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North Carolina Rottweiler Rescue Needs Foster Homes!
Interested in fostering? Contact ncrottierescue@gmail.com
Foster a Rottie. The love is endless!
This page provides information about what foster homes are and what they do. If you are interested in becoming a foster home for NCRR, please let us know! We love meeting other "dog people" who are interested in helping their community through volunteer work.
This information is provided to you because foster care is so important to the development and adoptability of the rescue dogs. We want to make sure each foster truly understand what they are committing to.
What is a foster home?
Foster homes are temporary INSIDE homes for the dogs accepted into our rescue program. The foster parents care for the dogs as their own, but for a limited length of time -- just until we find a permanent home for them. A length of time cannot be determined. The foster home provides shelter, food, toys and human interaction. At times, NCRR can provide food if needed. Sometimes they need to administer medical care, such as giving medicines, changing bandages, or applying salves or special shampoos.
Does it cost money?
NCRR pays for the dog's vet bills, medicines, medical supplies (salves, special shampoos, bandages, etc.), and provides the dog with it's vaccinations, a collar and an ID tag. NCRR supplies heartworm preventative if supply is on-hand.
NCRR provides on-going support for our foster homes regarding training, crate training, medical questions, houstraining and much more. NCRR will also provide you with a crate to use for your foster companion.
What are foster homes responsible for?
NCRR has a foster home agreement, which the foster parent and NCRR sign before a dog is placed into their foster home. The main points of the agreement are that the foster home will provide:
- fresh food every day
- clean, fresh water every day
- shelter
- a clean, dry place for the dog to sleep
- clean bowls to eat and drink from
- Frontline flea preventative
- baths, brushing and toenail clippings as needed
Additionally, each foster parent will be expected to send in their bi-monthly report and attend at least one adoption event per month (35 mile exemption) or coordinate with the Event Coordinator to have your foster dog transported to the event. Fosters ensure the dog is clean and available for its appointments to meet prospective adopters. NCRR feels that attendance at events is essential to socialization and for exposure to potential adopters. Dogs that do not attend events do not have the chance others attending do because no one gets to fall in love with them face to face.
Who finds the adopters?
NCRR is responsible for finding the adopters. The foster home takes care of the dog while NCRR looks for, screens, interviews, completes homechecks, and approves the permanent homes. NCRR has many ways to find homes for foster dogs.
How long do dogs stay in foster homes?
It's not possible for us to predict how long a dog will be in foster care before its permanent home is found. How quickly a dog can be placed epends on a number of factors, such as physical beauty, age, health and training.
For many dogs, we've found that foster families who provide basic training (obedience and good manners) to their foster dogs make those dogs easier to place, and they tend to get adopted more quickly. Foster families who let their foster dogs get away with undesirable behavior tend to have the dogs for a longer time.
What are the dogs like?
When rescue dogs are first rescued, they are generally untrained and exuberant, happy to finally be with someone who cares! Often they are not housebroken, and have some minor behavior problems (getting into garbage, stealing food from counters, jumping up, etc.) When we accept a dog into our foster program, we evaluate the dog to be sure it has a temperament that will allow it to live in a home safely. Dogs that are aggressive and/or are deemed dangerous are not accepted into the NCRR foster program. If a dog in foster care becomes aggressive, we remove it and reevaluate it for placement.
NCRR provides foster parents with advice and on going guidance on solving any behavior problems that might arise. We also have a number of trainers we work with that can provide us with advice and hold training classes for foster parents to attend.
Can I pick the dogs I take into my home?
NCRR requires a foster application be completed that helps us make a good match for your foster dog. For example, if you have a cat, you probably won't want a dog that chases cats, or if you are home all day, you may be willing to care for a dog with a handicap or that is recovering from major surgery and needs more attention.
Isn't it hard to say good-bye to them?
Yes! It is hard, sometimes very hard, to say good-bye to a dog you've cared for, loved and trained. In the end, however, we all find that the rewards of knowing that our foster dog has a family of his very own is well worth the pain of saying good-bye. After all, the greatest gift we can give a dog is a forever family to love! And remember once your foster dog is adopted you can save another that is scheduled to die.
Can I adopt a Rottie I foster?
If your home is the best home for the dog, yes! Foster homes are a valuable resource and we don't want to lose them but realize a family can fall in love with their foster dog and want to give it a forever home.
I want to help! How do I get started?
Please complete the foster application and mail it to:
A volunteer will be in touch with you to discuss your application and set up a home visit. As soon as the paperwork and home visit is finished, it won't take long to find a dog for you to foster!
Fostering can be one the most rewarding experiences in your lifetime.
My Foster Dog
by Unknown Author
 My foster dog stinks to high heaven.
I don't know for sure what breed he is.
His eyes are blank and hard.
He won't let me pet him and growls when I reach for him.
He has ragged scars and crusty sores on his skin.
His nails are long and his teeth, which he showed me, are stained. I sigh. I drove two hours for this.
I carefully maneuver him so that I can stuff him in the crate. Then I heft the crate and put it in the car. I am going home with my new foster dog.
At home I leave him in the crate till all the other dogs are in the
yard. I get him out of the crate and ask him if he wants "outside." As
I lead him to the door he hikes his leg on the wall and shows me his
stained teeth again.
When we come in, he goes to the crate because that's the only safe
place he sees. I offer him food but he won't eat it if I look at him,
so I turn my back. When I come back, the food is gone.
I ask again about "outside."
When we come back, I pat him before I let him in the crate,
he jerks away and runs into the crate to show me his teeth.
The next day I decide I can't stand the stink any longer.
I lead him into the bath with cheese in my hands.
His fear of me is not quite overcome by his longing for the cheese. And
well he should fear me, for I will give him a bath.
After an attempt or two to bail out he is defeated and stands there. I
have bathed four legged bath squirters for more years than he has been
alive. His only defense was a show of his stained teeth, that did not
hold up to a face full of water.
As I wash him, it is almost as if I wash not only the stink and dirt
away but also some of the hardness. His eyes look full of sadness now.
And he looks completely pitiful as only a soap covered dog can.
I tell him that he will! feel better when he is cleaned.
After the soap, the towels are not too bad, so he lets me rub him dry.
I take him outside. He runs for joy.
The joy of not being in the tub and the joy of being clean.
I, the bath giver, am allowed to share the joy.
He comes to me and lets me pet him.
One week later I have a vet bill.
His skin is healing. He likes for me to pet him. I think.
I know what color he will be when his hair grows in.
I have found out he is terrified of other dogs.
So I carefully introduce him to my mildest four legged brat. It
doesn't go well.
Two weeks later a new vet bill for an infection, that was missed on the
first visit. He plays with the other dogs.
Three weeks later his coat shines, he has gained weight.
He shows his clean teeth when his tongue lolls out
after he plays chase in the yard with the gang.
His eyes are soft and filled with life.
He loves hugs and likes to show off his tricks, if you have the cheese.
Someone called today and asked about him,
they saw the picture I took the first week.
They asked about his personality, his history, his breed.
They asked if he was pretty. I asked them lots of questions.
I checked up on them.
I prayed.
I said yes.
When they saw him the first time they said
he was the most beautiful dog they had ever seen.
Six months later, I got a call from his new family.
He is wonderful, smart, well behaved, and very loving.
How could someone not want him?
I told them I didn't know.
He is beautiful.
They all are.
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