Your job as a foster with Anthem Pets is to show that pet love and care for them like they were your own pet. You don't need to train them to do tricks, or even basic commands. You aren't training a service dog, or a show cat, they don't need to be "perfect", they need to be cared for and loved. 

Most of the time, the pets coming to us are found, abandoned and surrendered. Remember that we don't know their past traumas. So it is always the best policy to NOT take the dogs to a dog park or on walks. We don't know how they will react to other pets or people. 

As a foster you are responsible for providing great pictures of your foster. We also love short videos. We need these pictures and videos to help get your foster adopted. Take pics, take videos and send them via text to your Anthem Pets contact.

In addition to pictures, a great description of your foster will get them adopted. Tell people all about your cool foster cat and how he sits with you while you work, or the funny things your foster dog does. People read the pet descriptions because they are looking for a fit. Please be sure to include all the important details. like if they can get along with kids, cats, dogs or are afreid of men, things like that.

When you get a new foster and have other pets take the introduction slow. You may want to isolate the new pet for the first day to let them decompress a little bit. It is incredibly stressful for a cat or dog to be lost, found, transported, and transported again. They are scared and that's alright. Take your introductions slow. Most of the time it will be fine, and if we already know the pet does not get along with cats, dogs or kids, we tell you up front.

Puppies are not housetrained. When we post for a puppy foster, assume that they are still not house trained.

If we post for a mature dog, we can tell you they are doing a good job where they are, but things may change when they get to you. It is always safe to start with the assumption that they will need a little work. So, please don't place your new dog in a room on your thousand dollar new carpet until you get to know them.

If you are fostering a pet that is having some behavioral issues and it hasn't gotten better with time and attention, you need to let your Anthem Pets contact know. We can arrange for training and evaluation or even a medical exam. We want to help you so the pet can be very adoptable. Please communicate with us so we can work together.

If you have pets in your home and are thinking of fostering, please make sure your animals are all up to date on their vaccines. This is especially important if you are going to be fostering puppies that may have an illness we don't know about. Older dogs that are current on their shots are usually in no danger.