The Fostering Process

Thank you for thinking about fostering a Bull Terrier!

Congratulations! If you have done your research you will know that a Bull Terrier is not for the faint of heart. Breed discrimination is a risk and demands that you wear a thick skin when people criticize your choice of foster dog. Renters struggle with finding bully breed friendly housing and some insurance carriers won’t cover them. What a project! Because we know how challenging it can be to navigate people’s biases and misperceptions, we ask that you fulfill these requirements in order to foster one of our dogs:

  1. Be at least 21 years old, we might make an exception for a younger, rock solid applicant.
  2. Fill Out an Application and impress us with your dog savviness!
  3. Show A Solid Reference (your veterinarian will do)
  4. Must Own or Have Landlord Approval Yes, we’ll check. It would be unfair to the foster dog to be reshuffled if there were landlord issues; and many foster dogs end up being forever ones.
  5. Be Interviewed by one of our volunteers
  6. Show that you have a clear understanding of the challenges you’ll face.
  7. Agree to a Home Visit (as of March 25, 2020, we are conducting home visits via videos due to the COVID situation).
  8. Everyone in your Household needs to be ready for the fostering process too. Yes, we will ask- no surprises!
  9. Be prepared to provide your foster dog with: housing, food and training such as basic obedience, crate and house training, and give us ongoing feedback on the behaviors of your foster dog.
  10. Sign a Legally Binding Foster Home Contract

Note: Apartments/townhouses/condos are fine if you have a flexible schedule which allows for sufficient potty breaks, but if you have a backyard, we want to see a solid fence and a safe environment.

What is BTRI’s fostering process like?

  1. You will fill out an application, found here: http://www.bullterrierrescue.org/?page_id=572
  2. After we receive it, we’ll contact you by email and give you the phone number of a volunteer that can do your phone interview (just to go over the application and clarify anything that needs clarification)
  3. Next we will set up a home visit with a knowledgeable BTRI volunteer (as of March 25, 2020 home visits are being conducted via videos due to the COVID situation)
  4. You may then be invited to take the dog home under our foster contract. You will be added to our foster group where you can share your experience and get help with any issues that may arise.
  5. We pay for vet costs for essential care; estimates must be obtained and treatments must be approved prior to vet visits. Vet care/medical expenses as a result of negligence will be the fosterer’s responsibility. Examples would be walking a dog on hot pavement resulting in burnt pads, letting the dog escape and being hit by a car, mismanagement of the dog resulting injuries to a person or another animal.
  6. You will have a Bull Terrier to love and enjoy!  We conduct the screening of the adopters so that our foster homes can foster on preparing their dogs for a new life. Fosterers do not own the program dogs so do not have the authority to transfer ownership. Placement is solely the decision of Bull Terrier Rescue, Inc.

You’ll want to keep your foster dog well trained, well socialized, and always have him on a leash in public places. You’ll learn how to talk to more people than you ever thought you would have to about the joys of a Bull Terrier. In a sense you’ll become part PR person, part educator, part dog-training expert (if you’re not already, that is!). By proudly owning and showing off your foster dog, you’ll be making the world better for bully breed dogs everywhere.

We recognize that this breed has suffered at the hands of irresponsible breeders and reckless dog owners. When poorly bred and/or seriously exploited bully breeds have shown up on hyped up news reports, it scares the daylights out of your Aunt Flo and the guy next door; convincing many that all bully breeds are the devil incarnate.

To counter this hysteria, Bull Terrier Rescue Inc. is committed to finding wonderful family pets-in-the-making for our foster program. We work to match these deserving dogs with loving and responsible fosterers/adopters who have a bully tough desire to set the record straight. We look for dogs with highly desirable personalities: gushingly affectionate, happy to be handled, well socialized and healthy. There seems to be no shortage of these great examples of BT temperament.

We strive to have foster dogs that are well socialized, spayed/neutered, given all necessary shots, and micro-chipped. We want them to be exposed to every setting imaginable – with all kinds of people including children, other animals, on leash on busy sidewalks and in the middle of crowds. Some amount of dog-dog intolerance is normal and acceptable, while human-directed aggression is never tolerated.

In return for all the dog screening and home screening, we can both feel confident that the dog you take home for fostering will be a pet you’re fully prepared to own/prepare for a wonderful home. Our team will stay available to you for the duration of your fostering period should any questions or concerns come up. And we will warmly welcome you into the wonderful Bull Terrier Community of bully breed fans that live all over the world. If this sounds like an adventure you’re ready to commit to, we’d love to hear from you!

Thank You for Wanting to Foster!

Last updated 2/16/23