Fostering

We often get asked how long you will have a foster dog for. There is no answer to this, as fostering can be either until we find the dog the forever home he deserves or for just a few days or weeks to cover holidays etc.

Thank you for your interest in fostering a KGR dog!

To foster one of our hounds you must:

  • Live in Kent or surrounding area, or within a reasonable driving distance.
  • Have children over the age of 10 or no children.
  • Have a secure garden.

If you meet the above criteria and are able to foster please complete the application form below. 

Fostering helps save lives

Put simply, we can save more dogs if we have foster homes.

We do not receive any funding or help from the racing industry and some months our kennel bill can be up to £5,000.

As we have to fundraise to pay for the kennelling – we can only help as many dogs as our finances allow. Foster homes save us kennel costs so we can help more dogs. As the majority of our dogs are on death row – this really means a life is saved.

Fostering can be very hard emotionally so please think carefully before applying.

What is the commitment?

We often get asked how long you will have a foster dog for. There is no answer to this, as fostering can be either until we find the dog the forever home he deserves or for just a few days or weeks to cover holidays etc. The easier the dog the faster we expect that dog to be rehomed. Dogs that are more difficult to home for whatever reason – poor health when they arrive, being fearful or insecure usually take longer to find a home but your role in their journey to their forever home will be extremely rewarding as you watch them grow in confidence and become the happy dog they want to be.

Fostering is very rewarding, especially with a dog which has come straight from the race track as you help them acclimatise to life outside kennels for the first time ever in their lives.

Nearly all our dogs will have never seen a house before and will be afraid of the TV, washing machine, vacuum etc.

They will all need toilet training and familiarisation with a new environment and routine.

They will have rarely met other breeds of dog and some of them will be more anxious about this than others. The big wide world we all know can be a very scary place for a dog never exposed to any of it before.

They all respond really well to calm, friendly reassurance and positive reinforcement and praise to get them through the early days. Albeit quite rare we do get some dogs who have already been living with a family who can no longer keep them. All they usually need is to be loved again!

What will it cost me?

We pay for all approved veterinary treatment and provide food, bedding etc if you need it. You just need to provide love and care!

How does it work?

It is actually a tougher process to become a fosterer than an adopter because although we will do an initial assessment before placing a dog with you it is not a full assessment.

We need you to help assess the dog in lots of different environments and provide feedback regularly on the dogs progress.

Having some experience of greyhounds and lurchers will be very helpful for the dog, for you and us.

You will need to submit a foster application, we will then call you to discuss your application. This is to make sure you fully understand what it is like and feel confident you can commit to the role. Assuming this goes well you will need to pass a homecheck (6ft fences/gates as a minimum) prior to fostering and we will then try to match your family up with a suitable dog so make the fostering experience as enjoyable as possible.

We do ask you to treat the dog as if he is a member of your own family and allow potential adopters to come and visit him. But, and this is really important, we also need foster families to work with us to help find new owners – we do need you to provide us with lots of photo and video updates as these will really help your dog be rehomed.

Please remember that fostering is a way for you to help KGR and our dogs – it is not a way for the family to have a trial with the dog or to see if they want to adopt a dog.

If you are unsure if the dog is the right one for you, then fostering will not give you the answer. Please see our Q&As for more information.

Important small print

You do need to sign the fostering agreement which prohibits you from letting the dog off a lead, asks you to use the approved equipment and to keep it muzzled at all times in a public place. This has nothing to do with the temperament of the dog, but is a condition of our liability insurance and it protects KGR.

We also ask you to provide us with regular updates and photos or/and videos each week. Photos are essential to enable us to advertise your foster dog and find it a new home.

If you decide to adopt your foster dog, you will need to go through the adoption process and make the required donation.

Please read the fostering terms and conditions, and ensure you that you can comply with them before applying.

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