Neonatal kittens. Bottle Babies. Teeny, not yet weaned. However you describe them, whatever you call them, kittens who depend on humans to make it through their first several weeks of life are some of the cutest souls you will encounter and also some of the most vulnerable.
Tag: fosters
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Austin Pets Alive! | 120+ Pets Facing Euthanasia
24 pets
facing euthanasia are arriving at APA! now as their originating shelter
was presented with a potential eviction. The 90+ remaining animals in
the No Kill shelter hold the same fate if they can’t be moved to other
places. -
Austin Pets Alive! | APA! Pilots New Program to Support Dog Fosters
Jan 26, 2022
We are now offering a variety of training classes to help you get your foster dog from here to outta here! Check out the descriptions below and be sure to sign up! You can find FAQs and more information here. We’ll see you in class!
Basic Obedience:
Basic Obedience Class is designed to help foster dogs learn the basic skills needed to improve their manners and enhance adoptability. This 6-week course consists of one-hour, in-person classes where fosters and their dogs can learn foundational skills such as sit, down, recall, and more, all while building a stronger relationship with their pup before finding their homes. Fosters are highly encouraged to attend all six classes. The course is open to anyone currently fostering a dog with Austin Pets Alive! Eligible foster dogs must be fully vaccinated and 5 months or older. This course will be held on Saturdays at 9 am at The ABGB. SIGN UP HERE!
Foster dogs that exhibit behaviors that could be considered dangerous in a class setting may not attend class.
If your dog is exhibiting behaviors that would disrupt class, such as reactivity, contact Lyndsey Mosso to schedule private sessions to work with your foster pup. The maximum number of fosters who can enroll in the Basic Obedience Class is 10. Because each week’s class will build off of the previous week, we strongly encourage fosters to come to all six classes. However, if you need to miss a class, please contact Lyndsey Mosso ahead of time to work something out.
Puppy Class:
Puppy Class is offered to fosters who have puppies and want to learn more about raising a dog in the easiest, most appropriate, and most successful way. This 6-week class is focused on how to begin a puppy’s life with immediate structure and training, in an effort to mitigate behavioral issues that could occur in the future. Our goal is for a majority of APA! fosters and their puppies to have proper socialization and options for doing so.
Puppy Class is a 6-part, one-hour, drop-in class that will take place every Thursday at 10 am. It will be hosted at The Watering Bowl Dog Park and Bar. It is ideal for fosters to come to every class, but not required if unable to make it on a certain date. SIGN UP HERE!
Transitions Class:
Transitioning from the shelter to a home environment can be hard for many dogs. This virtual, 5-part class is directed toward foster dogs who are struggling to adjust from moving out of the shelter and into a home. We will focus on how to work these pups through the common issues they are facing, and prevent returns to the shelter by doing so. Fosters and their dogs will learn how to identify stress-related behaviors and use training techniques to help establish calm, collected, and comfortable behavior in the home.
This virtual, 5-part class will be held on Tuesdays at 6:30 pm. Transitions Class will be an hour-long drop-in course that is hosted bi-weekly on Google Meet. This course is open to any fosters who would like to expand their education on how to reduce transitional behavior issues and stress in the home. Fosters are not required to attend each class; rather, they can sign up for the topics they’re most interested in learning about. SIGN UP HERE!
Naughty Behaviors:
This class is targeted towards our pups that are a bit more sensitive than the rest and who need a little extra help with more challenging behaviors. By offering a group class that provides personalized training and is focused on a variety of behavioral issues, we hope that it will limit the returns of animals based on these reasons. Our goal is to teach handlers to actively work through these issues confidently and safely. We will discuss what each problem behavior looks like, how to identify these issues, and how to work through them with different training exercises.
Our Naughty Behaviors Class is a 4-week class that’s open to any foster who is encountering more challenging behavioral issues or wants to learn how to be proactive on these behaviors. Each week will focus on one category of behavior and will consist of two one-hour classes: a virtual class on Wednesday at 6:30 pm and an in-person class on Saturday at 10:15 am. Fosters can attend classes for every behavior, or pick and choose behaviors that most apply to them. Any foster with a fully vaccinated dog of 5 months or older can join the class. SIGN UP HERE!
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Austin Pets Alive! | Fostering in Austin
Aug 23, 2021
Recently we were lucky to have an amazing group from the UT Austin McCombs School of Business study what the capacity for people to foster animals in Austin really looks like, by comparing current census data to common trends among our [hundreds] of amazing volunteers currently fostering APA! animals.
What many people don’t know is that there is an entire machine of coordination and support behind any shelters with robust foster programs for homeless pets. The good news is that this machine is completely possible to build in any community and nurture to extend the ability to save the lives of companion animals at risk of euthanasia. And, thanks to this study, we have even more certainty on what we suspected to be a huge opportunity for new fosters in Austin.
First, Who exactly fosters?
The study matched active APA! foster parents’ demographics with Austin district census and survey data. Based on the number of current APA! fosters in each zip code, those ages 18-34, without pets, closer to the animal shelter and renters/single occupants are more likely to foster (both dogs and cats).
When these variables were compared with the census in the same zip codes, a potential 433 potential dog fosters and 498 potential cat fosters were identified! And that number could multiply if the households foster more than one animal in need.
Why do they foster?
The study also analyzed the demographic data of APA!’s current fosters to find the top 5 reasons for fostering:
- New time and bandwidth
- Not ready for a long-term commitment (adopting)
- Love of animals/grew up with animals
- Desire to help animals
- Trial for future adoption
Based on this information, we are more knowledgeable than ever on who potential fosters are. And any city could pair these commonalities with their communities, plus best practices for building and maintaining a foster program [ampa resource link here] and we’d be looking at city by city solving a major portion of commonly being too under-resourced to save enough lives – by finding new resources outside of the shelter and into the community via foster homes.
Thank you to the McCombs School of Business team: Anurag Peddaiahgari, Drake Sides, Haoshu Yuwen, Nicholas Hill, Nicholas Solorzano, and Sandesh Kakade, for shining new light on the potential of fostering animals in Austin!
For those of you not yet fostering in Austin and are willing to join this lifesaving network, please email [email protected].
Sources: Simply Analytics/Census and APA! fosters data
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Austin Pets Alive! | Austin Pets Alive! Announces Launch of Five-Star…
Jun 25, 2021
AUSTIN, TX — Austin Pets Alive! announces the launch of the Five-Star Foster Program. APA!’s Five-Star Foster Program places dogs with specific behavior management needs into appropriate foster homes in order to reduce their stress, continue their training, and teach them what a loving home environment is.
Five-Star Fosters provide training and socialization for their foster dogs and manage them in a safe and consistent manner with continual support from APA!’s renowned Dog Behavior Team. What makes the Five-Star Foster Program different from APA!’s main Dog Foster Program is the specific subset of dogs and home setups for those particular pups. Some may need an adult-only home; some thrive with a dog sibling and others may need a yard. The dogs eligible for the Five-Star Foster Program come in all shapes and sizes, with different kinds of homes.
“The five stars represent what our fosters selflessly give to these dogs: trust, rehabilitation, love, patience and training,” said Laura Thomas, APA! Dog Behavior Program Manager. “Opening your home to one of these special dogs is the ultimate form of lifesaving.”
Austin Pets Alive! takes in approximately 5,000 dogs every year from shelters that do not have enough space or resources to care for them. Some of those dogs have behavioral challenges that require more attention than a typical dog. Through APA!’s Five-Star Foster Program, these special dogs have a chance at finding their forever home through fosters who are willing to be consistent, patient, and loving.
To learn more about the Five-Star Foster Program, please watch this video. To apply to foster, please visit www.austinpetsalive.org/foster.
