“Help Save a Pug’s Life”

What is Fostering?

Foster Homes are the foundation of any Pug Rescue and we could not exist if it were not for the generosity of volunteers to open up their homes to a Pug in need of safety, care and love. Unfortunately, some Pugs have a limited amount of time before a Shelter will have to put them down. Clearly, foster homes play one of the most significant roles in CCPR’s rescue efforts.

When we are called to rescue a dog from the Shelter or take in an unwanted pug, we provide a temporary home until we can find that dog a forever home. Many Pugs that are brought in for fostering are traumatized, abused and sick. Some of these dogs will need time to heal from medical treatment and will require more love and attention than Pugs that have been loved and cared for all their lives. Nevertheless, Pugs are a very resilient breed and know when they are being saved. Once the initial stress of abandonment is over they are so grateful of their new life and their foster parents tender care. This is one of the most noble acts a person can do to help a rescue organization and can be the most rewarding.

Please consider becoming a foster home to a Pug that needs saving. Central Coast Pug Rescue will never turn a pug away but we can do that by having Foster Homes available at a moments notice. Remember, it is no fault of their own they end up in Shelters or abandoned on the roadside. Whatever the case, they still need homes and if you’ve got a home, and the desire to open it up to a Pug, we urge you to please Foster a Pug… so we can help, not turn our back and give them a second chance.

What if I want to adopt?

Many people think they could not take in a pug without wanting to keep him or her. While it is true that we indeed love our rescue pugs while they are in our care, there is tremendous satisfaction in seeing them placed with wonderful, excited pug-parent(s) who take them to their new, forever home where they are the star of the show. It is also fun to get to meet and play with so many little pug “people” while they are our visitors.
Sometimes foster parents do adopt a rescue pug. Because there are many different pug personalities in this breed, trying out a pug on the family while fostering gives everyone a chance to see if this is truly the pug they want for the rest of its life. For this reason, people who would like to foster a pug need to fill out our foster application and be an approved home to begin the process. Being an approved home never obligates the foster pug-parents to adopt a pug in their care, it only gives them the option should they choose to. In actuality, we encourage our foster volunteers NOT to adopt, so that we always have foster homes available when new pugs come in ( but it doesn’t always work out that way!)

Fostering a Pug…

Once you become an-approved foster home, our Foster Home Coordinator will contact you when we have a pug. We tell tell you everything we know about each Pug, although sometimes we have limited information, especially if the Pug is coming from a Shelter. CCPR will bring the Pug to you, or meet you somewhere in between your location and where the Pug is coming from. While fostering a Pug, advise and support is always available from other CCPRvolunteers… you just need to ask.

We ask that while the foster Pug is in your care you treat him or her as a part of your family. You will be responsible for providing food, shelter, basic care (i.e. cleaning wrinkles and teeth, trimming nails, brushing fur, and most importantly love to the rescued Pug. Fostering a Pug generally lasts a few days to a few weeks. In many cases you may need to take the Pug to a veterinarian for routine medical care, such as vaccinations, spaying or neutering or any other necessary medical treatment. CCPR will pay for the medical care and we ask that foster homes go to a veterinarian with which we have a relationship that also offers discounted pricing for our rescue efforts.

Fostering may sometimes involve Pugs that are not housebroken or that have not had much training. Some may need extra TLC or training. We rely on our Foster homes to keep us posted as they learn more about their foster Pug. During the fostering period, the foster family learns a good deal about the Pug’s personality and level of training. This information is very important in helping us match the foster Pug with an adoptive family.

We will screen applicants who want to adopt your fostered Pug , but your observations of the prospective adopters will be valuable in helping us place the Pug in the best home possible. Please keep in mind the Pug(s) you are fostering is/are the property of Central Coast Pug Rescue at all times, and CCPR will make all the final decisions. We also ask that your foster Pug should have a collar and rescue tags on at all times.

This is a brief overview of fostering. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or for more information. Fostering can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Seeing a pug you saved go to the perfect adoptive family that will be loved and cared for the rest of his life. Without foster homes, this organization could not save Pugs for that second chance.

Please click here to print our Foster Application. ( you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer) If you cannot bring up the application, please drop us an email requesting it and we will mail one out to you ASAP!

If you cannot commit to fostering,
consider sponsoring a pug in foster care…..
(see our “Forever Fosters”)

“For All Those Who Foster” ( a Foster’s Story) ** Maybe this is something you can click and read? Shit, Im fostering a nightmare right now.

Thank You for bringing this foster dog into my life. Had I not made the decision to participate in rescue, I would never have had the chance to meet him. If I had sat here comfortably in my home and said “I already have two dogs and I know that I couldn’t take in another – even on a temporary basis,” I would never have met this dog. Yes, it takes time to rescue and foster but who gave me Time in the first place? And why or what was the reason I was given Time? To fill my own needs? Or was there another reason ever so small and seemingly insignificant, like rescuing this one dog, that could make a difference in another’s life? Perhaps to add joy, hope, help and companionship to another who is in need?
With great sadness, I sat down on a footstool in my kitchen this morning and watched as this foster dog bounced back into the house and skidded across the floor to sit ever so perfectly in front of me. He was the picture of health, finally. He was all smiles for me and I smiled back at his happy face. Deep in his eyes, the storm clouds of illness and generalized poor health had blown away, and the clear light of his perfection radiated out from his beautiful soul. He holds no ill will toward man. He forgives us all.
I thought to myself as I impressed this one last long look of him into my heart, what a very fine creature You have created. Tears slowly pooled and spilled over my cheekbones as the deeper realization of how wonderful this dog is sank into my internal file cabinet of Needful Things to Remember. Lord, he’s a dog – but he’s a better human being than I am.
He has forgiven quickly. Would I do the same?
He passionately enjoys the simple things in life. And I have often overlooked them.
He accepts change and gets on with his life. I fuss and worry about change.
He lives today and loves today. I often dwell in the past or worry about the future.
He loves no matter what. I am not that free.
This very lovely dog has gone to his new home today and already I miss him. Thank You for bringing this dog into my life. And thank You for the beautiful and tender lesson on how to be a better human.
Author Unknown