Foster Home Team

Our Foster homes are essential to our mission of rescuing Goldens from abuse and neglect.       Being a Foster Parent is a very rewarding job, but we ask that you have enough time each day to socialize, walk dogs on a leash, and play with your foster dog.  These dogs will be grateful for whatever time you can give them. Following the progress of your foster dog after they have been adopted is a most rewarding experience.  Many foster parents and new adoptive parents stay in touch post-adoption.

Foster Parents will need to attend a foster training class (held quarterly) before fostering, unless they have adequate experience. The Foster Home Team Leader and Ted Terroux, GRRR's trainer/behaviorist, will also be available for advice and support. You should keep in mind that some rescue dogs are not housebroken, may be ill, or may have been so ignored that they've had no obedience training. Sometimes we need to bring Goldens into the program on extremely short notice. Our first concern is for the safety of your family, your dog(s), and for the rescue dog. Therefore, we ask that our foster homes have the facilities to keep a rescue dog separate from other dogs at first, as well as the ability to confine them in an area where the dog cannot be destructive. Confinement, preferably in a training crate, is invaluable for housebreaking when needed. We also ask that Foster parents be available to transport dogs to and from visits with potential adopters (generally on the weekend or at a pre-arranged time with you).
 

GRRR pays for veterinary care and any necessary grooming while a guest in your home. All you need to provide is a place in your home and hearts, and provide the love these displaced Goldens that so desperately want and need.

Please consider joining GRRR's Foster Home Team and discover the joy of watching your foster dog learn how to socialize with your family and others. See the joy on the faces of your foster dog's new family when they go home with them - to their "forever home" and the smile and wagging tail of your foster dog. Be amazed when you meet up with your former foster dog at a GRRR event and how your foster remembers you! 

Click the button below to take our short foster home survey (remember, you must be a GRRR member before you can participate in our Foster Home team - please click here to join the GRRR family).

 Fostering
- Author Unknown

There I sat, alone and afraid,
You got a call and came right to my aid.
You bundled me up with blankets and love.
And, when I needed it most, you gave me a hug.

I learned that the world was not all that scary and cold.
That sometimes there is someone to have and to hold.
You taught me what love is, you helped me to mend.
You loved me and healed me and became my first friend.

And just when I thought you'd done all you could do,
There came along not one new lesson, but two.
First you said, "Sweetheart, you're ready to go.
I've done all I can, and you've learned all I know."

Then you bundled me up with a blanket and a kiss.
Along came a new family, they even have kids!
They took me to their home, forever to stay.
At first I thought you sent me away.

Then that second lesson became perfectly clear.
No matter how far, you will always be near.
And so, Foster Mom, you know I've moved on.
I have a new home, with toys and a lawn.

But I'll never forget what I learned that first day.
You never really give your fosters away.
You gave me these thoughts to remember you by.
We may never meet again, and now I know why.

You'll remember I lived with you for a time.
I may not be yours, but you'll always be mine.

If I didn't have Goldens...
provided by Barb Justice

1. I could walk around safely barefoot in the dark
2. My house could be carpeted instead of tiled and laminated
3. All flat surfaces, cloting, furniture and cars would be free of dog hair
4. When the doorbell rang, it wouldn't sound like the SPCA kennels
5. When the doorbell rang, I could get to the door without wading through four or five dog bodies who eat me there
6. I could sit how I wanted to on the couch without taking into consideration where several little furbodies would need to get
7. I would not have strange presents under my tree...like dog bones, stuffed animals, and have to answer to people about why I wrap them up
8. I would not be on a first name basis with a veterinarian
9. The most used words in my vocabulary would not be: potty, outside, sit, down, come, no, and leave him/her ALONE
10. My house would not be cordoned off into zones with baby gates
11. My purse would not contain things like poop pick-up bags and dog treats
12. I would no longer have to spell the words B-A-L-L, T-R-E-A-T-S, O-U-T-S-I-D-E, and F-R-I-S-B-E-E
13. I would not buy weird things to stuff into "kongs" or have to explain why I'm buying them, or what a "kong" is
14. I would not have as many leaves and pine straws INSIDE my house as outside
15. I would not look strangely at people who think having their ONE dog ties them down too much
16.  I would not have to answer the question of why I have so many dogs from people who will never have the joy in their lives of knowing they are loved unconditionally by something as close to an angel as they will ever get. Who else has a friend who considers you the MOST important thing in the whole wide world, all the time?