Fostering a PAD Service Dog

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FOSTERING - HOW IT WORKS

Welcome to the world of fostering! Foster homes play an integral role in both gauging our dog’s household experience and in guiding the dog through any hurdles that may arise. Because PAD is focused on rescuing, we often do not know a dog’s background, as good or bad as it may have been. Fostering a PAD dog is a wonderful opportunity to shape and build good household, obedience, confidence and interaction foundation skills.

While you consider fostering, please keep in mind that we are flexible and want to find the best fit for you and the dog. Our goals are to provide each dog with socialization, house manners, basic commands, and service skills.

FOSTERING OPTIONS

Timeframe

Single Night Sleepovers

Short Term (one week to one month)

Long Term (one month or longer)

Expenses

We have fosters who donate food and veterinary expenses and claim those as tax deductions at the end of the year. We also have fosters who prefer PAD covers the cost of food and veterinary expenses while they are caring for the dog. We welcome both options. We do offer daycare at Marshmallow Animal Shelter and Boarding Facility for those fosters that live nearby. We will also board the dog if the foster is going out of town or can't take the dog with them.

STEPS TO BECOMING A FOSTER

Foster candidates read all documents in this form. Once all documents have been read, please complete the Fostering Goals Survey and the Foster Application and submit them to PAD.

Upon application approval, PAD staff will meet with foster to discuss expectations/goals and to introduce dogs that align with fostering goals.

Foster contract and related documents are signed.

If foster has little or no dog training experience, they may be required to take a dog through Basic Obedience class. We offer monthly class sessions at our HQ in Detroit Lakes for our fosters and some of our Veteran teams.

All fosters, regardless of experience are required to successfully pass the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen Test.

If foster is interested in doing Public Access work with their PAD dog, they will be invited to set up brief training sessions with PAD staff to learn how Public Access differs from home behaviors/training.

Fosters will work with the dog’s assigned trainer to troubleshoot issues as needed and to establish a date to turn the dog back in to PAD for completion of training.

Thank you for your interest in Patriot Assistance Dogs.
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FOSTERING DO'S AND DON'TS

Activities Encouraged for Service Dogs:

Treat a new dog almost like a puppy. The dog should be supervised on a leash or crated until he/she displays trustworthy behavior in the house. This is fundamental for building good habits before they have the chance to develop bad ones.

Dogs learn best in short sessions so build multiple training times/exercises into your daily routine. Fifteen minutes is all it takes to provide a good session. Take time to correct undesirable behaviors as they occur. Do not wait for the next training session.

Similarly, provide at least two opportunities for exercise each day. Allow the dog approximately 30 minutes of rest prior to feeding and ample time to digest after each meal to avoid GI distress.

Have fun! Practice snuggling, make training a game, discover activities that your PAD dog enjoys, and don’t forget to balance training with praise and motivation.

Activities Not Allowed for Service Dogs:

Your foster/service dog is not allowed to do the following:

Be off leash when working or training in a public area

Be off leash outdoors unless immediately supervised in a securely fenced in area

Be on furniture in a public setting

Ride in an open pickup box or trailer; ride with head out window or sunroof

Engage in wrestling or tug games with a human; may do so with other dogs

Dietary Restrictions:

No table scraps or human food/ No feeding from the table

No animal bones of any kind

Approved, high quality dog food and treats only

Prohibited Toys:

No leather, rawhide, pig ears, etc.

No stuffed toys for tearing apart or toys with small pieces that may be pulled off and ingested

No shoes, socks, or clothing-based items- old or new

Confinement:

May not be tied outside unsupervised

May not be kenneled outside when no one is home

May not be kenneled outside overnight

May not be left free in the house when no one is home
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FOSTER GOALS SURVEY

We have created a survey to help us better understand the goals/expectations of our new foster homes. This will aid us in setting you up to succeed and also in selecting an approrpiate dog to send to your home.
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TimeframePlease check all that apply. No answer is incorrect.
I would like to foster for short periods of time (overnight - 1 month)
I would like to foster for longer periods of time (1 month - 1 year)
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TrainingPAD will aid in teaching foster skill sets as checked in this section. Check all that apply. No answer is incorrect.
I would like to teach basic obedience commands.
I would like to train basic obedience, service dog tasks, and public access skills.
I am willing to take the PAD dog to formal training classes.
I am willing to complete training classes to be eligible to train service dog tasks
I am willing to maintain training records.
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DAYTIME CAREPlease check all that apply. No answer is incorrect.
I expect the dog will be coming to work with me.
If I expect the dog will be coming to work with me, I have approved this with my employer.
I expect the dog will stay home while I am at work.
I do not need to leave my house for a stereotypical workplace job.
I would like to bring the dog to doggy daycare while I am at work.
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FINANCIAL PLANSPlease check all that apply. No answer is incorrect.
I would prefer that PAD supplies my foster dog's food and veterinary care.
I would prefer to provide my foster dog's food and have PAD provide veterinary care.
I would prefer to pay for my foster dog's food AND veterinary care as directed by PAD.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONPlease check each box, that you understand the rules and policies regarding fostering a dog for Patriot Assistance Dogs. ALL boxes must be checked in order to foster a dog.
I UNDERSTAND that PAD dogs must be housed indoors, and they are not allowed to roam outside of a secure fence.
I UNDERSTAND that PAD dogs may not be kenneled outside or in a shop/garage/outbuilding.
I UNDERSTAND that PAD dogs must be crated indoors when left home unsupervised.
I UNDERSTAND that PAD dogs must be boarded at the PAD facility to accommodate foster needs.
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PAD is extremely appreciative of our foster homes and will help with troubleshooting as needed. The size of our organization enables us to work with foster homes on a case-by-case basis.
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