Preparing your home

for a foster dog

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Essential Supplies

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• Food! We recommend any of the high-quality dry foods. You will be notified if your foster dog requires wet food for medical reasons. A guide for proper serving sizes for your foster can be found here.

• Food and water bowls. Any adequately sized metal, plastic or ceramic bowl will suffice.

• A collar, harness, and leash, plus cold-weather gear if seasonally appropriate.

• A dog tag with your name and contact information. These can be ordered very inexpensively online and can be used with multiple fosters!  Alternatively, write your name in Sharpie on the outside of a light-colored collar.

• A bed. This could be an old pillow or blanket.

• Poop bags! Please be a responsible dog walker!

• High value treats such as freeze-dried beef liver. Having treats around will help with both bonding and training!

• If you are transporting your foster on the subway or bus, they must be carried in a pet carrier that can be closed. Please contact us in advance if you would like a short-term loan of a case.

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To prevent escaped fosters, please refer to the image below for proper fit and back-up a harness to a collar!

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Recommended Supplies

• Chews and other toys in an appropriate size for your foster dog.

• Pee pads or old newspapers.  Not all our dogs come with a complete history and even the most well-trained dog may have a few accidents while he is settling into a new routine.  An enzymatic cleaning solution will help prevent recurrent marking in the house.

• A crate of the appropriate size, or baby gates.  Restricting the amount of room a dog has to explore makes them feel more secure in their environment, and can help with housebreaking and separation anxiety.

• Dog shampoo (or baby shampoo)

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Please note that while we do have some very limited supplies of donated dog items, there will be some financial cost to you in volunteering to foster. All supplies that you purchase for your foster dog can be considered as tax-deductible donations. Waggytail Rescue may be able to provide reimbursement for feeding or other minor expenses (keep your receipts) but please keep in mind that we operate on a very tight budget in order to rescue and rehabilitate as many dogs as possible. Any supplies that are provided to you must stay within the Waggytail Foster network and do not go with the adopted dog.