According to statistics, more than 920,000 animals are euthanized each year. Fosters play an essential role in saving lives! Also, if you want the company of a dog along with wanting to enrich a dog’s life but not ready for a life-time commitment fostering would be the way to go!

1. Fill out foster application. Apply here

2. Our foster coordinator will be in contact with you within the next 2-4 days to discuss what is involved when fostering a dog.

Foster parents provide a safe, temporary, loving home for our rescued dogs. We kindly ask if you can please provide your foster dog with basic training and teach foster dogs good house manners, potty training, crate training, and socialization. We rely on foster parents to provide our rescue with appealing videos and phones to expedite permanent placings for these fur babies. Potential adopters will be in contact with you to coordinate meet and greets so being responsive and available is important. You may also need to take your dog to the vet for any necessary exams if need be. We may also request to if you could kindly transport your foster dog to any adoption events 🙂

Mahina’s Ohana Rescue appreciates any assistance with care for your new foster dog. If you could provide a leash, collar, food, bowls, crate, bedding, dishes, toys, and treats we are beyond grateful. If you’re unable to provide these, we’d be more than happy to assist with these supplies. Our rescue also covers all necessary vetting expenses for the dogs.

It depends on the dog and their needs. If it’s a dog that has “special needs” it can take anywhere from 3 months to 6 months and more.

In most cases- yes. Otherwise, if you’re unable to, please consider short-term fostering.

Since our rescue is based in Clackamas, Oregon, we prefer to have fosters nearby for beneficial reasons. We accept fosters in both the state of Oregon and Washington.

Since majority of the dogs we rescue come from outside states, we do need a short-term foster in those states prior to dog arriving to Oregon.

Yes! We will do our best to match a foster dog that would fit into your schedule/lifestyle. Remember, a dog rather be left home alone than in a scary loud shelter.

Remember the 3-3-3 rule for dogs when coming into any new home environment:

• 3 days of feeling overwhelmed and nervous

• 3 weeks of settling in

• 3 months of building trust and bonding with you

REMEMBER: ALL DOGS NEED TIME TO DECOMPRESS

Most of our dogs came from different stressful and scary situations. Some dogs were neglected, abused, not socialized around any humans or other dogs, some never showed love in their lives. As foster parents, you will be their guardian angel to provide them with patience, guidance, and love. Please allow your new foster to settle into their new environment with ease by respecting their boundaries and allowing the adequate time to decompress before being adopted into their forever homes. Remember, it can take over 3 months for dogs to adjust to any new environments!

Please keep your dog separate from your other pets for a week. This will allow your foster dog to decompress and allows you to carefully monitor the dog for any medical issues prior to interaction with your own pets.

Create a “safe place” in your home by utilizing a spare bedroom or bathroom blocked with a baby gate or another barrier to keep your foster dog separate from other pets. Giving your foster dog a quiet and safe place to decompress from the stress of transitioning from life in the loud scary shelter to a totally different environment will set your foster up for success!

Keep your foster dog on a leash for the first 2 days in the house. If they exhibit any inappropriate behavior such as going potty in the house, chasing the cat, jumping, etc. you will have the ability to correct the inappropriate behaviors.

Crate your foster dog when you’re unable to supervise and any time you leave the house.

Have someone help you with a proper introduction away from your property where your other dogs might feel territorial. A great way is going for a short pack walk.

Feed dogs SEPARATELY during all meal times and remove dishes immediately after they are finished eating. We recommend feeding your foster dog in a crate during meal times. Meal times in the crate associate something positive and great for your foster dog and this will also help your foster dog get use to their crate!

Remember, we don’t know much about any of the backgrounds of the dogs we save from the shelters (just the basics). All dogs come from unknown situations, so we need to be extra cautious and mindful that some dogs are possibly intolerant of other dogs or may be dog selective, this can change if slow and proper dog introductions are done correctly. We need fosters who are willing to “crate and rotate” their foster dog in the beginning (first few weeks) until the dog shows to be more comfortable being around the other dogs in your home.

In the beginning decompression stage, please minimize interactions with your new foster dog and the other animals in your house. Keep interactions very brief. Our rescue HIGHLY recommends utilizing baby gates and crates as a way to let your foster dog and other animals smell and see each other without face-to-face contact that could lead to possible conflicts. We don’t know if these dogs we save from the shelter have been around any other pets in their previous homes or not. It’s always best to air on the side of caution and ALWAYS do slow introductions no matter what!

We always recommend pack walks as a way for your new foster dog to get used to the other dogs in your house before you plan to let them near each other. We have very high success rates when slow introductions are put into place.

For the first 2 weeks of having your foster dog try to keep your home as calm and quiet to allow your foster to ease into the new home environment with as few stressors as possible. Please eliminate going to any public areas like dog parks, training classes, daycare, etc. The decompression period is extremely important and critical for setting up your foster to transition into your home successfully and reduces the odds of any complications and issues later down the road. We appreciate you for saving a life and helping our rescue out! You are the backbone to this rescue! Thank you for your dedication, patience, and compassion!

Please watch this YouTube video on how to decompress your new foster dog!

Decompression: The Key to Adoption Success - YouTube