+ What is the foster period/ time commitment?

Adoptions can happen anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months depending on age, health and adoption requirements. In our experience, a foster period generally lasts 4-8 weeks and we ask that you only apply if you are ready for this commitment. With sufficient notice, PMR may be able to accommodate brief periods for your foster dog to go to an approved dog sitter.

+ What are my responsibilities as a foster parent?

• Giving your dog the chance at a life they always deserved. Fostering can be hard and that is why we are here to support you and value what you do so much. Because every dog is different, fostering is less about enjoying the things that come with dog ownership and more about taking in a dog during their most vulnerable, problematic state and rehabilitating them to give them a chance at a full life.
• Ensuring a proper decompression period - We know having a foster dog can be fun and exciting but the most important role of a foster is to first and foremost allow the dog to decompress in an environment that is not over-stimulating. They should not be meeting your friends and going for hikes within the first week that they are with you. Exposing them to too many things so soon can result in undesirable behaviours that were not present during our assessment when we pulled them.
• Provide regular exercise, socialization, and enrichment opportunities.
• Provide basic training including crate training, and mitigating separation anxiety.
• Maintaining an open line of communication with your foster coordinator - it is paramount that any health concerns are immediately brought to our attention.
• Bringing your mutter to vet appointments if/when required.
• Assessing their needs and personality to provide a detailed bio for your foster dog.
• Honouring the rules (double leash at all times, collars do not come off, no dog park, do not leave the city with your foster mutter.)
• In coordination with the adoption team, bring your foster dog to meet and greets with approved applicants.
• When your foster dog has been adopted, return all supplies to a designated drop off point.

+ Can I adopt my foster?

An approval to adopt your foster dog will be contingent on a clear intention of your plans upon applying to foster. In this case, you will have 10 days from when you receive your foster to decide if you'd like to move forward with adoption. Fosters must complete our adoption application and go through the full adoption process which includes a ZOOM interview with two Adoption Coordinators.

Although we love a foster fail, ultimately we have a thorough interview and matching process that will ensure the best fit for our mutters based on their individual needs.

+ Can I foster if I have a young child?

If you are only applying to foster, we require foster families to have no children under the age of 16. Foster to Adopt applications with young children in the household will be assessed on case by case basis. There are situations where our mutters came from a foster home in their country of origin that had young children and in these special cases we can make exceptions as we would have a better understanding of the dogs temperament. However, respect is a two way street and it is the parent’s full responsibility to ensure their child understands how to interact with a foster dog.

+ Are temperament and behaviour assessments guaranteed?

Everything we do is done in good faith and although we do our absolute best to provide accurate descriptions and disclose everything we know about the dog, nothing in rescue is guaranteed. The dogs we bring into our care are selected based on an assessment of the promising qualities they exhibit with the understanding that it may require additional time for those redemptive qualities to reappear. Behaviours are a product of their environment and our original assessments may not always hold true after the sudden environment changes the mutters experience. The new experiences of transport, rehoming, acclimatizing to a new environment and people can scare them and it may take time for them to display the sweet, loving, playful or gentle behaviour we chose them to begin with. That said, patience and understanding will be key in successfully transitioning your foster mutter to be adoption ready.

+ I want to foster, but I can't afford to pay. Is that okay?

All necessary supplies and vetting costs are covered by Peanut Mutter Rescue. The extent of whether non-necessary supplies (i.e toys, beds, treats etc) will be provided is contingent on donations and priority will be given to repeat fosters. At the end of your foster term, you must clean and return these supplies to us. Fosters will be responsible to replace lost, missing or damaged items.

+ I work 9-5, can I still foster?

So long as your work day, door to door, does not exceed 9 hours and you are able to allow your mutter out for a lunchtime walk , we'd love to have you as a foster! We suggest no longer than 4 hours in the crate at a time during the day. Our intakes generally happen before the weekends and we require our fosters to have the first three days freed up to help our mutters decompress after their travels. For puppies, they cannot be left alone more than 3 hours at a time. Puppy fosters would be best suited to those who WFH or have very flexible schedules that allow frequent pee breaks/check ins.

+ Do I have to live within the GTA to foster?

At this time, it is a requirement for all of our fosters to live in the GTA. As we expand and continue to make more partnerships, we hope our boundaries will expand with us, so keep checking back!

+ What happens in the event of a personal emergency that requires me to terminate my foster commitment whether temporarily or permanently?

We will always try our best to accommodate emergencies at a moment's notice however as we are 100% volunteer run, we require at least 7 days to rehome our mutter. As most fosters will volunteer for multiple rescues, it can be hard to rehome a dog at a moment’s notice. Under no circumstances can you leave your mutter with an unauthorized person.

+ Are we allowed to bring our foster mutters to the dog park?

We do not allow foster dogs to be brought to a dog park. Every foster should be viewed as a potential flight risk, and during decompression their behaviours and temperament are still under assessment. If this rule is violated, the foster parent assumes the responsibility of all costs in the event of an incident. The backgrounds of these dogs are unknown and thus it would not be responsible or safe to put our foster dogs in an uncontrolled situation where any dog, not just your foster dog, may start a fight.