What Does Being A Foster Mean?

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We provide a tail wagging' experience for all of our fosters! We have an entire Foster Manual that you can follow step by step to ensure that you and your foster pup are taken care of.

As a Foster, you have TWO MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES!

• Providing your foster pup with unconditional love 
• Providing your foster pup the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a household setting

That's it! We take care of the rest. The Happy Tail Rescue will supply you with food during your pups stay. We will handle all medical, vetting expenses and appointments. We will provide you with any additional items you need for your foster.

Although fostering is a lot of work, it is a very rewarding experience. By participating in this program, you are saving lives and helping many different types of dogs find the families they’ve been longing for. Through fostering, we can work together to save them all.

There are many ways that you can contribute to our rescue just by being a volunteer!

• Interacting with our dogs by playing with them and taking them for walks
• Helping clean out kennels and our rescue area
• Greeting potential adopters with a welcoming attitude
• Joining in on our behavior and obedience training classes
• Feeding and providing treats
• Creative and fun bubble baths 

We have an entire Volunteer Manual that you can follow step by step to ensure that you and the pups you are interacting with are safe and having fun!

We have multiple volunteer opportunities that have a tad bit more responsibility. Roles such as:

• Records Manager - An obsessively organized and detail-oriented volunteer should fill this post. This individual should be tech savvy as she will be dealing with all paperwork and the animal management software. The records manager will update each animal’s profile with current location, medical history, and outcome, as well as update bios and pictures for the group’s website and other listings. As your organization grows and the number of animals coming in and out on a weekly basis explodes, this becomes one of the most overwhelming jobs. Find a couple of people to share the work or rotate the responsibilities every couple of months.
• Adoption Event Coordinator - Who likes to get up early during the weekend? Grab this person to be the events coordinator and have him plan and run weekly adoption events. Responsibilities include showing up every week to set up and break down the events, having the appropriate paperwork on hand and projecting a warm and welcoming appearance to all potential adopters and foster providers who pass by.
• Large Animal Intake Coordinator
• Puppy Intake Coordinator
• Adoption Coordinator - The adoptions coordinator position is great for someone who has reasonable email access throughout the day and time to field the many inquiries she is likely to receive. You want someone who would not feel compelled to use rigid rules for adoptions but instead would use general guidelines as set by the board of directors and is comfortable communicating with potential adopters to support the adoption process. This is another position that requires considerable tact, sensitivity and thoughtfulness. This post is a good fit for someone who is a “people person” and understands that customer service is critical to adoption success.
• Fundraising Events Coordinator - A fundraising team is necessary to help offset the organization’s expenses. Tasked with leading your rescue’s fundraising efforts, the individual in this position should have experience in event planning and should organize several different types of events throughout the year. There are countless other positions your organization can create to make the rescue group run smoothly. Think about the goals and needs of your organization and plan accordingly. And remember, nothing is set in stone—you have the flexibility to adjust positions and responsibilities to make them work for you. Once you have your team in place, create an organizational chart so that it is clear to all staff and volunteers who is in charge of each area within your rescue group. Having a photographer on staff (either a volunteer at your organization or someone in your community willing to donate time) is key. A good picture can make all the difference in getting an animal adopted. 
• Communications/Marketing/Publicity - Someone with excellent communication skills, social media savvy and webpage design experience is perfect for this job. This is also a great opportunity for someone who enjoys planning fundraising events or someone who wants to help but is not able to volunteer on a regular basis. Be careful in your choice—whoever represents you on social media will be considered the face of your organization. If you would not trust the person to give an interview to the media, she is probably not the best person to manage your organization’s online presence. You will also want a back-up administrator, someone else who has access to your social media channels in case you lose the main volunteer.
• Corporate Relations Communicator
• Volunteer Coordinator - It is a good idea to have a volunteer coordinator on board to manage the various volunteer needs throughout the organization. This person will take all the volunteer inquiries and direct them to the appropriate staff member, as well as handle volunteer orientation and training sessions. This person should be comfortable using social media and other methods to actively recruit volunteers when needed. Because the volunteer coordinator is also responsible for troubleshooting volunteer issues and potentially terminating volunteers who do not work out, choose someone who is just as comfortable having difficult conversations as she is engaging and motivating volunteers. It is also important for the volunteer coordinator to have a general idea of the needs within each area of the organization so she can create or modify shifts when there is an imbalance. For example, if one facility has 50 volunteers to fill 14 shifts, but another location has only 10, the volunteer coordinator can request that some people move to the second location. Because this person will have contact information for all volunteers in the group, she will be a good resource when other immediate needs arise, such as when an animal needs transport to a new home or to the veterinarian. This is also the go-to person when an outside group, such as a local school or business, wants to volunteer for a day.
• Social Media Coordinator
• Photographer

Each of these tasks comes with instructions on how to do them and the expectations of each. If you think one or more may be a good fit for you, let us know! We would love to have you!

We create a "no-judgement zone" for you during this process. We understand that sometimes life gets tough and we end up having to move our furry family members into the care of others and we want to help you do that comfortably.

We will ask for basic information: 

• Name, address and contact information of all owners
• Name, species, breed, sex, color, markings, age, and weight of animal
• Reasons the animal is being surrendered
• Whether the pet is microchipped and, if so, the chip number 
• Type, brand, and amount of food the animal eats 
• Activity level  

We will ask for medical information:

• Name and contact information of veterinarian
• All veterinary records
• Whether the pet is spayed or neutered 
• Date of most recent rabies shot
• Date of most recent vaccinations
• Any medical issues, including heartworm, distemper, FIV  

We will ask for behavior information:

• Any behavior issues
• If the animal has lived with children or other pets and, if so, how the animal behaves with them
• How the animal behaves around strange
• Any housetraining issues 
• Any prior bite issues 
• Any behavior training completed 

Please fill out the application with the appropriate information. If you have more than one surrender, individual applications are required for each animal surrendered.

Owner Surrender Fee: $20/surrender or litter