Dear Dane Lover!

Thank you for contacting Heartland Great Dane Rescue, Inc. and your interest in foster care.  I'll do my best to explain, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. :-)

Simply put, Foster Care is the toughest job you will ever love.  Here's how it works:The rescue is contacted about a dog in need of a safe haven while they look for a family to call their own.  We then contact our foster homes who have an open space available and give them whatever information we have about the dog.  Sometimes, this can be a lot of information, sometimes not much.  We may be able to tell you the age, gender, color, personality, habits, etc. of one dog and yet make our best guess as to even the gender of the next...but each dog we contact a foster family about is a dog that is in dire need of a safe place to stay.

If the foster home agrees to take the Dane in need, we will then make arrangements to get the dog to the foster home.  The dog will arrive most of the time needing to gain weight, with no house manners and smelling like where they just came from...usually a kill shelter.  We try to get the dog to a vet for at least an exam and vaccinations before placing them in foster care, however, there are times when the vet is closed or has no time slots available, etc.  This is rare, but it has happened. :-)

The foster home brings the dog into their home, and treats it like a member of the family.  They bathe, groom, transport to events, take to vet appointments, teach the dog house manners and basic obedience, etc.  As a foster home, you get to potty train, crate train, teach a Dane not to jump, teach them what they can and can't eat...couches are a definite no-no, clean up after them, etc.  Rescue will provide for vet care for the dog and will be there to guide and support you through this journey should you need it.

Once you have taken in the smelly, stinky, skinny, disobedient dog, and have turned it into a pet that you can't imagine anyone ever having wanted, an adoptive home comes along and you have the hardest job of all ahead of you...letting this precious baby move on to a new life full of love like you know they've never known. In return for your dedication to this wonderful furry friend, you get absolutely no monetary compensation...you heard right, no pay!  What you do get is unconditional love and compassion from a gorgeous creature.  You get inexpressible thank you's from those of us trying to save this breed. 

But, I think the most rewarding pay you get is the personal knowledge that you...yes, YOU...you saved a life that would have ended WAY too soon for frivolous reasons had you not been willing. 

 

You have the opportunity to look into those soulful eyes and send them on to a life you know they'd have never had if you hadn't been there.  You can go to sleep every night knowing that you have made a difference...maybe you haven't saved the world, or even made what feels like a dent, but you definitely made a difference...remember those eyes??  If not for a foster home, those eyes would no longer see, so you made a difference and that's what we are all here to do.  We make a difference one day, one action and one dog at a time!

I hope I have given you the good, the bad and the ugly of foster care and I hope you will consider opening your home to a Dane in need.  I have attached an application to foster as well as a document called "How Can I Help Danes In Need".  The latter one is quite lengthy, but has some great information in it...including another description of foster care. :-)

We look forward to hearing from you again!