At the Search Dog Foundation, we believe in finding the right home for every dog who enters our program—and they need your help while on their journeys to find their “fur-ever” homes!
When you sign on as a foster, you’re giving dogs the opportunity to try out their “home life” skills in a real-life home setting. Even a short, two-week “stay-cation” in a home can be an incredibly valuable experience for our dogs, and helps them better acclimate to home life once they’ve been adopted or paired with a first responder handler!
If you can’t imagine your life without dogs, but you’re not able or ready to commit to having a dog full-time, this is a great opportunity to welcome a dog into your life, without a long-term commitment!
All food, meds, veterinary care and training tools are covered and provided by SDF, and we are here to support you and our dogs throughout the entire process. Whether you’re an experienced or first-time foster, SDF will make sure you have what you need to succeed!
Are you a dog lover interested in helping dogs gain valuable home life experience through temporary foster arrangements?
Apply now to become a Foster Friend!
Still deciding? Read on to learn more about our Foster Friends program!
Frequently Asked Questions
Loving foster homes can benefit our dogs in many ways! Most of all, foster stays give our dogs a chance to decompress from kennel life while gaining valuable home life experience. Even a short stay or a part-time foster arrangement can have huge benefits for our dogs, and the home life skills they develop can help them find their way into a permanent home. Additionally, the experience they gain will allow them to better adjust to home life once they’ve found their forever home!
SDF’s top priority is the well-being of our dogs, so if it’s good for them, it’s good for us! Additionally, fostering an SDF dog opens up kennel space at our facility so we can welcome new canine recruits to our training center!
No experience necessary! Whether you’re a first-time foster or an experienced foster, we are here to support and assist you and our dogs throughout the entire process. We provide everything you need to succeed, including supplies, information, help with training, and lots of gratitude!
We are looking for dog lovers in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties (exceptions may be considered on an individual basis) who are ready to welcome a high-drive dog into their home on a temporary basis.
If you…
- love dogs
- want to provide a dog with a valuable home life experience and help them find their way into a permanent home
- enjoy fostering or want to try fostering for the first time
…then you could be a great fit for our Foster Friends program!
We are currently looking for fosters for some of our adoptable dogs, as well as some of our canine candidates.
Types of fosters needed:
- Young dog decompression foster Stays are typically 1-2 months with scheduled training visits to SDF. Our young dogs have some training and are between 6-9 months old
- Injury recovery foster Arrangements typically last 1-2 weeks with limited physical activity needed while a dog recovers from surgery or a medical issue
- Regular foster Flexible time commitments which provide our dogs with valuable home life experience while they are finding their “fur-ever” family
- Immediate-emergency foster When time is of the essence and any available foster time will help
If you’re fostering one of our adoptable dogs, adoptions are certainly allowed! Our pups have a tendency to steal hearts, so foster fails are not uncommon, and we’re always happy when one of our dogs finds a great “fur-ever” home!
That being said, even if the pup you’re fostering is adoptable, adoption is neither required nor expected. Fostering is beneficial to the dog regardless of whether the arrangement ends in adoption, and we are incredibly grateful to all who choose to foster!
Foster arrangements are generally flexible, and we will work with you to find an arrangement that fits your availability!
Typical Time Commitments:
- Short term One to two weeks
- Long term Two weeks to one month (or longer, if the foster is happy with the arrangement)
- Weekend foster Foster a dog for part of the week, as your schedule allows
- Tandem foster Split the fostering time with a friend!
Absolutely! We know schedules can get busy, and even a part-time foster arrangement can be hugely beneficial to our dogs.
We are happy to work with your schedule, and offer multiple part-time foster options, including:
- Weekend foster Foster a dog for part of the week, as your schedule allows
- Tandem foster Split the fostering time with a friend!
SDF recruits dogs for their high energy, drive and friendly personality. Each dog is unique with their own special set of traits, but many of our dogs share those qualities and tend to be young, athletic, and love to play!
There are no out-of-pocket costs to our fosters—all food, meds, veterinary care and training tools are covered and provided by SDF. We only ask that you provide your foster pup with a positive foster home experience!
In order to ensure that each of our foster pups remains healthy, happy, and safe, SDF staff and volunteers check in regularly on dogs fostered through our Foster Friends program. This process allows us to check up on how each dog and their foster family are doing, and offer support and advice as needed. You can also contact SDF with any questions or concerns you might have throughout the arrangement, and an SDF staff member will be happy to offer assistance—we’re here to help in any way we can!
Each dog is:
- Up-to-date on vaccinations
- Spayed or neutered
- Micro-chipped
- Medically screened to SDF’s program standards
- Crate-trained
Additionally, you will have the support of the Search Dog Foundation throughout the foster arrangement to ensure a happy and successful foster stay.
Ready to commit? If you are interested in providing a loving foster home for a dog through our Foster Friends program, please complete our application here and a member of our team will be in touch within 7-10 business days!
If you are interested in providing a foster home for a dog through our Foster Friends program, please complete our application:
Thank you for being Part of the Search!🐾
If you have any questions at all, you can always contact a member of our team at [email protected] or (888) 4K9-HERO.