Fostering Guidelines – [STAGING] Schnauzer Love Rescue

Welcome Foster Parents to the Fostering Guidelines for Schnauzer Love Rescue, Inc. We appreciate your support by fostering these precious dogs. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact either the Intake Coordinator or Adoption Coordinator for your state/area. Contact information for these individuals can be obtained by emailing SchnauzerLoveRescueMail@gmail.com or by calling 205-853-6709.

You can serve as a foster for SLR if I work outside of my home as do many of our foster parents. The only thing we ask is that you commit to being able to care for your foster dog properly and ensure that they are safe, secure, and can properly relieve themselves at appropriate intervals while you are away. Each dog has different needs. Your Intake Coordinator will understand your situation and will only give you foster dogs that can successfully fit in with your work situation

There are two ways you can take custody of the dog assigned to you by your Intake Coordinator. First, your dog might be delivered to your home by another SLR volunteer. Second, we may ask you to go and get the dog if it is near where you live. This might include driving to someone’s house, to a shelter, to a vet’s office, or even a coordinated spot to meet up with one of our transporters. Please let your Intake Coordinator know if you will be willing to travel (and how far) to pick up your foster dog.

The average time for dogs to be in foster care before being adopted is around four weeks. We have found that it takes around three weeks just to assess the dog and to make sure all its veterinary needs have been taken care of. If the dog needs procedures like a spay/neuter or other medical issues it will probably extend the time the dog needs to be in your care before being adopted.

Getting off to a good start with your dog is very important so there are a few things that we consider to be best practices for what to do when your foster dog arrives at your home. The first is to remember the 3-3-3 rule (can be found under Resources), which describes how it will take time for your dog to adjust and for everyone in your home to get to know each other and to get used to each other. If you own other dogs try to take them and your foster dog together for a short walk before going inside the house if you can. When you return from the walk you can let them approach each other to allow them to sniff and greet each other. This is best done while still on lead in a fenced-in yard if you have one, or in a separate room like a porch. Correct any bad behaviours you see and give it some time. If the dogs are just not getting along during this meet-and-greet, separate them with a baby gate or exercise pen for a short time if needed and try again once the energy level has gone down. Only when all the dogs are calm can you let them off leash together into your home. And you can always reach out to either the Intake Coordinator or Adoption Coordinator for your state/area for advice and assistance. And even after trying everything you can, if the foster dog just does not fit in with your family or your other pets then we will find it another foster home. Hopefully it will never come to that, but if it does just talk to your Intake Coordinator.

When you receive your dog you will often receive the vet records from the previous owner as well. Please review these records upon arrival to see which of the bulleted items listed below can be checked off what still needs to be done, then get with your Intake Coordinator with the results. Even if the dog has been spayed/neutered, chipped, and up to date on all vaccines and tests, it still needs to go into the vet so they can perform a basic exam and complete the Wellness Exam Checklist. Any records that you receive with the dog, along with the ones you get from the visits to your vet, need to be placed in a folder and passed on to the adopter. Before these records are handed over to them it is important to BLACK OUT any and all of the previous owner’s information. At the adoption you need to review all of the records you have collected with the adopter.

SLR’s standard vetting consists of six standard areas and the vet’s completion of the Wellness Exam Checklist

Performance of an overall physical exam – any unidentifiable lumps require a needle aspirate and a copy of the doctor’s notes that details the findings
Chip scan – if a chip is found, record the number and company on the vet paperwork
Heartworm Test – must be negative prior to adoption
Fecal Test to check for parasites – bring a fresh sample for the test
Spay / Neuter surgery if applicable
Basic vaccinations
- Rabies
- Bordetella and Distemper – one year only
- NOTE: Do not allow vet to vaccinate for either Lepto or Influenza

If the vet tells you that your dog needs any treatments, procedures, or medications other than spay/neuter, you must first get a written estimate and pass the information on to your Intake Coordinator for approval. If the vet states that your dog needs a dental, please take a few pictures of the dog’s teeth as best you can and include them with what you send to your Intake Coordinator. Once your Intake Coordinator has indicated what items have been approved, you can return the dog to the vet. In some areas, SLR already has vets that give us a discount. Your Intake Coordinator will have that information if it is available. If there is not a discounted provider reasonably close to you, we ask that you speak with your vet and any others in your area to see if they would be willing to work with us by discounting their fees and if so, what prices they would be willing to give us on the above mentioned services or any other medical expenses that may be incurred. When you make your first appointment for your SLR dog please tell your vet we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and we can provide a copy of our IRS approval letter if needed. Let your vet know that they will be paid for their services at the time of each visit by credit card over the phone. You will be told who in SLR to call for payment. Do not pay for any goods or services with your own funds/check/credit card.

SLR will pay for all of the vetting your foster dog requires including preventatives so do get these items from the vet. You will receive Heartworm and Flea Preventatives and a Schnauzer Love Rescue Red Heart ID tag by mail shortly after you receive your dog. It is very important that you place the SLR ID tag on the dog’s collar as soon as you receive it and to keep the collar on the dog at all times. Please know that dogs are often confused about what is happening and may try to bolt out an open door in the car or your home so, it is imperative that you maintain control of your foster dog at all times and never let them off-leash unless in an enclosed area. We hope dogs never get loose, but if it happens, there is an SLR contact number on the tag.

Fosters are asked to pay for daily food and routine care items for their dogs. We all know that Schnauzers are prone to Pancreatitis, so please use high quality dog food/treats with crude fat contents of no greater than 15%. Dog safe fruits and vegetables are great treats (apple, blueberry, banana, carrots). We also ask that you provide collars, harnesses, leashes, toys, and beds as you see fit and appropriate for your dog. Please be advised that it is SLR policy to not use retractable leashes for our dogs. Also, when you are transporting your dog in the car for any reason we ask that the dog be placed in a crate so that if something unexpected happens it will be safe.

After you have had your foster for approximately three weeks you will be prompted to complete a foster profile on your dog which will be used by your Adoption Coordinator to help find a good match for your dog. Our goal is to match each dog’s needs to an applicant’s wants. It is important to take at least five great pictures as soon as your dog is groomed so they can be shared with potential adopters and added to the website. Once your Adoption Coordinator feels that a given applicant is potentially a good match for your dog, you will be asked to call them and have a conversation with them about your dog. If you agree that they are a good match your Adoption Coordinator will arrange a home visit. If the home visit is good you will be sent an email detailing the steps for your dog’s adoption with a list of all documents you will need to provide the adopters. The next step will be to talk to the adopters again to work out the details of when and where to meet for the adoption. If support is needed with transportation for long distances your adoption coordinator will take the lead to set it up.

If a good match can’t be found for your dog after vetting has been completed, you will be asked to write a short bio for your dog and send it, along with five great pictures, to the SLR webmaster. It is best to take pictures once your dog has been groomed. The pictures need to be of only the dog taken at, or close to, the dog’s level. A colorful bandana always adds a nice touch to the picture. SLR always tells our applicants that we do not generally post all of our dogs on the website because many dogs are matched to our current applications and do not need to be on the website. It is important that you do not post your foster dog on the SLR Facebook page. Your Adoption Coordinator will coordinate that if it is needed.

Other Guidelines

Your SLR Foster Dog will come to you with a name and a tag number. Do not change the dog’s name. All paperwork from pickup to adoption needs to have the same name and tag number.
Please do not let your dog out alone even within a fenced in yard due to possible encroachment of wildlife such as coyotes, alligators, hawks, etc.
When transporting your dog to any destination, they must be secured in a crate.
If your foster dog is a Schnauzer or a Schnauzer mix, it needs to be groomed like a Schnauzer. If it is not Schnauzer enough to be groomed like a Schnauzer then it can be groomed appropriately for its breed.
Administer the monthly heartworm and flea/tick preventatives that you are sent from SLR. If a preventative is due in less than two weeks after the adoption, give the appropriate dosage to the adopter and the date to be administered.
If the dog is adopted while still on prescription medication, provide a two week supply to the adopter to give them time to get their own prescription.
Check in with the adopter after the first 24 hours and first week to answer any questions they may have.