Questions to Ask Potential Dog Foster Families
For rescue coordinators and volunteers interviewing a household that has applied to foster a dog. The questions follow the order of a screening: the applicant's experience, the home and yard, the people and pets already living there, the daily routine, what the rescue will need from them, and how long they can commit. Most of it suits the phone call; the home and yard group is best finished on the visit, where you can look for yourself.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Experience
What made you decide to apply to foster a dog now?
Why ask it
Listen for something about the present: a dog who died last spring, a child gone to college, a job that moved home. 'I just love dogs' is a fine start, so follow it with what has changed in their life that makes room for one. An applicant who can say why now has usually pictured the weeks ahead.
Which dogs have you lived with as an adult, and what became of each one?
Why ask it
The second half is the screening part. Dogs kept into old age, or rehomed for a reason the applicant can explain plainly, read very differently from a run of dogs that 'got out' or were given away inside a year. A first-time owner is not a mark against anyone: match them with an easy dog.
Have you fostered before, for us or for another rescue, and may we call them?
Why ask it
Ask how many dogs, how long each stayed and why they stopped. A previous coordinator can tell you in two minutes whether this person answered messages and turned up for appointments. If they left the other group on bad terms, hear their account before you make the call.
Is there a size, age or type of dog you would not be comfortable taking?
Why ask it
A clear no is honest and useful, so thank them for it and put it in the file. 'We will take anything' usually comes from someone who has not pictured a seventy-pound adolescent on their stairs, so describe two dogs on your waiting list and watch the reaction.
Tell me about a behavior problem you have dealt with in a dog, and what you did about it.
Why ask it
What they tried and how long they kept at it matters more than whether it worked. Talk of shock collars, pinning a dog down or 'showing him who is boss' calls for a conversation about the methods your rescue allows before any dog goes there. For an applicant with no story to tell, hand them one: a dog who drags so hard on the leash that nobody wants to walk him. What then?
How would you feel about a dog who has accidents indoors for the first few weeks?
Why ask it
Plenty of dogs coming out of a kennel or off the street have forgotten their house manners or never learned any, whatever their age. A shrug and 'we have hard floors and a mop' is what you hope for. A long pause, or a mention of new carpet, points toward a dog already known to be clean indoors.
Have you ever given a dog medication, looked after one following surgery, or nursed a sick one?
Why ask it
Pills, eye drops, a cone and weeks of crate rest are ordinary foster work. Experience is a bonus and willingness is the requirement, so ask which of those they would be prepared to learn. Make a note of anyone who can give injections or bottle-feed, since such homes are scarce.
Would you take a fearful dog who hides, will not eat in front of you, or cannot yet be walked?
Why ask it
Shy dogs need a foster who can leave them alone, which is hard for someone who applied in order to cuddle a dog. Ask what they would do on day three with the dog still under the bed. 'Let her come out when she is ready' is the answer to build on.
What training methods and equipment do you use, and will you follow ours while the dog is with you?
Why ask it
State your policy first if you have one, such as which collars and harnesses are allowed and how the crate is used, then ask. If your foster agreement says the dog stays the rescue's and the rescue's rules go home with it, read that line aloud now. Hearing it on the phone is easier for both of you than hearing it in week two, over a collar you did not approve.
Can you give us two references, one of them a vet's office if you have had pets?
Why ask it
From the clinic you want to know whether the pets were seen regularly and kept on preventives. Clinics generally need the client's permission to share that, so collect it on the application form. For the personal reference one question does the job: would you leave your own dog with this person for a month?
Home and yard
Do you own or rent, and if you rent, can you show us the landlord's permission in writing?
Why ask it
Ask to see the lease clause or a short email from the landlord that names dogs, and look for limits on size, breed or number. Rules for rentals, condos and homeowner associations differ from one place and one building to the next, so read what applies to this address. If a landlord who never agreed finds the dog, you may be hunting for another foster home by the weekend.
Is it a house or an apartment, how many floors, and how would a dog get outside from there?
Why ask it
Stairs rule out some seniors and dogs recovering from orthopedic surgery, and an elevator with a shared lobby is hard on a dog who reacts to strangers. None of it disqualifies the home. It tells you which dogs to offer.
Is there a yard, is it fenced all the way around, and how tall is the fence?
Why ask it
Get the height, the material and how the gate latches, then on the visit walk the whole line yourself, looking for gaps underneath and for anything stacked against it that a dog could climb. A rescue that places without a fence can skip the measurements and go straight to the next question.
Without a fenced yard, what would toilet trips look like at six in the morning and eleven at night?
Why ask it
Apartment fosters do this well all the time, and putting real hours on it is what makes the applicant think it through. You want to hear leash, every trip, no exceptions, because a dog who arrived yesterday has no reason to come back if it gets loose. Mention that this includes rain and the week they have the flu.
Which doors open straight onto the street or an unfenced area, and who tends to leave them open?
Why ask it
An open front door is the classic way a newly placed dog gets out, and after two days in a house it has no idea that this is home. Children, deliveries and the automatic garage door are the usual culprits. Ask what they would change: a gate across the hall, a leash clipped on before the door opens, a note for visitors.
If the dog slipped out of the door or over the fence, what would you do in the first ten minutes?
Why ask it
Most people say they would run after it calling its name, which tends to send a frightened dog farther. The part that matters to you is being phoned within minutes, not the next morning after they have searched alone. Give every new foster your lost-dog steps on paper, with the microchip number and your emergency line already filled in.
Where would the dog sleep at night, and which rooms would it be allowed in?
Why ask it
The plan to listen for is indoors and near the family, with a quiet corner the dog can retreat to. A garage, a basement or an outdoor kennel is a different arrangement, and if your rescue will not place into one, the applicant should hear that now and not at drop-off. On the visit, ask to be shown the spot.
Is there a room or gated area where a new dog could be kept apart from your pets for the first couple of weeks?
Why ask it
Many rescues ask for a separation period after arrival, both for illness that has not shown itself yet and to let the dog settle, so tell them how long yours is. A spare room, a laundry room with a gate or a crate behind a closed door all work. An open-plan apartment with three cats needs more thought before you place there.
Is there anything in the house or yard a dog could be hurt by: a pool, a balcony, a busy road, stored chemicals?
Why ask it
On the phone this gets a quick no. Standing in the yard on the home visit, it gets a real look, and uncovered pools, low balcony rails and compost heaps are the ones people miss. Agree on the fix before placement instead of after.
Does your insurer, your building or your town limit the breed, size or number of dogs you can have?
Why ask it
You cannot answer this one for them, and it differs by insurer, building and local rules, so ask them to check and report back. It matters most when the dogs you place are large or of a type that policies tend to name. Be ready for the question in return: how your rescue's own coverage treats a dog in foster.
When could we visit, with everyone who lives there at home?
Why ask it
Book the visit before you promise anyone a dog. Where distance makes it impossible, a live video walk-through can stand in: have them show you the fence line, the door the dog would go out by and the place the crate would sit. Whichever you use, hold every applicant to the same rule, the board member's neighbor included.
People and pets
Who lives in the home, and has every adult agreed to fostering?
Why ask it
A partner or roommate who never wanted the dog is a familiar reason for one coming back in its first week. Try to speak to each adult, or meet them all on the home visit. If one of them is 'fine with it' but never appears, hold off.
How old are the children who live with you or visit often, and what are they like around dogs?
Why ask it
Ages decide which dogs you offer: a mouthy adolescent dog and a toddler are a poor match however kind the family is. Ask who supervises and what the house rule is while the dog is eating or asleep. If your rescue sets a minimum age for some dogs, say so here.
Does anyone in the household have allergies, a fear of dogs, or difficulty handling a strong dog?
Why ask it
Put it as a practical matter and take what is offered; you are not asking for anyone's medical history. An adult who is unsteady on their feet points you toward a small or calm dog, and a housemate who is afraid needs to have agreed in person. If nobody knows whether an allergy exists, suggest an afternoon with a friend's dog before a foster arrives.
What animals live with you now, how old is each one, and are they spayed or neutered?
Why ask it
Get the whole list, including cats, rabbits, chickens and anything in a cage, because a dog with a strong chase instinct does not stop at cats. Ask which are male and which female too: sex and neuter status steer the match, and some rescues will not place with unaltered pets. Write the names down, since you will be using them in every later conversation.
Are your own pets current on vaccinations and parasite prevention, and may we confirm that with your vet?
Why ask it
A foster dog can arrive carrying a cough, worms or fleas that nobody saw at intake, so this protects the applicant's animals as much as yours. Which vaccines to ask for is a matter for your rescue's vet and policy. Take the clinic's name and make the call before a dog is placed.
Has any dog in your home been seriously ill in the past year, with parvo, distemper or a cough that spread to others?
Why ask it
This one decides whether a young or unvaccinated puppy can go there. Some infections can be picked up from a floor or a yard after the sick dog has gone, and how long to wait is for your rescue's vet to say, not for you or the applicant to guess. A yes does not close the home: ask the vet which of your dogs could safely go there in the meantime.
How does your dog react when another dog comes into the house, the yard or near the food bowl?
Why ask it
Friendly at the park is not the same as friendly at home. Ask about visiting dogs in particular, and about toys, chews and the owner's lap. A resident dog who guards any of those can still share a house with separate meals and a slow introduction, but you need to know before choosing the foster.
Has any pet of yours ever bitten or injured a person or another animal?
Why ask it
Say it plainly and then stay quiet. The circumstances matter, since a snap on the vet's table is a long way from a fight that ended in stitches. Whatever you hear, write it down in their words and take it to whoever approves homes before a dog goes there.
How would you introduce a foster dog to the pets you already have?
Why ask it
A sound plan has the dogs meet outdoors on neutral ground, briefly, on loose leashes, and live apart indoors for a while afterward. If the plan is 'they will sort it out', talk them through your rescue's method and offer to be there for the first meeting. Ask separately about the cat: where can it go that a dog cannot follow?
Who will be the dog's main caregiver, and who takes over when that person is ill or away?
Why ask it
One name should come back quickly. When the answer is 'the kids' or 'all of us', ask who gets up at three in the morning with a dog who has an upset stomach. Take a second adult's phone number as well as the first.
Do you have regular visitors, clients or children coming and going during the day?
Why ask it
A house with a steady flow of people suits a sociable, settled dog and wears on a fearful one. Find out where the dog would be during those hours. Home daycares and similar businesses can have their own rules about animals on the premises, so ask the applicant to check what applies to theirs.
Daily routine
On a normal weekday, between which hours is nobody home?
Why ask it
Get clock times and count from the door closing to the door opening, commute included. Then match honestly: puppies and dogs on timed medication need someone back at midday, while a settled adult may cope with a working day. Ask whether anyone could come home at lunch, or whether a neighbor or a walker is possible.
Where would the dog be while you are out?
Why ask it
Loose in the house, crated, gated in the kitchen and out in the yard are four different answers. Unsupervised yard time is how dogs dig out, go missing or bark their way into a neighbor's complaint, so say what your rescue permits. Raise it too if the foster would share a room with the resident pets while the house is empty.
How do you feel about using a crate, and have you used one before?
Why ask it
Some applicants think crates are cruel and some would shut a dog in one for ten hours, and you need to know which you are talking to. Explain what your rescue asks for: the car, the first nights, meals apart from other pets. Reluctance often fades when the crate is on loan and someone shows them how to introduce it.
How much exercise could you realistically give a dog on a workday, and what kind?
Why ask it
'Realistically' is the word doing the work. Two twenty-minute leash walks is an honest answer that tells you to offer a senior or a sofa dog, not the young husky mix. Go gently with the runner who wants a jogging partner next week, because many dogs arrive thin, unvaccinated or never having worn a leash.
What would you do if the dog barked, howled or chewed at the door the first time you left?
Why ask it
Distress at being left is common in the early weeks, and it is the problem the neighbors hear. A good answer has short absences that lengthen slowly and a call to you early on. The outcome to head off is silence until the landlord complains, so tell them you want to hear on day one.
What happens to your own pets when you travel, and what would you do with a foster dog?
Why ask it
Fosters do take vacations. What matters is notice and who has the dog, so tell them how your rescue handles it: a named temporary foster, approved sitters only, or boarding that you arrange. An applicant with three trips booked this season is better started after the last one.
What would you feed a foster dog, and will you keep to a diet if we set one?
Why ask it
Begin with who pays, since some rescues supply the food, some reimburse and some ask the foster to cover it. Then check they would hold to a prescription diet or a no-treats rule for a dog with stomach or skin trouble. The follow-up is who else in the house slips scraps under the table.
Rescue duties
Can you get a dog to our vet during weekday clinic hours, and how far away are you?
Why ask it
Name the clinic and its hours so that they are answering about an actual drive. A foster who cannot leave work is still worth having if you have transport volunteers, but you need to know now. Spell out the first month, when an intake exam, vaccines, a spay or neuter and a recheck can add up to four trips.
Do you have a car the dog can ride in, and how would it be secured?
Why ask it
This covers two things at once: whether transport exists, and whether a frightened dog would be loose on someone's lap on the highway. A crate or a harness clipped to the seat belt is what to listen for. Rules on restraining animals in vehicles vary by place, so point them to the ones that apply locally.
If the dog became very ill at night or over a weekend, what would you do first?
Why ask it
The answer you are steering toward is 'call the rescue's emergency number', so hand that number over and say who approves treatment and who pays. People who would drive straight to the nearest emergency hospital mean well, and they need to hear how your approval and billing work before a bill is in dispute. Follow up by asking what they would count as an emergency.
Could you bring the dog to adoption events, and on how many weekends a month?
Why ask it
If events are how your dogs find homes, a foster who never attends has a dog nobody meets. Give the dates and places of the next two. Where weekends are impossible, ask whether they would do meet-and-greets at a park or pass the dog to an event volunteer for the day.
Will you send us photos, short videos and notes on the dog for the adoption listing?
Why ask it
A picture of the dog asleep on a sofa tells adopters something a kennel shot cannot. Ask for a first update within a few days and then at an interval you name. The detail you most want is the unflattering kind, like what he does when the doorbell rings.
Are you comfortable talking to possible adopters or having them meet the dog, and where would that happen?
Why ask it
Some fosters love this part and some dread strangers at the house. Lay out your process: who screens the adopter, whether the foster gets a say, and whether meetings are at the home or somewhere public. A foster's view of an adopter is worth hearing even where the decision is yours.
How should we contact you, and how quickly do you usually reply?
Why ask it
A foster who goes silent for four days with one of your dogs is a real problem, so set the expectation aloud, for example a reply within a day and sooner for anything medical. Look at how the application has gone so far. Someone who took two weeks to return this call has already answered.
What supplies do you already have, and what would you need from us?
Why ask it
Before they guess, tell them what the rescue provides, what it reimburses and how receipts are handled. A crate, a leash, a secure collar or harness, bowls, food and an ID tag carrying the rescue's number make up the usual kit. If money is a worry, now is the moment for it to come out.
Commitment
How long could you keep a foster dog: a weekend, a few weeks, or until adoption however long that takes?
Why ask it
Give your honest range first, including the dog who waited longest. Short-term and emergency fostering are worth having too, so offer that role instead of losing someone who can only promise two weeks. Record the answer with dates, because 'as long as it takes' from a person moving in the spring means until spring.
Is anything coming up in the next six months that could interrupt fostering, such as a move, a new baby, a long trip or a change of job?
Why ask it
None of these rules anyone out, and people answer more fully once you have said so. The dates let you time the first placement and choose a dog likely to be adopted before then.
What would you do if, two weeks in, the dog was not working out in your home?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for is that they call you, keep the dog safe and give you time to arrange a move. Tell them how many days' notice you need, and just as clearly that asking is not a failure. Name the things that must never happen: the dog passed to a friend, advertised online or taken to a shelter.
If the dog damaged something or snapped at someone, how would you handle it and how soon would we hear?
Why ask it
'The same day' is the timing to listen for, said without anger at the dog. Explain where your rescue stands on chewed furniture and on any bite, including who has to be told. Reporting rules for bites differ from place to place, so know yours before the interview.
What happens if you fall for the dog and want to adopt?
Why ask it
Fosters adopting is a happy outcome, and you should say how it works with you: whether the foster gets first option, the fee, and how long they have once another family has applied. The harder follow-up is whether they would keep fostering afterward or whether the house would then be full. Someone really looking for a trial adoption is better steered to that route openly.
How do you think you will feel on the day the dog leaves for its new home?
Why ask it
Nobody knows until the first one goes, so there is no answer to grade. The question is there so you can say that it hurts and that the hurt is normal. Offer what tends to help: news from the adopter if they agree to share it, and another dog when the foster is ready.
The rescue decides on the dog's vet care, training and adopter. Are you comfortable with that?
Why ask it
Go through your foster agreement at this point, clause by clause if they will sit for it. Many later disagreements trace back to something the foster did not realize they had signed. Send the document home with them before asking for a signature.
What do you want to ask us, and what worries you most about doing this?
Why ask it
An applicant with no questions has not yet pictured the dog arriving. Whatever worry they name, whether the cat, the cost or giving the dog up, is the thing to settle before placement. Close by telling them what happens next and when they will hear.
How to screen a foster applicant
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
The phone interview
Read the application first
Go into the call with the form in front of you and ask only what it left open or what looked odd. Reading every written answer back to the applicant uses up twenty minutes and tells them nobody looked at what they sent.
Say what fostering involves before you ask anything
Open with two minutes on what your rescue supplies, what the foster pays for, how long dogs tend to stay and who chooses the adopter. Some applicants withdraw right there, which spares you both the rest of the call.
Pick fifteen questions for the call
A phone screen runs about half an hour. Take the landlord, the adults in the house, the resident pets, the empty hours and the length of commitment by phone, and keep the fence, the doors and the sleeping spot for the visit, where you can look instead of ask.
Write down their words
Record what was said, not your summary of it. 'He would be in the yard while we are at work' reads very differently in the file from 'has outdoor access', and whoever matches a dog to this home next year will have only the file.
The home visit
Ask for the whole household to be there
Adults, children and resident animals. How the family dog greets a stranger at the door tells you more than any description of him over the phone.
Walk the route a foster dog would take
In through the door, to the place it would sleep, out to the toilet area and around the fence. Open the gate yourself and see whether it latches behind you.
Look for the fix, not the fault
Few homes are ready as they stand. A gap under the fence wants a board, an open stairwell wants a baby gate, the cat's bowl wants a higher shelf. Leave a short written list and offer to approve from photos once the jobs are done.
Visit in pairs where you can
Two visitors notice more, and one can talk while the other looks. It is also a sensible habit for volunteers going into a stranger's house, so find out what your rescue's own safety policy says.
From approval to the first dog
Approve the home for a kind of dog
'Approved' by itself is too blunt to place from. Write what the home suits: adult dogs under forty pounds, fine with cats, no puppies, someone back by one o'clock. The next coordinator can then place a dog without interviewing the family again.
Start a new foster with an easy dog
Give a first-timer a dog you already know something about, such as one moving from another foster home or a steady adult. A good first placement tends to keep a foster home open, and a very sick puppy or a dog who bites in the first week can close it.
Hand the dog over in person
Bring the dog, the supplies, the medical record and the emergency number together, and talk through the first two days aloud: leash on even in the yard, apart from the other pets, nothing asked of the dog yet.
Check in on days one, three and seven
A short message is enough. Trouble reported in the first week is usually small and fixable, and the same trouble left until week four has often become the reason the dog is coming back.
When to say no, or not yet
The household is not agreed
One keen person and one who 'will come around' is a placement that lasts until the first chewed shoe. Invite them to apply again when every adult has said yes to you directly.
The answers keep changing
Renting on the form and owning on the phone, two dogs listed and three at the door. A single slip is a mistake. A pattern means you cannot rely on what they will tell you about your dog.
They want one particular dog to keep
An applicant who asks only about a single dog on your website and how soon the adoption could be final is an adopter who found the wrong form. Point them to the adoption process and wish them luck with it.
Turning someone down kindly
Do it by phone, give the real reason where you can, and offer another way to help: driving dogs to the vet, staffing an event, a weekend sleepover for a kennel dog. People declined politely often come back when their circumstances change.