Stop, Think and Research before you commit!

But first, a deep breath, as sorry to say this is the boring but necessary bit... you should

never rush into bringing a dog into your life,

as a foster or a forever dog.

Don't offer to foster a dog because you think it's pretty

- check you fit the dog's needs, and don't get angry at the rescue if you're not a good fit for that dog- listen to them! They know the dog best and the dog(s) they suggest will be the best for you provided you have been honest with what you can provide.

Fostering is about the dogs,

so you need to have a good think, and even make a list, of the types of dogs (not just the breeds!) and their characters you have experience with before you contact a rescue. Maybe you're better with active dogs who need lots of walks, or would like to look into fostering seniors, or pups with disabilities. Maybe the character of dog you connect to and get the best out of are the bolshy ones, or the noisy ones, or the scared ones...we can help you with this list, as you may be good at stuff you never realised, but at least start to get some ideas down on paper or something.

If you 'get' this, then you know you're serious about fostering and can drop us a line!

Yes, that makes sense. I've done my list, now what could I do to prepare to be a good foster?

Unfortunately first time dog owners can't be fosters. These dogs are from rescues and need a calm, consistent and experienced in home set up.

If you are a first time dog owner though, you could engage our foster services.

The first thing you can do is read all the blogs. It could be good to start with what kind of organisation we are and how we do stuff. We do have

large print versions

as well, to download too!

They are written by our fosters and adopters for our adopters and cover a wide range of subjects.

To become a foster for us you will also need to have/ensure you undertake the following:

Required

Something that can open and write on PDFs or electronic files sent on a computer or other device (we recommend this if your device does not automatically open PDFs, Macbooks/Apple products have Preview that is easy to use and write on documents) as the documents will be sent that way by email as part of our 🌳eco friendly policy🌳. We are happy to help you with all aspects of this provided we know what you need.

Click the pic to get the app- no we don't get commission for this! We have an Equity For All Policy, which means we help fosters help us, and never assume all our fosters are good at tech. After all the most important thing is to be good at dogs!

We must have help from the foster in raising funds for the bus and pre travel tests, treatments and checks. Or for any vet bills in the UK.

This could be money or time donations- sharing our bus or vet bill appeal to coming up with funding ideas, designing the bus appeal flyer, promoting old school with flyers or cards when out and about, or even setting up your own crowdfunder or funding event (coffee morning, cake sale, raffle etc) to help us get the dog to the foster home or pay a vet bill. We are not a charity, we are a non profit organisation with very different but equally strict laws we have to follow to ensure our accounts balance. You will need to join and participate weekly in our Facebook fundraising group.

Once you've passed the three stages of checks we do (if not a previous adopter after 1 Feb 2021 as you will have already passed all our post Brexit tests and checks) you will need to create a Lora's Luck email, then a Skype

eg. JoannaforLorasLuck @ gmail.com (not a real email)

for the regular updates

sending daily photos and videos to the rescue 'foster support chat' on our secure and moderated Skype portal (and other relevant support chats we have) for the first 2-3 days (DEFRA quarantine period) onwards.
The email can be used for Skype group moderated chats and to attend LL company meetings only, there are no PMs permitted on Skype without prior permission on a group chat in writing, all chats are done in moderated groups for data protection and any emails you get to your LL email that are not from us (such as someone asking you directly to adopt your foster dog) please forward to our main email for the legal team to see as this breaches our data protection and privacy policy. This email mustn't include your surname, age, location or any other identifiers.
a good space in your freezer for raw food
A PayPal account as some of these dogs have funds for foster that will be transferred to help with any unexpected extra costs (but please see the foster contract you will get once you agree to foster). Previous adopters will notice the foster contract itself/ the terms and conditions are almost identical to their post January (Brexit) 2021 adoption contracts where the main difference is Lora’s Luck usually pays the happy bus, not the foster.
a slip lead, microchip registration and ID tag (see below.)
We also require red mite diatomaceous earth to be part of the dog's diet (which we sell too) as a natural deflea/worm/tick food supplement- a fraction of the price of conventional treatments and all natural!
have a notepad, either paper or a Word document or equivalent, ready to note observations of your foster to raise in the support chat or for your foster reports we publish across all our social media, and on our website.

Optional

We provide 'FREE' (it comes from donations) at least some of the following, up to the value of £100 (apart from tags and chip registry which are always sent because they are a legal requirement):

microchip registration with Petlog Premium
ID tag
diatomaceous earth
collar
lead
blanket
selection of toys
raised food bowl
bed
harness
slip lead
approved treats (no grain, no rawhide)

though most fosters already have some of these as they have/had dogs(s) already. We offer all sorts of support to help you equip your foster dog from recommended links to products we use and/or sell in our shop depending on what's in stock, dog size and needs to all you could need from food to bowls to wet pads to beds!

We also recommend a harness if going in a car (or being walked by roads), and a seat belt clip or head rest clip, which we also sell in our shop. Most do well in a hammock for example or prefer a harness to the tug of a collar.As the rescue shop is now set up other items like pads, bowls, trial size valerian or other herbal relaxant, shampoo, cleaner, diatomaceous earth etc can also be in the starter foster pack within reason/size of foster pack we need to send out. But they can also be bought from us at cost +VAT as we are a non profit organisation.

Anything needed over the value of £100 needs to be provided by the foster. (We do of course cover vet fees*.) Food is not included unless the dog is sponsored by our donors (Aunties and Uncles), we raw feed (and start on chicken), and avoid grain even in treats. It can cost a medium dog less than £1 a day to raw feed and provides the best and health benefits. You see improvement in the coat and energy levels almost immediately, and are less likely to have allergies or health problems. We know a lot of great outlets who sell this and also deliver. Fosters are more than welcome to help us get sponsors for their foster dog.

You will need the slip lead (also on sale in our shop) for when the Happy Bus drops off your pup(s)/ you collect your pup(s) from the Happy Bus if you join our team as a fosterer of dogs coming straight from our overseas rescue colleagues, or from another UK home. They put the lead on the dog for you, safely give you the dog, and also give you the dog's passport and all other documentation (which have to travel with the dog), this a security/legal requirement.

Sound ok so far? Great!

Read on once more...

On arrival

When you collect the dog either from the bus or the UK residence, PLEASE do not forget to check in the passport that comes with the dog is fully documented (all injections, rabies, chip etc), the back up health book, and the white paper document which is a the intra-trade DEFRA doc. Should you be visited/ inspected by DEFRA that is what they’ll need to see else the dog could be confiscated and deported/PTS. As soon as the dog(s) is/are on your vehicle/in your home Lora’s Luck transfer the chips to you which won’t cost you a penny but costs us £19.95 as we do the Premium Service, confirmation of which you will get by email.

Once your pup has arrived, our rules, guidelines and your/our discussed plans for the following need to be kept to.

We offer 24/7 support for the first week, reducing to four days a week 12-12 after that (emergencies aside).

Particular goals to focus/report progress on, decompression depending:

getting used to the dog's body language, reporting in your support chat what you're observing/get advice
getting used to food-water-toilet-sleep decompression routine
getting used to toileting outside
getting used to recall (do not invent nicknames for the dog, or change the dog's name** and only use their names sparingly, they don't understand (much) English yet and need instructions and command words first)
getting used to basic commands- sit, wait, stay.
getting used to a collar and lead and/or harness to go on walks, then going on walks
getting used to being in a vehicle if you have one, or public transport
getting used to cats/other pets (dogs, hamsters, gerbils, fish etc) testing if you’re a foster with other pets and appropriate introductions to resident or visiting pets, children or other adults. If fosters do not have access to a vehicle, or visiting children or pets then they are not obliged to test the dogs for this in the home. But they will be expected to ensure the fosters are ok with these on walks and out and about.
what you are doing to discourage chewing/destructive behaviour/nipping (common in puppies)
be in the habit of collecting and sending in photos and/or videos in the home, garden,meeting people and other dogs/pets/children and on walks else we can’t promote the foster dog on the internet- you need to have a decent cam/smart/camphone for this.
getting used to meeting new humans and/or new residences or public places (friend or family homes, § dog friendly cafes etc)

Full help and advice on all this is given in your support chat.

There’s no strict timeframe for any foster dog for settling and training as it’s all decompression dependent, and we know that NOT one size fits all. However, a good guide is to have them at least mostly toilet trained/trained not to chew items they shouldn’t within one month of arrival. This is their best chance of being adopted.

Graphic provided by Akashic For Lora's Luck

Photos and videos must not contain identifying features such as faces and locations for data protection as they go on our social media platforms and our YouTube channel.

When they leave

When the pup moves on to their forever place, any items donated by Lora’s Luck must either go to the forever home and paid for by the adopter (to Lora’s Luck) or left at the foster’s for the next dog. For reasons of continuity, hygiene and practicality we prefer soft items (beds, blankets) and toys to go with the dog at the very least. Anything else the foster wishes to provide is more than welcome, and gratefully received.

What if a foster fails?

Well there’s 'good fail' (the foster decides to adopt) and 'bad fail'.

'Good fail' just means we arrange payment of donation reserve (which recovers for the organisation costs incurred for the dog including chip transfer, bus fare and the like) and adoption donation, with new legal documents as proof, and close the open promotional album of that dog apart from happy in their new home updates.

'Bad fail' is basically if there is a problem that contravenes our terms and conditions, we discuss it all on the support chat to see what can be done, and as we are RBU (Rescue Back Up) it’s up to LORA’S LUCK to find them a new place/liaise with all parties to find a new place if it does not work out. The dog cannot be just given away or euthanised without discussion with us as we have to house check wherever a dog lives.

Conversely, long term it’s not practical for adoptions to fail the ‘good way’- Good fosters are hard to come by, and there are always dogs in need sadly. However, should a friend/neighbour/family member/person you encounter on a walk express an interest in your foster puppy, please get them to contact us by email lorasqueries@outlook.com after checking out the website blogs and reading the pinned post on Facebook, which they can request in email in PDF (also large print) or read it here.

We are only this thorough to protect the dogs.

So if you'd like to join us, you can contact us here on the website or use our applications email lorasqueries@outlook.com

We look forward to working with you!

* unless the vet bill has been caused by neglect- incorrect feeding, not supervising the dog and it eats (etc) something harmful or anything else that would break the Animal Welfare Act. Since Brexit we no longer send any unneutered dogs to any home.

** most dogs know their rescue name already. If they 'seem' not to, after a week or more, though we prefer to neutral/command word training not name or treat based training, then discuss it in your Skype support portal. It's easy to forget this is not 'your' dog, it's ours (the rescue's) so you need to respect their rules and wishes on this and all other matters.

§ if you take the dog to a friend's or family member's home to visit, they must be aware of our terms and conditions and read and stick to our decompression rules and advice.

Want to become a foster for Lora's Luck? Read on!