Fostering
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Don’t be intimidated by the length of the text, getting the full picture is important in decision making. Let’s get into it!
What is fostering?
Fostering is when someone takes an animal from the street / a shelter / a dangerous place, takes them home and takes care of them for a while.
(In many cases, our puppies are looking for an S.O.S. solution, so you can help out for a few days just to give us enough time to find a long-term foster.)
If you love animals, you have time, you don’t work 12- hour shifts, but only about 8 hours maximum, you have patience, you have space, you know what taking care of a puppy means, or you would like to know, then you can apply to be a foster. If you want to adopt but don’t know if you’re ready yet, it’s a good option to help you make a responsible decision.
Why is it good to foster?
Its good for you, good for us, good for the little orphan, because one less puppy is afflicted in uncertain conditions.
It is a misconception that the average person cannot be a foster. Anyone can help with due diligence. In addition, it is not a question of money, as thanks to more and more of our sponsors, we can help with food, medical expenses and equipment. If you live in a sublet apartment (pet-friendly, of course), if you don’t have a car (there are taxis and transport assistance) and with an 8-hour work schedule, you can be a foster.
If you accept a puppy and get to know his / her personality / habits, it is already a huge help, as we believe that finding the perfect family depends on the puppy himself, because if e.g. the puppy loves to move around a lot and go on long walks, but the potential adoptive family does not have time or energy to meet the puppies needs in this area, then neither the adoptive family nor the puppy’s life will be happy and balanced. The only way for us to find out if the puppy will be a perfect fit for the potential adoptees, is through the foster’s experiences with the puppy.
Marketing is very important in almost every area of life, good images convey the essence of a puppy better, and create a bigger urge in people to adopt them. People are more likely to adopt a puppy who flaunts among plush toys in a photo, rather than a photo where they look sad and lonely on the streets, or behind bars.
The first steps
When applying for a puppy, always try to get informed about everything first! Before you start fostering, take a big breath, and as a step 0, try to run everything through your head- are you planning to adopt, or just want to help / try fostering? This will not only help us, but also you, because if you are planning to keep the puppy, you have to make sure that you choose your puppy wisely, otherwise, if you are not sure you would like to adopt, or if you are sure that you would only like to foster, then we will give you a puppy, who no one has applied for yet. It is worth asking for all the information about the puppy, what his / her background is, whether he / she is vaccinated, how old he / she is, etc.
We bring our puppies from shelters, the streets, or dangerous places. Sometimes the puppy is not in the best condition health wise, but we will give you all the information that you may need. Very rarely, but the puppy may have more serious diseases that have not come to light yet. For this reason, we advise you to keep the puppy in 5-7 days of quarantine before you take them to the vet, to make sure that they do not have serious illnesses. You are not alone, the puppy is not your sole responsibility, we will provide you with everything that you may need.
What you will need
If you have the possibility to buy everything that you may need for your puppy’s arrival then that would be of great help for us, but we can also provide you with everything that is listed.
Food: make sure to choose food based on the age of the dog (preferably good quality food, and if you are fostering a puppy: chicken free).
Our favorite brand: Select Gold Sensitive
Bed: you don’t have to make a big deal out of this, puppies will fall asleep anywhere comfortable, if you have a soft blanket, then that will be more than enough.
Bowl: You can get one for only a few hundred HUF, but an old ice cream bucket is also perfect if you clean it. You will need one for water and for food. If you are fostering two puppies at the same time, you should have them eat from separate bowls, and they can share the water.
Game: Always choose something that is safe, there should nothing in/on it that can cause serious problems if swallowed. (Rubber ball is forbidden!)
Dog Shampoo: If your little one has fleas, you’re better off with giving them anti-flea drops first, with which they cannot be bathed for 48 hours (before or after). Otherwise, any dog shampoo is a perfect choice, and even human baby shampoo is suitable.
Towel: You can simply choose an old towel, which you don’t use anyway.
Diapers: Extremely important with puppies and adult, unvaccinated dogs as well, since they cannot go outside for walks until they have received all of their vaccines (1.5- 2 months).
Possibly a kennel: If you don’t spend a lot of time at home (e.g. you work), it’s worth getting an indoor kennel, or you can borrow one from us (unfortunately we have a limited stock of indoor kennels, so you might not always be able to borrow one from us). There are some very cheap ones on Marketplace that you can sell afterwards!
Organization of transportation
We can organize the transportation to Budapest in general, but we are happy to receive help from others in this area.
We often ask for transport assistance for our puppies, because most of the times they are not located in Budapest. Unfortunately, we have to be able to adapt to other people’s schedules regarding transportation, because often times there are multiple puppies in one transport, who are all going to different foster families. We also have to keep in mind that the person who is transporting them is doing us a favor, so they will only be able to come when their time allows them to.
Be patient, because transportation times are not always up to us!
It’s also important to note that as soon as they arrive to Budapest, you have to be able to take the puppy, because they will have no other place to go! If you know in advance that you cannot pick the puppy up the day we have arranged the transportation for, please let us know as soon as possible.
One or more at a time
We post many posts where we search for fosters who are able to foster minimum two puppies at a time. This is unfortunately because sometimes we have puppies that are under 8- weeks- old and it helps them a lot, not only in development, but also in maintaining their health, if they are still in the presence of a sibling.
Twice as much pee and poop, but half as much time, because they will be playing with each other, so the fosters can relax. If you have the opportunity and the capacity to do it, try it in pairs, there are more advantages than disadvantages. However, this can only work if the puppies are from the same litter.
Puppy or adult
For puppies:
Depending on the vaccines they have received, they cannot go outside for walks, and they can only go out into the garden with due care. They are easier to get used to, if there is another animal in the family. You should teach them to do their business on to a diaper that you can spread on the ground, it is basically like a kitty litter, but for puppies.
TIP: dip the diaper into their pee if they miss, the puppy will most likely go back to the smell next time around, you can diaper train them fairly quickly, but it also depends on the puppy’s willingness to learn.
They spend 2-3 weeks on average at foster families.
For adults:
They can walk, they need less vaccines, but of course we can’t guarantee room cleanliness, since so far, they have lived either on the street or behind bars. They may bring trauma with them, but there is nothing that patience, care and attention cannot solve. They require less time to exercise and sometimes it is easier to teach them.
They spend 4 weeks on average at foster families.
Dogs and cats next to foster pets
You can foster any animal safely next to other vaccinated dogs, and vaccinated indoor cats. Unvaccinated puppies do not pose a serious threat to adult, vaccinated dogs, but make sure that you use anti- flea drops on your own pets as well to have a peace of mind.
If you have an unvaccinated dog or cat, then they should be kept in separate rooms, until they have all of their vaccines.
If you are unsure of how your own pets will react to your foster pet, then it is the safest if you keep them in separate rooms for the first few days, but you can start introducing them to each other slowly.
First few steps
- After you get home with your puppy, everything will be as new to them as it is to you, so be patient. You’ll probably hear a little whining here and there for a good couple of days, until they will get used to their new place.
- Before the newcomer arrives, wash the floor very thoroughly and make sure your street shoes are inaccessible. If an unvaccinated dog is staying in your home, take off your shoes in front of the door so you don’t bring any germs home to him.
- Giving them a bath is definitely a good idea! Unless they have fleas, because then they may first require anti-flea drops. You can bathe the puppy 48 hours after giving them anti- flea drops.
- They can go for the first vaccination after 5-7 days of quarantine, but always check-in with us first.
- Try to play with the puppy, pet them, cuddle with them, because that’s the only way they will loosen up to you quickly. Let them eat, because they probably did not have anything to eat before their journey to you.
- Patience and tolerance are essential, because if you put yourself in their shoes, you may be quite frightened and wouldn’t understand what’s going on either
Practices with which you can help
To make this period run smoothly, here is some helpful information:
- If you have an unvaccinated puppy, you can’t walk with him, not even a little, you can’t put him down in the doctor’s office, on the street, anywhere! If you have an unvaccinated adult dog, walk with caution, do not let them sniff around, because they can also catch any diseases.
- You should allow them to get used to being alone. If you put them in an indoor kennel, or leave from home, don’t try to hush them, just listen to them whine for a little. If you always go up to them and try to comfort them whenever they are alone, then they will think that that’s what they should do, to get your attention. So, you should ignore their whining from the get go, instead of them getting them used to always getting the attention they want.
- In through the door, out through the door, always the two-legged go first. Puppies have to learn the hierarchy, so later if they get involved in weary situations, the owner will dominate the situation and better trust will be built between them.
- Teach them a few basic tricks – “sit” and “paw” videos explode the internet, and the puppy will get adopted much sooner.
- If you are preparing for something they do not like (e.g. going to a veterinarian), prepare some treats, or perhaps take them out to run around beforehand (except for unvaccinated puppies), to associate new situations with good experiences. If it is difficult to give them a bath, then smear some peanut butter on the side of the bathtub and let them lick it off, while you are washing them.
- Good content, photos. The more detailed description you give of a puppy and the better photos you take, the faster they will move to their forever home.
If you get stuck
If you get stuck or experience strange things, you can always turn to us for advice, you will always get maximal support in everything!
If the puppy is lethargic, not well, has strange looking poop, call us, write to us immediately and we will know what to do!
You can find a home for them too
If all is well and you have decided not to keep them (because fosters always have the first opportunity to decide if they would like to adopt), you can help us find an adoptive family. Tell relatives about it, post about them yourself, or even link people to our page.
We do the posting, screening and adoption process, and we will decide who gets to adopt the puppy at the end. We are happy to help you with this process, but we have more experience and we take responsibility for this decision, so please trust us!