Foster with RHAS
When you foster, you save two lives: the dog you bring home and the one who gets the shelter spot you opened up.
Resilient Hearts Animal Sanctuary is a foster-based rescue. Instead of a traditional shelter, we rely on community homes, so every dog we pull from an overcrowded shelter needs a foster. Your home gives a dog a safe place to decompress, keep learning, and feel loved while they wait for their forever family. You’ll also get to know their personality, quirks, and needs better than anyone, which helps us find them the right match.
You don’t need to be home all day
Our Fremont facility offers free daycare for foster dogs every day from 9am to 5:30pm. Book at least 48 hours ahead, then drop your foster off on your way to work. They’ll spend the day playing with other dogs, joining events, and meeting visitors during community hours.
Ways to foster
Short-term fostering
This is the backbone of our rescue and a flexible way to help if you only have a few days free or your schedule changes week to week. Short stays let us keep taking in new dogs and give our long-term fosters and foster-to-adopters coverage for travel or emergencies.
Minimum commitment: 3 nights, unless the newsletter notes otherwise.
Long-term, behavior, and medical fostering
Some dogs need more time before they’re ready for adoption. Long-term fosters commit to several weeks or months. Their dogs might be learning basic manners, working through behavior needs, recovering from illness, injury, or surgery, or simply doing better in a home than in our open playroom. If you’re interested in these more complex cases, let our staff know during your visit or email mike@rhas.love.
What we provide
RHAS covers all essential supplies: kennel, collar, leash and harness, food and treats, toys, potty pads, and poop bags, with more available on request. If you run low, let us know and we’ll restock. RHAS pays our vets directly for all approved care, including emergencies. We can’t reimburse out-of-pocket costs. Our Foster Manual has full details on vet care, support, expectations, and emergencies.
Who can foster
We believe any home can be the right foster home for the right dog, whether it’s an apartment, townhome, or single-family house, owned or rented. You just need to be 18 or older and follow any pet rules in your lease (please don’t get in trouble with your landlord!). Already have pets? That’s great, as long as they’re fully vaccinated. We’re happy to set up a meeting with your resident dog on neutral ground if you’d like.
How to become a foster
- Read the Foster Manual to see how the program works.
- Visit us during community hours: Wednesday to Friday 2 to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 12 to 6pm, at our Fremont facility (3409 Stone Way N, Seattle). Every foster starts with a visit so you can see our space, meet the dogs, and get to know our mission and how we do things. Bring any questions from this page or the Foster Manual, and our staff will talk them through with you. It’s also a chance to see whether fostering with us fits your life. Most foster pickups and drop-offs happen during these same hours, so if a visit works for your schedule, handoffs likely will too.
- Get your sign-up link. After you talk with our staff, we’ll give you a link to join our foster list.
- Watch for the Foster Newsletter. Each week (more often when needs are urgent), we share which dogs need fosters, their timing, and any commitments, such as events. Reply through the linked form with your availability and the dogs you’re interested in.
- Get matched. We usually start reaching out 1 to 2 days after each newsletter goes out. It may take a few weeks to land your first foster, so don’t be discouraged; the right dog is coming.
