CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
If you are interested in volunteering with Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus, we invite you to join our group if you are over 18 years of age. We are a very active organization that is always looking for another “helping hand.” For more information or to sign up, please email volunteer@ILDobeRescue.com. Some of the ways you can participate are the following:
- Interacting with the animals: We always have more orphans than foster homes, so some of our animals are boarded at vet clinics. These dogs and cats appreciate the one-on-one contact from volunteers. During their “playtime,” it is crucial to get to know the animals so we can properly place them with the right adopter. This is a perfect opportunity to take photos and videos for their bios and social media!
- Transport: IDR+ needs help with transporting the rescue animals in our program. Whether it be driving a dog from a shelter to its new foster home or escorting an orphan to one of our participating vets for medical care, we need your help. Sometimes, supplies even need a ride to a location.
- Fundraising: Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus is a non-profit organization that is continuously in need of additional funds. We use these funds to pay for the medical needs of the rescue animals. If your specialty is fundraising, we need your help. Our anniversary gala auction especially needs items.
- Miscellaneous: IDR+ can always use help with “odds and ends” — photographing or shooting video of the animals, posting on social media, performing home visits in neighboring areas, processing appications, etc. Please let us konw your skills, and we will match you up with a needed task!
- Foster Homes: Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus is ALWAYS in need of additional FOSTER HOMES for the dogs and cats in our program. If you believe that you have the time, commitment, and experience to welcome a foster animal into your home, we need your help. If you would like to foster, please email fostering@ILDoberescue.com to foster a dog and cats@ILDobeRescue.com to foster a cat.
Fostering is one of the many ways volunteers keep IDR+ working!
Because many of the same guidelines for adopting a dog/cat apply to fostering, volunteers interested in becoming a foster home are asked to complete our standard Adoption Application. A home visit will also be conducted before the volunteer is approved as a foster home, and an experienced foster parent will help guide you.
What is fostering?
Since IDR+ does not have a central facility, we rely on foster homes to care for the majority of our dogs/cats. Foster care givers are volunteers who take IDR+ dogs/cats into their homes and nurture them until they are ready for adoption. It’s a great way to volunteer from home and enjoy the company of a dog/cat temporarily.
While some volunteers end up adopting a foster animal, please note that the foster program is not for people who want to “try out” a particular animal prior to adoption. It is intended to provide one-on-one attention in a home environment for animals in order to best evaluate them and prepare them for adoption.
How do you give them up when they are adopted? I’d want to keep them all.
We get this question a lot, and we also get requests to pull dogs from shelters and owner situations every day, but we cannot say “yes” to dogs in need unless we have a spot to put them. So being able to say “yes” to fostering and literally saving a life is better than being temporarily emotional when a dog you have cared for is adopted.
Go into fostering like you are babysitting–you wouldn’t expect to keep someone’s pet or kid you are watching. Many adopters are happy to send updates and keep in touch, and knowing the dog/cat you cared for is in a loving home is the best feeling in the world! Some fosters are so happy to see a dog/cat adopted that they ask for another one right away. Fostering is addicting (in a good way), and once you see your first successful adoption, you will want to take in another orphan in need.
What would I be expected to do as a foster parent?
- Provide a clean, nurturing, indoor home for the dog/cat.
- Give medication as needed. We teach the inexperienced!
- Update the animal’s bio and photos periodically by emailing the info to us.
- Work with the dog on basic skills, including training, leash walking, and housebreaking.
- Communicate (usually by email) with approved adopters.
- Complete the adoption paperwork once an adoption is to take place. We will walk you through this the first time.
Would I be responsible for finding the dog/cat a permanent home?
No – all dogs/cats available for adoption are posted on Petfinder, our website, and social media with photos, videos, and a detailed bio. We receive applications for the dogs/cats through our website. Our screening process includes an application, vet check, and usually a home visit. If approved, adopters are given the foster home’s contact information. However, it is the discretion of the foster home parent to approve an adoption for your foster dog/cat. You know the animal best, and we want to make sure the approved adopter is a good match for that foster animal.
What if I already have pets of my own?
If you are fostering a dog, we ask that they be introduced very slowly to your pets. Some dogs may never be able to be mingled with your own pets, and that’s okay. We will walk you through slow introductions and provide you with a crate.
If you are fostering a cat, we also recommend slow introductions.
The top priority of fostering is to have a safe place for the animal, so the foster is not expected to be BFFs with your existing pets on day one.
How long would I foster the dog/cat?
There are many variables when fostering: a dog/cat could be in your home for one week, two months, or possibly longer. Updating the bio and photos as you learn about the foster will help find the best match sooner. You are never stuck fostering, but we need some reasonable notice to find alternate placement if there is a need for relocation. Board members, other experienced foster homes, and trainers are here to help and talk to you through issues.
Would I be responsible for my foster’s expenses?
No. IDR+ will provide and pay for the animal’s veterinary care, medications, food, and supplies. IDR+ can loan you crates, ex-pens, food/water bowls, bedding, toys, bones, and more. Thanks to our generous supporters, we have everything the fosters need at your reach.
Can my foster sleep in bed with me? On the furniture?
It is not recommended that you allow fosters to sleep with you. We need to consider their forever family, who may not want them on the bed. The decision to let a foster on the furniture is up to the individual foster home, but go slowly and let them earn this privileged spot. Fosters can use a dog bed from our supplies.
Are the animals needing fosters healthy, housebroken, and trained?
For your first foster, we will do our best to give you an easy one with a known background and complete vetting. Usually, older dogs/cats from an owner surrender situation are pretty move-in ready, but many of the younger ones need to work on basic skills, which is where the foster home comes in. Foster dogs will appreciate learning the ropes with training, leash walking, and housebreaking.
Our biggest need is “isolation” or medical foster homes for dogs coming from shelters with the potential of kennel cough or other respiratory infections. If you have no other dogs or the ability to segregate a foster dog from yours inside and outside, please consider isolation fostering. It is okay if the dog is separated from everyone during the quarantine period, and once the one- to three-week isolation period is over, the dog can be mingled with your dogs like a normal foster.
For regular foster animals, the majority of them see one of our vets first, so some of our fosters just need a place to recover from a spay/neuter surgery. More complicated medical needs, like surgeries or heartworm treatment, will get all the support you need from experienced foster volunteers.
Okay! How do I become a foster parent?
You can apply to be a foster home by filling out an adoption application online and email fostering@ILDobeRescue.com.