Foster a Samoyed: What to Know
Foster homes are among the most valuable resources in rescue.
Fostering a Samoyed comes with all the same considerations as adopting a Samoyed, with one big caveat: your home is a bridge to the Samoyed’s forever home.
As a foster home, you’ll be taking in a Samoyed from what is more often than not a stressful situation, whether via a shelter or direct owner surrender. We’ll look to you (and any resident Sammies) for help in providing a supportive environment, and learning more about the true personality of the foster Samoyed as it emerges.
We’ll also ask that you handle the logistics (though Northwest Samoyed Rescue will handle the expense) of initial veterinarian care (whether a baseline checkup or a spaying / neutering if age appropriate) and grooming care. We’ll also ask for your help in sharing what you learn about the foster Samoyed’s personality (in words, pictures and videos) so we can best tell their story on our website when it’s time to make them officially available to adopt (typically within a couple weeks of intake into foster).
While the most valuable type of foster is a “serial foster” who fully expects each foster dog they take in to eventually graduate to a forever home, we do sometimes have “foster fails” (in the best sense of the term), where a dog’s foster home becomes its permanent home. That’s ok! Some applicants view fostering as an opportunity to “try out” a dog to see if it’s a fit (and have an option to find the right forever home if it’s not), and that’s ok too — we have some wonderful adoption stories that took this path — but please let us know in the application if that’s how you’re approaching fostering, and do recognize that if it’s not a fit, the timing of how long it takes to find a Samoyed a forever home can be unpredictable, especially if there are health or behavioral issues at play.
The most important thing we ask of people considering fostering is that once you do apply, you keep that commitment to foster when the need arises. Vetting a foster home is a significant investment (we do a home visit much like with our adoption application process) and when there’s a foster need it’s usually on short notice. Having presumed foster commitments evaporate right at the point when we need them is, frankly, quite damaging to rescue. If you have any doubt about your ability to commit to fostering, it’s best to not apply until you’re sure you’ll be able to follow through.
If you’ve made it this far, we would be delighted to get your application. A great foster is worth its weight in gold.
Ready to Foster?