FOSTER PROGRAM INFORMATION
What we provide for our fosters:
Food
Vet appointments
Spay/neuter
Microchip
Flea and tick prevention
Crate (if necessary)
Treats, toys or bones
We have a lot of donations such as food, treats, toys, bones, collars, leashes, puppy pads, and wipes. Whenever those are available, you can pick up supplies from a LPC event, or a board member will meet you at our storage unit in Lexington.
We ask for your help with transport to vet appointments and will schedule around your availability. There are usually a couple of volunteers who can help transport, if need be. It is your responsibility to let a board member know if your foster pup seems ill or has been injured. A board member will try to schedule routine vetting care (spay/neuter or vaccines) to fit your availability as best she can. We try to have new fosters in to see a vet quickly after intake, just to make sure they are healthy. Puppies will receive 3 series of vaccinations two to three apart after intake. We ask that you do not change your foster’s rescue-given name, as all of our records are kept with the name we gave them.
For routine vetting, LPC dogs are taken to Noble View Veterinary Clinic, located at 1002 Lexington Rd Suite 16 in Georgetown, KY. Our vetting team will schedule all appointments. For spay and neuter appointments, drop off is between 7:30-8:30am on the day of surgery. Please do not allow the dog to eat or drink anything after 9pm the night before. The person listed on the dog’s paperwork at drop-off will be contacted once the dog is ready for pick-up in the afternoon. If you are provided with any paperwork at pick-up, including microchip info, please send a photo to your LPC Team Member contact.
We have found that when you bring a dog into your home, it helps to keep them separate from your pack for a bit. It doesn’t have to be totally separate or for a long time, usually a few days to a week works well. This allows time for a dog to decompress and integrate into the pack in a healthy manner. Sometimes “crate and rotate” works (where you crate the foster while the family pets are out, then crate the family pets to let the foster out) because the animals can smell and meet each other and get accustomed. **Please feed foster dogs separately from personal dogs!**
We have at least one Meet & Greet event monthly and we strongly encourage you to bring your foster. These are super important because they give the public an opportunity to meet our dogs and they get tons of socialization and exposure at these events. That being said, we may not be able to have every available dog at every event. We will prioritize dogs who need the exposure (those who don’t have any applications in process). We have volunteers who can bring your foster in your place, if need be. Puppies that have had 2 rounds of shots can come to these events as well. Please, please, please, keep puppies who haven’t had their 2nd round of shots at home. Don’t take them to parks, stores, or playgrounds until one week after they have had their 2nd round of shots. They are more susceptible to diseases without that 2nd round of shots. We have “Adopt Me” bandanas, leashes and collars available for when you bring your foster in public. Wearing one of those can be a great way to help the dog you foster get some attention when in public. It may be the key in helping them find their forever family!
In general, bringing your foster dog to a public dog park is not allowed. However, if you’d like to plan a playdate in a controlled environment with dogs we are familiar with, that should be fine.
We would love for our Foster Volunteers to help teach basic manners like sitting, potty training, walking on a leash, not nipping, or anything else that would help make them adoptable. Also take lots of clear pictures and post them on Facebook! Natural lighting for photos is preferred. Quality photos make all the difference in getting dogs noticed.
We do not condone punishment such as hitting or swatting. A lot of our fosters come from physically abusive situations. We suggest spray bottles with vinegar & water. If you need help, you can reach out to anyone in the Facebook group, they all have tricks to pass along.
As a Foster Volunteer, you accept the risk of illness/injury to your family dogs by bringing in unknown fosters. This includes illnesses such as kennel cough, worms, and fleas, etc. Fights may occur in packs, unfortunately, if your family dog is injured, the vetting is your responsibility. This is yet another reason to integrate a foster slowly and always feed them separately.
The general process from an intake request to adoption: A request can come from a surrendering owner or a shelter. Our Intake Coordinator gets an email and gathers information about the dog, such as temperament, health concerns, and background. Then, they decide based on space and policies if we are able to place the dog in a foster that fits the criteria. If there is a dog you’d like to pull from a shelter and foster yourself, please reach out to the Intake Coordinator to discuss.
If we receive an adoption application for your foster, our Adoptions Coordinator will be in touch. During application processing, we do some routine checks. We call the applicant’s vet, landlord (or verify homeownership) and personal references. Next, we set up a home visit. We just want to make sure they can and will meet the dog’s needs. After the home visit, we set up a meet and greet. We do this, so the foster can meet the potential adopters, other animals, and children in their home. We want it to be a great fit! If all goes well, the foster dog will spend the next two weeks as a trial period, so if anything goes wrong, he or she can come back to the foster home. If it all works out, the adopters will finalize the paperwork and ownership of the dog will be transferred.
Adoption Fees:
Puppies under 6 months $300
Puppies 6-11months $250
Adults over 1 year $200
Discount for foster-to-adopt and previous adopters: $50
The adoption fees cover vaccinations, microchipping, spay/neuter, and any flea/tick treatment and deworming treatment, if necessary.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact anyone below:
Gracie Bishop - Intake Coordinator
intake@lexpitcrew.org
Stephanie Ross - Adoptions Coordinator
adoptions@lexpitcrew.org