Foster Dog Starter Kit
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A foster arrives with nothing and might be any size. That is the part that makes this different from buying for your own dog: you cannot measure the animal until it is standing in your hallway, and by then it is too late to order. So the kit is built around two pieces that cover a wide size range off one listing. Then a mat for the first three days, a single ingredient bag for a dog whose history you do not have, and a bag dispenser that clips to whatever lead the rescue sent.
Buying for a dog you have not met
Repeat fosters solve this by keeping a shelf. First timers usually buy for the dog in the email, then find out the weight was an estimate and the collar is two inches out. Picking items with six sizes on one listing is the workaround, because you can order the size on the day the transport is confirmed rather than the day you say yes. Our rescue adopter welcome kit is the version for the person who keeps the dog, and the rest are on the bundle guides hub.
A harness that goes on over the head
EcoBark describes this as the over the head dog harness in soft mesh, shown in Navy, built for dogs from X-Small up to XX-Large as listed in the size chart. EcoBark says it slips over the head and secures around the chest with adjustable straps, in six sizes from X-Small at 4 to 5 pounds up to XX-Large at 48 to 65 pounds, with plush piping and a buckle closure. Over the head matters with a dog you have just met. Lifting a foreleg through a strap is a lot of handling for a dog that has been in a van for six hours, and an over the head design gets you to a walkable dog with one buckle and almost no contact. EcoBark Pet Supplies items are sold and shipped by EcoBark Pet Supplies through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
A collar you can put through a washing machine
Rubyloo describes the Waterproof Collar as a dog collar built for beach days, swimming and muddy trail time. Rubyloo says it comes in Small, Medium and Large, sized 13 to 23 inches at the neck, in Pretty in Pink, Blue Ocean, Purple Rain, Ruby Red and Seaside Teal. Rubyloo says it is made of poly coated nylon webbing with a metal buckle, dual rivets and rust and corrosion resistant hardware. A foster's first collar gets filthy before anybody has grown attached to it. Poly coated webbing and rust resistant hardware are why this one is in the kit, since the same collar has to be ready for the next dog three weeks later. Rubyloo items are sold and shipped by Rubyloo through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
Something to do in the first seventy two hours
A toy asks the dog to play with you, which is a relationship you do not have yet. A loaded mat asks for nothing, which is why it is the object that goes down first. According to SodaPup, the Bones eMat carries a bone themed raised pattern and is sized for dogs and cats, made from TPE at roughly 8 inches square, in purple or red. SodaPup lists peanut butter, yogurt, wet food or a pureed treat as what goes into the pattern, and says freezing it first makes the session last longer. Put it down, then leave the room rather than standing over the dog while it works. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
One ingredient, because you do not have the history
Beef liver is in this kit precisely because the label is short. The only ingredient is beef liver, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, in 1.5, 3 or 6 ounce bags. With a dog whose previous three months are a blank, a bag with one thing on the ingredient line is the sensible place to start, and if something does not agree with the dog you have one variable rather than nine. It is also strong enough to get a frightened dog to come four feet across a kitchen, which is the first thing you will need it for. Our freeze-dried treats are made in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania and ship from us, and the training treats aisle has the rest.
The clip on piece
The Tire Stack Poop Bag Holder is ours, designed in house and 3D printed one at a time. It clips to any lead and feeds bags out of a slot in the sidewall, which means it works with whatever lead came with the dog rather than needing a lead of ours. Rescues send dogs out on all sorts of hardware, and this is one of the few items in the kit that does not care what that hardware is. Filter the rest of what we make by protein or format on Explore.
What is not in here
No bed and no crate, and both of those are the first thing on most foster checklists. A bed is size dependent and a crate more so, and a foster coordinator will usually tell you which the dog has been using. We also left food out entirely. Fosters normally arrive with a week of whatever the rescue feeds, and changing that in the first week adds a variable to a situation that already has too many.
Transport day and the three days after
- Order the harness and collar sizes on the day transport is confirmed, using the rescue's weight estimate and one size of slack.
- Load the mat and freeze it before the dog arrives, so the first thing you offer needs nothing from you.
- Day one: harness and collar both on, and two clips on the lead. Nothing else happens today.
- Days two and three: mat in the morning, liver by hand in the evening, no visitors.
- Day four onward: start asking for something small in exchange for the liver. That is where training begins.
Double lead a new foster for the first week, harness and collar, two clips. Most foster escapes happen in the first seventy two hours, usually at a doorway or getting out of a car, and a second attachment point is the cheapest insurance in this whole kit.
What it replaces
A panicked trip to a store on the evening the dog arrives, and the collar that turns out to be the wrong size. Because the harness and collar both cover a wide range from one listing, the shelf you build after the first foster works for the second and the third with nothing more than a size swap.
Questions
What if the rescue's weight estimate is wrong
It often is. EcoBark's chart runs from 4 pounds to 65, so ordering by the estimate and keeping the packaging is the practical approach, and the collar's three sizes cover 13 to 23 inches at the neck.
Should I use the harness or the collar for walking
Both, clipped together, for the first week. After that the harness is the walking piece and the collar carries the tags.
How much of this can I reuse for the next dog
All of it except the treats, which is the argument for washable hardware. The collar is the piece that decides this, since a fabric one holds the smell of the last dog and a coated one does not.
Related guides
Kits for a specific arrival sit under life situations.
