and professional manner
• Maintain good communication with your AC throughout the process so that the best help can be provided to you and allows us to anticipate and resolve any potential problems or roadblocks to adoption. Your AC must have a reliable method to reach you at all times while you have a foster dog in your care. (For example, if you are going out-of-town and the foster is going with you or staying with someone else, your AC must be notified in advance of who to contact, how to reach the contact and be afforded the opportunity to discuss alternative arrangements for the fostered dog(s).)