Become a Foster

Foster care consists of providing a safe, loving, temporary home for a dog

Fostering a Dog Saves a Life

Fostering a dog saves a life! Foster care consists of providing a safe, loving, temporary home for a dog until a permanent adoptive home can be found.

Fostering Saves Lives

Without foster homes, many dogs and other animals would be euthanized due to overcrowding at the shelters.

Make a Dog More Adoptable

Many dogs don’t “show” well in a kennel environment due to high stress. Being in a home makes the dog easier to show.

Change a Dog's Future

You can have a direct hand in changing a dog’s future by giving a dog time. Time to find a home, time to trust, and time to love.

Great for Families

Help introduce your children to responsibility. If you have other dogs, it can also provide playmates.

Community

You become a part of a wonderful community when you join the world of fostering and rescue.

Makes Someone's Family Complete

When your foster finds his or her forever home, you will have helped make a family complete.

Become a Foster Hero!

Fostering a dog saves a life! If you would like to help us by fostering a dog, please fill out our Foster Application.

Complete Foster Application
Foster care with our organization means providing a safe, loving, temporary home for a dog until a permanent adoptive home can be found. All dogs are screened for health and temperament before entering our program, and we can only rescue as many dogs as we have available foster homes. Our rescue is 100% volunteer-run, serving several counties in rural West Virginia and Ohio, with a focus on pregnant dogs and puppies. Our mission is to get these animals out of high-kill shelter situations and into caring homes. We transport dogs to our Frederick, MD intake center every 3–4 weeks, and fosters play a critical role in this effort. Fostering is typically short-term, ranging from a day or two to several weeks. Sometimes, dogs may need to be shifted temporarily if families go out of town or based on incoming transports and adoption events. Fosters must be flexible, as dogs often need to travel between our intake facility in Jefferson, MD, and adoption events in the Frederick area to increase their chances of finding a home. While we try to match dogs with appropriate fosters, we cannot guarantee a “perfect fit.” The goal of fostering is to provide temporary care, not permanent adoption or full integration into your household—though that can happen, it’s important to have realistic expectations. Every dog is different, and your flexibility makes a huge difference in their journey to a loving home. Fostering with LHAR may require separating the foster dog from other animals in your home, including dogs and cats. For families with small children, interactions should always be supervised. Older puppies may jump, play bite, and romp as part of normal teething and development. Some older dogs may have resource guarding tendencies around food or high-value treats, so close supervision with children is important. When you foster for LHAR, we provide crates, harnesses, leashes, food, toys, and other necessities. All veterinary and medical care is handled through our partner, Jefferson Veterinary Hospital. While we don’t expect fosters to place dogs into permanent homes, networking is always welcome. Your primary role as a foster is to provide love, care, and guidance during this critical stage of the dog’s journey. If this sounds like something your family would like to be a part of, please complete our Foster Application. Additional questions can be directed to info@lhar.dog