Purpose of the role:
- To provide a safe place in your home to care for a dog who may be struggling in the shelter environment.
- To support dogs with behavioural issues to allow them to thrive and adapt to the outside world.
We have seen a rise in dogs arriving with behavioural struggles at the shelter, we are looking for foster carers with previous experience in behaviour training to help support these dogs. These dogs may be simply struggling with the shelter environment, or they may have more in depth behavioural issues. The right foster carer will understand some dogs may need long term foster to tackle and support their issues and they may need space and reassurance to allow them to settle into a home environment. They will all require patience and understanding to allow them to adapt to the real world.
Responsible to:
- Arrival centre manager/supervisor
- Designated Key worker
Main duties:
- Providing warm safe space within your home
- Continuing behavioural training with the dog, following shelter advice
- It may be necessary to attend behaviour training sessions
- Monitoring your foster animal for signs of stress or illness and reporting any concerns directly to us.
- Administering medication if needed, and updating us on any concerns or development with medical conditions
- Keeping in regular contact with your appointed key worker
- Transporting our animal to any veterinary appointments/ training sessions or back to shelter to meet any potential adopters when the foster period ends
Time commitment:
Depending on your foster animals individual needs we ask you have some spare time to allow your animal to settle into their new environment, and you have flexibility to transport animals when needed
Depending on the dogs behavioural needs, foster placement may be anywhere from a few weeks to months, we will discuss the individual dogs needs prior to the foster period commencing.
What’s included:
We provide all food, walking aides, bedding, toys and training sessions if needed.
We also provide all medication where needed.
You will receive training where necessary and be given a detailed background on any medical issues or behavioural concerns. You will have a key worker who will be available for regular updates about the dogs behavioural or medical needs. They will also be on hand to offer reassurance to you and answer any concerns.
Skills and qualification:
We are looking for foster carers who have previous experience of behaviour issues, this may be with their own dogs or from formal training. Being an experienced animal owner would be a benefit but is not essential.
All we ask is:
- You must be 18 years or older
- You must hold a full driving license (necessary to ensure the animal can receive urgent veterinary treatment)
- You must be a homeowner or be able to provide written landlord permission that you are able to have a pet in the home
- You must be able to travel to our arrivals centre, NE2 4NL
All applications will be reviewed, and a telephone meeting arranged to discuss the finer details. If you are chosen as a foster carer, we will invite you down to site to meet the team, and some of our wonderful animals, to give you a clearer understanding of how the process will work.