Join our pack of foster humans!
Do you want to help greyhounds on their journey to pet life? Join our incredible team of foster carers!
Foster care is one of the most important parts of our program as it gives greyhounds their very first taste of life as a pet. You will help each dog build confidence, learn human routines, and get ready for their forever home. Our foster carers are true heroes in a greyhound’s journey and we’re so grateful for every one of them.
What Does Fostering Involve?
The foster period usually lasts for around four weeks and includes:
- Welcoming a greyhound into your home and daily life
- Helping them learn key pet skills like stairs, sounds, routines, and play
- Working on basic training with support from our expert team (this may include toilet training, loose leash walking, and time alone).
- Letting us know how they’re going via short weekly updates
- Returning the greyhound when they’re adoption ready (we know this can be hard but we’ll support you here too).
Our adoption/foster team and behaviour team will support you throughout the foster process. You can foster if you have children, other dogs, or even cats. It gives us a chance to prepare greyhounds for a wide variety of future homes and environments.
We’ll supply everything your greyhound needs:
- Leash, collar, harness and muzzle
- Dry food
- A full info pack and guides
- All vet costs (approved by GAP and done through our trusted vet partners)
Fostering is completely free and incredibly rewarding. You get to be part of a greyhound’s very first steps into home life, and watch their personality shine as they grow.
Love and Patience
Fostered greyhounds are usually learning a whole new way of life and we ask our foster carers to be patient with the occasional accident, a restless first night, or the little hiccups as they learn how to be part of a home. Your gentle guidance and kindness go a long way in helping them thrive.
Basic Training and Confidence Building
You’ll help your foster greyhound learn simple, force-free training expectations such as walking on lead, toileting routines, and basic home manners. Don’t worry you will be supported every step of the way and we provide helpful training resources and expert advice to guide you.
Socialisation
Depending on your foster hound’s needs socialisation might include learning to feel comfortable around other dogs, children, new environments, or even cats. Every greyhound is different and our team will help you tailor this process to suit your hound.
Flexibility
While we always aim to keep things smooth and consistent sometimes a greyhound’s situation may change last minute. We ask our foster carers to be understanding if we need to reassign dogs or make adjustments. That said, we do everything we can to minimise disruptions to your routine.
Vet Care
GAP covers the cost of all necessary vet care your greyhound may need while in foster. If something does pop up, we might ask you to visit one of our partner clinics and provide transport if possible. In most cases, routine procedures like sterilisation and dental work are already completed before a dog enters a foster home.
Events + Adoption Month
Foster greyhounds sometimes attend events or public Pat + Chats to help them find their forever homes. While attending is optional it is a fantastic way to help your hound shine. During Adoption Month (April), you will likely be asked to bring your greyhound to our adoption day event to give them the best chance of finding their perfect match.
Feedback
Your feedback is absolutely vital to our adoption process as it helps us place greyhounds in homes that are just right for them. We ask for updates on their behaviour, personality, preferences, and progress. The more detail the better and we LOVE photos and videos! There’s no such thing as too much information. Our adoption/foster coordinators will also check in weekly to see how everything’s going.
