Just Giants Rescue (JGRI) receives a large number of phone calls and emails begging us to take a dog in need of rescuing. Often, we must reluctantly turn animals away simply because we don’t have a foster home available. Our foster homes are vital in helping animals find their forever homes. Without their hard work and dedication, JGRI could not save, rehabilitate and adopt the hundreds of homeless dogs we take in every year.

Fostering an animal can be one of the most rewarding things you do. The dogs that Just Giants rescues come to us from shelters, animal control facilities and even owners who decide to surrender their pet. We don’t always know what their history is and most often the dogs are scared and sometimes shy. Many of these animals have never been given any love, training, or medical treatment until they are brought into our foster care program.

JUST GIANTS RESCUE WILL:

• Supply a crate for housebreaking the foster pet.
• Pay for all necessary veterinary care, as well as heartworm & flea/tick preventative.
• Help screen potential adopters.
• Provide opportunities for exposure to potential adopters.
• Provide mentoring and moral support throughout fostering.

 FOSTER HOME DUTIES:

• Provide a loving and stable environment for the foster pet.
• Socialization – daily walks, trips to the pet store, etc.
• Basic day-to-day care – feeding, grooming, exercise.
• Basic obedience: including housebreaking using positive reinforcement methods. Training can be provided upon request.
• Provide transportation to and from veterinarian appointments.
• Provide “pupdates” and pictures weekly on the animals behavioral and health progress.
• Bring the animal to adoption and fundraising events when needed.
• Assist in choosing an adoptive home (since the foster home knows the animal best).

ADDITIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT:

• JGRI Back Office — A database of all our administration, communication and dog resource files.
• Facebook Foster Forum – A great way to connect with other fosters, ask questions and provide feedback
• Foster Mentor – Your one-on-one contact for all things foster-related

The length of time an animal is in foster care can vary greatly. Sometimes (usually with puppies) they will be adopted out in a few weeks. Other times it may take a few months! We really have no way of knowing, but we do our best to make sure each and every foster animal goes to the perfect home. What we do ask is that our foster homes make the commitment to keep their foster dog until their forever home can be found. The reason we ask for this commitment is that we do not want them to be bounced around from foster home to foster home. Dogs that have this happen become very unsure of themselves and usually display this with behavior that is less than desirable. If special circumstances arise, we are willing to work with you. If you aren’t sure you can have a dog for a longer period of time, we are also always in need of “vacation fosters,” or temporary fosters who can take care of a foster animal if/when the animal’s current foster needs to go out of town.

JGRI usually has at least two adoption events per month. We require our animals to go to at least one event per month if logistically possible (the more exposure, the more chances of them finding their forever homes!). We do prefer the foster parent to be at the events. That way prospective adopters can talk directly to you to get a better idea of behaviors, habits, likes, dislikes, etc.