Foster care is the backbone of rescue!  The dogs need committed, qualified people to join the team!

MARS™ is looking for foster people who will open their hearts and homes to one of the homeless dogs (or cats) and care for them until they are adopted.  Your responsibility will be to feed, play with, exercise, love and provide social interaction for them. It may include handling medical tasks such as daily medications or attending vet appointments or working with the rescue's trainer to resolve behavior concerns. It will always involve nurturing the animal in a safe environment as though they were your own.

Getting started is EASY!  The first step in the fostering process is submitting a FOSTER HOME APPLICATION, which is found on the left side of this page under Website Features in Forms/Applications.  (You will be asked to register on the MARS™ site before completing the application.) After your application is received, a home visit will be scheduled so you can meet someone from the organization and discuss more in depth what you can expect when fostering a MARS™ animal.

If all goes well, (and it usually does!) you can begin your exciting new role as a foster parent! MARS™ volunteers passions seem to lie in rescuing dogs although there are those who specialize in cats. As dogs seem to be the primary passion, this fostering overview is geared to fostering rescued dogs.

There are usually dogs at any given time that desperately need a loving foster home. (A MARS™ Placement Coordinator will be available to help you decide which one will best with your lifestyle and home environment.)

When a pre-screened adopter is interested in meeting your foster dog, the Placement Coordination will contact you to coordinate a meeting. Present at the meeting will be you (the foster parent), the potential adopter and one of the Placement Coordinators. 

In order to make the right match between the dog and the adopter, your input at the meeting is invaluable.  After all, who will know the dog’s personality better than the foster parent who has loved and cared for him/her?

At this time, MARS™ isn't involved in adoption day events so it is anticipated that you be flexible when it's time to arrange a meeting with a potential adopter, which typically occurs on an evening or weekend at our main office.

MARS™ doesn't require a fenced yard but does require that the foster dogs are leashed and supervised at all times when taken outside. It's anticipated that you provide the foster dog with daily walks on a leash for proper exercise and to help him/her get accustomed to leash walking. 

MARS™ is able to secure donated food for the rescued animals on request with advance notice.  (The food is available at the MARS™ office in Brooklyn Park, MN.)  If you have a resident animal, or several resident animals you can mix the household and the rescue provided foods together so they can share vs. compete.  If a MARS™ vet recommends a specific brand of food or a specific diet, the rescue will either have you pick it up at the vet's office to be billed directly to the rescue, ask that you purchase it if available at a retail outlet and submit a receipt for reimbursement or provide it for you to pick up at the MARS™ office location in Brooklyn Park. From time to time, MARS ™ receives donated treats and or toys -, just ask if there are any on hand.

The rescue works with vet clinics that give the rescue a discounted rate, therefore all vetting will need to be done through one of them, unless prior arrangements are made. Should any medical needs arise with your foster dog, contact the rescue immediately and we will provide information and instruction. In the case of an acute life threatening emergency fosters are to call one of several rescue phone numbers either from the location of the emergency or while driving to the nearest emergency vet clinic.

At some point, your foster may need vaccinations, may need to get micro chipped or may need to be spayed or neutered. Fosters who can transport and accompany the foster animals to vet related appointments are greatly appreciated, but if that's not possible because of schedule conflicts, the rescue can usually connect you with another volunteer with whom you can work something out. (i.e. meeting halfway, scheduling on a Saturday, etc.) 

If you, as a foster parent, fall in love with your foster, you have the first option of adopting it until an applicant has been invited to meet him or her. The applicant then has the first option of adopting vs. the foster home.

MARS™ likes to stay in touch on a regular basis with the foster families (email is fine) to get updates and make sure that everything is going well. The 'Reps', or Placement Coordinators, depend on the foster parents to tell all about the animal in their care - her/his likes, dislikes, temperament and personality, quirks and idiosyncrasies, etc., so a right match can be made for the them when a potential adopter expresses interest. We love receiving new pictures of your foster as he/she settles into the household and may post it on the web site. (Human faces are rarely posted, and never the faces of children)

Other MARS™ volunteers are here to support the foster parents always- so if ever there are questions or issues, you need to know that as long as you remain committed, WE can get through just about anything together You, the organization and the dog become a WE, and WE work together through this process!

Foster care can last anywhere from a week to a few months. There is simply no way to determine how long it will take for any one dog to find a new home. Making the commitment to provide foster care should be taken very seriously. While it's fun and personally rewarding, it's not without it's challenges.

The biggest hardship for all concerned is when a foster parent gets upset over something that very possibly could have been avoided, with a little forethought, and wants to "throw in the towel".

(i.e. the foster chewed up a pair of pricey shoes or snuck the entire Christmas ham off the table, or went potty on the $900 love seat)

When something like this happens, and the foster parent wants to GIVE UP- there isn't often an immediate alternate location available which puts the rescued dog in a very difficult situation again… We ask that our foster animals be supervised at all times, that when no one is at home, they be baby gated or crated if necessary for safety. It's all about common sense.

Please understand that many of these animals are coming directly from shelter environments, have been picked up as strays, came from a life inside of a small wire cage at a puppy mill or were maltreated with malicious intent. Many simply have no idea how to behave inside of a home. It's not their fault and they can learn with patience, guidance, love and consistency.

They deserve love and kindness- they deserve a chance.

(this is where some of the challenges come in) Remember, YOU are their soft place to fall- many of these animals have never known what it's like to feel truly loved and cared for! YOU are whom they need to learn to trust from… 

MARS™ very much supports crate training yet doesn't want any of the foster dogs to be crated as a lifestyle, i.e. "live" in their crate. Feel free to break out the crate for training the dog to be comfortable with being crated on the occasions it may need to be used for the dog's safety or short-term containment. We suggest containing your foster dog in the kitchen (or another non carpeted room) by using a baby gate when it cannot be under full supervision until you are positive the dog is house trustworthy - because if you give him/her instant free run of the house, you can bank on some kind of an innocent accident. Foster dogs are initially not sure what's expected of them- and how can they know? Here they are in a brand new environment with perfect strangers- it's all new and confusing to them. The foster role requires that you be on your toes at all times and supervise your foster dog inside and outside of your home.

Volunteers have provided foster care for over a thousand MARS™ rescue dogs and can tell you, each and every one of them has deeply touched the lives they have come in contact with!  It's an amazing experience!

MARS™ is excited to welcome new foster parents into the rescue network. Because without them, without YOU, rescue couldn't possibly save so many precious lives!