Dear Critter Corner: My family has recently lost our long-time family pet and really misses having a four-legged friend brightening up our home. Unfortunately, we are not quite ready to commit to adopting a new dog currently but would like to be able to help the animals at our local shelter. My husband and I have had pets all our life and did quite a bit of hands-on training with our past dog that we adopted from a shelter. We are open to the possibility of fostering a dog or working with the dogs at our local shelter but do not know where to start.
There are many ways to help at your local shelter and I would first suggest looking at available volunteer opportunities. Becoming a volunteer is not only be extremely helpful to the animals but can also be very rewarding on a personal level! Foster care programs provide shelter animals temporary housing for those that are having a difficult time adjusting and coping in the shelter environment. This not only allows the shelter animal time to decompress in a stress-free environment, but also helps shelter staff acquire more information of how a specific animal does in the home setting. With this data, shelter staff can recommend behavior modification training plans to work on any existing or new behaviors seen in the household. Having consistent hands-on training as well as exposure to everyday living situations can make a significant difference in helping an animal become more adoptable.
If you are interested in either role you can give your local shelter a call. Often, the first step to joining a foster program or becoming a volunteer is to go through an interview process with your local shelter staff. If interviewing for a foster role, remember that it is extremely important for you to ask questions as well as disclosing what specific qualities you are looking for in a foster animal and whether you are comfortable working with an animal that needs behavioral modification. Using the information that you provide, a staff member will be able assess your experience level to pair you with an animal that would best fit into your lifestyle.