Fostering a Dog in Training

Foster homes are responsible for completing a training course, housing and caring for a dog, and transporting the dog to and from our office in Carrboro on weekdays for training. Foster homes do not need to do extensive training with their dog, but must be willing to work diligently on basic manners at home as well as on outings. The staff at Eyes Ears Nose and Paws will do daily training with each dog while it is in active training (for 5-9 months of the total fostering time), but relies on foster homes to ensure that good habits are reinforced and bad habits are not allowed to develop at home.

Dogs will remain in foster care for 5 to 18 months, depending on the age of the dog, and will be in active training for 5-9 months of that time.

While we have few hard and fast rules about foster homes, generally we prefer that foster homes not have more than one other dog. At least one person in the family must be able to spend a significant amount of time with the dog, and all family members living in the home must be supportive of fostering and willing to complete the basic training course. Our dogs in training do have public access rights, but we ask that you not take a foster dog if you expect to spend much time with the dog at a location that is not excited about having an assistance dog in training present, or if you will not be able to provide close supervision for your dog in that environment. We will be happy to work with you to determine if your daily environment is appropriate for a foster dog in training.

If you are interested in becoming a foster home, please contact us for a screening and application form.