Fostering with P3

P3 will provide you with all supplies you will need for your foster dog: harness, collar and ID tag, leash, crate and crate pad, food, treats and enrichment items, etc. We have several supply hubs across our geographically supported areas that fosters can pick up from and we can organize pickup at events or with the help of volunteers if needed. P3 most likely already has all supplies your foster pup will need, so just ask us if you need anything! 

Dogs just pulled from the shelter or those who just moved from one home to another need time to decompress and adjust to a new home with its new smells, sounds, schedules, etc. During the initial two weeks, we ask that the new foster dog is kept separate from other animals in the home and follows a simple routine inside as well as on walks so allow them to get used to their new people and places slowly. Enrichment, down time and lots of rewards in the form of training treats is what it's all about those first couple of weeks!

P3 works with a number of approved vet offices and hospitals throughout PA, DC, MD and VA. We try to use vets that are conveniently located for our fosters. That said, for certain procedures or specialized care, the vet we will use may require transport outside your immediate area. If you are unable to take your foster to a vet appointment, we need to know as soon as possible so we can look for volunteer help. The rescue will pay for approved vet visits, as well as for all needed medication and provide fosters with monthly heartworm and flea and tick preventatives.

In order to set up your foster pup for success, it's important to provide structure: a consistent schedule for feeding, walks, potty breaks, naps etc. will help your dog adjust to your home much faster. Physical exercise and mental enrichment are equally important and we'll be here to suggest ideas for both, as well as for safely socializing your pup.

P3 asks all fosters to crate train their pups as it makes them more adoptable. We also provide a number of helpful training materials and can jump on the phone if you have any questions or would like to get help from a trainer.

We have an amazing social media team at P3 and in order to unleash their vast creativity, we need your pictures and videos of your foster dog! Marketing your foster on social media, both the rescue's and your own, is one of the main ways to get your pup seen by their future forever family! This is vital to get interest for your foster, as is attending adoption events with our foster dog (for those pups approved to attend by the rescue). We usually have 2-3 adoption events per month and ask that each foster is able to attend at least one event a month with their foster pup. If you're unable to attend, let us know. We have a great network of volunteers who can help with transport and event handling if you can't make it.

We realize fostering is a big commitment and we're here to help ensure that this is a positive experience for the pup and you! Whenever you have out of town plans, we'll look for a temp foster to watch your pup while you're gone - just give us enough time/heads-up to find the right place. While we always hope that every dog can stay with one foster home and finds their forever home quickly, this is not always the case. And if your home turns out to be not the right one for your foster pup, we'll work on finding a new one and just ask that you give us a bit of time to do so.  We also have a great network of volunteers that we tap into for help with transport or walks, etc.

Ok so you signed up to foster because you're not ready to add a new dog to your family for good - and then you fall in love and can't possibly imagine letting your foster dog leave? It happens to the best of us - just let us know if you're considering adopting your foster so we can talk through the steps with you to make sure it's indeed the perfectly paired forever match!

Some of our foster pups will go into a foster-to-adopt home before they're fully adopted. Usually, this is the case when our pup is still recovering from some medical issues, has some training left to finish, or to ensure that the potential forever home is indeed the right one (if there are young children or other animals present that our foster pup hasn't lived with before, for example). Generally, this period is 2-3 weeks and ideally, we'd love for the pup's original foster to be available to take the pup back should the foster-to-adopt home not work out so that they can go back to their familiar surroundings without having to deal with any additional change and stress.