Puppies come in various shapes, sizes, and with different needs. If you’re new to fostering dogs, we suggest starting with older puppies (around 8-12 weeks and above) or dogs healing from an illness/injury. Many people might think they lack the space and resources to foster, but all you really need is a designated area, like a room or another closed off area in the house, especially for younger puppies!
What We Provide
We take care of a lot of the necessities when it comes to fostering. If you find a puppy or a litter, they should be brought to the shelter right away for an initial check-up, and you’ll need to register as a foster provider. This ensures the puppy/puppies receive initial veterinary care, vaccinations, deworming, and microchips once they’re old enough. Additionally, we aim to provide all our bottle-fed puppy fosters with supplies like puppy milk replacer, bottles, and nipples. We’re also working on putting together puppy kits for our bottle-fed fosters, so you have everything you need conveniently packaged in one kit!
Here are the essentials that HSNBA provides:
- For bottle babies: Puppy milk replacer, bottles/syringes, and nipples. We also have warmers available if necessary.
- Food: When required, we can supply food to our foster caregivers.
- Fecal examinations and initial, limited dewormers (other dewormers available if needed and when seen by a vet): HSNBA will maintain parasite protection throughout the fostering period
- DAPP Vaccinations starting at 6 weeks old and repeated every 2-3 weeks until adoption or maturity: HSNBA handles booster shots throughout the fostering period. All routine veterinary care (vaccine boosters, deworming, and flea protection) will be scheduled at HSNBA.
- Rabies Vaccination: If the puppy is old enough, healthy, and meets the weight requirement, they’ll receive a rabies vaccine. However, if time constraints or other factors prevent this, we’ll arrange for it as soon as possible after adoption.
- Microchip & Spay/Neuter Surgery: State law mandates that all shelter animals are microchipped and spayed or neutered, which is compulsory. Once a surgery clinic becomes available, you’ll receive an email notification with a scheduled date, and you must bring the foster puppy/dog on the surgery day, between 7:30 and 8 am. The puppy will be ready for formal adoption later that day, usually after 4 pm.
- Limited, extra vet care if needed and we have the additional funds available: If the puppy/dog requires further medical attention, the Program Manager must be informed, and arrangements will be made with a shelter-affiliated veterinarian. If the foster prefers to use their own vet, they’re responsible for all costs, and the Program Manager should still be notified to update the animal’s records.
