Foster caring can be an incredibly rewarding experience if you have room in your home and your heart for a dog.
Foster caring with Starting Over Dog Rescue involves providing temporary care and shelter to rescue dogs in your own home until they have been adopted. Being a foster carer is such a rewarding experience that enables dogs to grow, rehabilitate and recover, giving them the best opportunity at being adopted and living their best lives.
Starting Over Dog Rescue takes in all types of dogs, with many different breeds and ages. Majority of these dogs come from rural pounds and without foster carers, many of these dogs’ lives would end in that pound.
Dogs come into foster care for many reasons, almost always through no fault of their own. Some are lost, abandoned, or surrendered. Some come from crisis situations such as domestic violence, homelessness, or animal cruelty. Some come from our ‘last litter program’ and some are homeless as their owners can no longer care for them.
Foster carers can make a difference. Showing a dog love, giving them a safe place to heal, creating positive interactions and building trust can transform a neglected and frightened dog into the most beautiful companion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Foster care is when you provide temporary care to a rescue dog in you own home until they are adopted.
Starting Over Dog Rescue does not have a shelter. To save the lives of rescue dogs, the organisation relies on foster carers to care for them in their own homes.
Most people are suitable to foster dogs, including people who work full time, have other pets at home, live in an apartment, have kids, are retired, or have a busy schedule. It is all about finding the right rescue dog for you.
Suitable foster carers must ensure…
- You have the time to properly care for a dog.
- Your home and property is fully fenced.
- You can provide a safe, comfortable, and secure environment for a dog.
- That everyone in your household is onboard to foster a dog
- Your landlord will allow you to keep a dog on their property.
Yes. When you start fostering, you and your support coordinator will discuss what type of rescue dog would suit your home, family and lifestyle. Your coordinator will suggest a number of dogs that may suit. You will always have a choice. Once you have fostered once, you will get access to information on all dogs available for foster care, and you can choose a dog that will suit.
No. Fostering with Starting Over Dog Rescue will not cost you any money. You are provided with everything you need to care for your dog. Supplies include food and bowls, bedding, toys, crates, enclosures, collars and tags, health care equipment and all medications such as worming or flea treatment.
All vet bills are covered at our nominated vet clinics. These vet clinics are located all around Victoria.
Providing a safe, secure, and loving home for a rescue dog is of upmost importance. Fostering encompasses all the normal responsibilities of caring for an animal, such as feeding, grooming, and walking. We ask that you take a dog into your home and treat them like one of the family.
Most foster dogs will require vet care. This can be as simple as vaccinations or getting microchipped or sometimes there are more complex health care needs. You must be available to take your foster dog to the vet for any necessary medical care.
A dog will be in foster care until they are adopted. This time can vary considerably; however, all dogs must be in foster care for a minimum of 2 weeks.
Responsibilities also include being part of the adoption process. You will need to write up a little profile about your foster dog, go through the applications you receive and choose an applicant. As a foster carer, there is no one better to choose a forever home for your dog than you! You know your foster dog better than anyone else and it makes sense that you choose where they live their best life.
Well…yes. It can be difficult to say good-bye to your foster dog when they get adopted. However, goodbyes are not a bad thing. As many foster carers discover, the rewarding thing of doing something good outweighs the sadness. Foster carers play an integral role in a rescue dogs’ life, they bridge the gap between the pound to a loving home. The joy a foster carer feels when they receive photo updates of their foster dog living their best life and being loved is a wonderful reminder of the role they play.
Having a foster dog being adopted is just perfect timing to care for another dog in need. This not only saves this dogs life, but allows more space in the pound to rescue another.
Absolutely. Every foster carer gets assigned a support coordinator. They will guide you through all the foster care processes, from signing up through to when your dog gets adopted.
Starting Over Dog Rescue has a brilliant foster carer platform, connecting foster carers. This platform enables carers to ask questions and provide advice and where carers can assist each other if required.
Sometimes a foster dog can come into care very unsettled or have behavioral issues. There will always be support for foster carers with dogs with challenging needs. Your coordinator and other carers with years of experience can help you put in place management strategies to overcome the issues. If these strategies are unsuccessful, we will find an alternate foster carer.
Easy! All you need to do is fill in the Foster Carer Application form and we will contact you.
"*" indicates required fields
What we offer
- Starting Over Dog Rescue covers all vet bills, food, bedding and accessories
- Transport can be arranged if needed
- Full transition support is given to our foster carers via face-to-face meetings with our behaviouralist, and daily check ins via a private Facebook group
What you need
- A securely fenced yard
- Inside access for the dog
- Access to Facebook to provide updates via our chat groups
- Have time to walk the dog daily