Temporary, not casual
Fostering on Cape Ann: what foster dogs need from daycare and grooming
Cape Ann Animal Aid in Gloucester and rescues across the North Shore rely on foster homes, and one of our trainers has fostered through the shelter. This page is for the household that takes a dog for a month and wants to know which of our services help and which wait.
What changes
What a foster dog needs first: decompression, a leash for every door, and no expectations for a week
A foster arrives with a history you mostly do not know. Many shut down, sleep and refuse food; others are frantic, mouthy and unable to settle. Both are stress rather than temperament. The dog also has no idea where home is, so a slipped collar on day two is a lost dog. The leash goes on for every trip outside, including a fenced yard, for the first weeks.
What a foster needs from us in that first week is almost nothing. Shelter and transport smell, a coat that has not been brushed in weeks, nails that click on the floor: a groomer can fix all of that on day one without any evaluation. Daycare and walks come later, and they come through the evaluation, which is per dog, not per household.
- Week one: shut down or frantic, both stress; a leash for every door, including the yard
- A bath needs no evaluation and can happen the day the dog arrives
- Daycare and walks wait for the evaluation, and the evaluation is for each dog you foster
The plan
The plan, week by week: a bath, then the license, then walks, then the evaluation, then a half day
In the first days, do nothing social. Book a bath, $55 for a dog up to 25 pounds and priced by size above that, and tell the groomer it is a new foster. In week one, sort the paperwork: we need Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella records and a current city license for every dog, so ask the rescue what it holds for this dog and bring it to the front desk, who will tell you what else is needed.
In week two, if you are at work, a solo walk from home by our staff, 20 minutes for $25, gives the dog a midday break without a group; ask whether we cover your address. When the dog eats, sleeps and greets you normally, book the free evaluation for a weekday morning. If the group fits, a half day at $33 is the right first size. The handler's notes in the report card describe how the dog does with other dogs, which is useful to the rescue.
- 01
Days one to three: quiet house, leash on for every exit, a bath from $55 with the groomer told it is a new foster
- 02
Week one: the rescue's vaccination records and the license question sorted with the front desk
- 03
Week two: a solo walk from home at $25 on your workdays, if we cover the address
- 04
Week three: the free evaluation on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30, once the dog is settled
- 05
Week four: a half day at $33, the report card read, and the notes passed to the rescue
Cape Ann specifics
The Cape Ann specifics: the shelter in Gloucester, the license question, a long line on the off-season sand, and the van
Cape Ann Animal Aid is a no-kill shelter in Gloucester, and its website is the source for how its foster program works; its resources page collects local information for new owners. Massachusetts dogs are licensed by town, and in Gloucester the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave issues them with a rabies certificate; ask the rescue what license the dog carries before you assume, because we need a current one on file.
The off-season beach on a long line is the kindest ground: Gloucester's beaches allow dogs from October 1 to April 30 at the time of writing, Good Harbor on even-numbered days and Wingaersheek on odd. Skip the off-leash Gloucester Dog Park at Stage Fort. The Pup Van runs for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea, but for a foster's first daycare days we would rather you did the drop-off yourself.
- Cape Ann Animal Aid's own site is the source for its foster program and what it supplies
- Gloucester licenses come from the City Clerk at 9 Dale Ave; ask the rescue what the dog already carries
- Off-season beach on a long line: Good Harbor even days, Wingaersheek odd, October 1 to April 30; skip the off-leash park for now
What not to do
What not to do: the dog park in week one, daycare on day three, a skipped evaluation, or paperwork assumed to transfer
Do not take a new foster to the Gloucester Dog Park to see whether it likes dogs; you do not yet know what it does when frightened. Do not book daycare in the first week; a walk from home covers the workday without asking the dog to meet a group. Do not let a foster off-leash on Dogtown Common or at Ravenswood; it does not yet know where home is.
Do not assume the last foster's paperwork or evaluation covers this one. Every dog is evaluated on its own. Do not skip the evaluation because the dog will only be with you a month; a month is long enough to matter. And do not be surprised if the answer for a particular foster is not yet; our training team's Calm & Connected program was written for rescues.
At Dogtown
What a foster household uses, and in what order
The grooming studio on day one, a walker in week two, and a playgroup only once the evaluation says so.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Does Dogtown have a foster program or a foster discount?
Does each foster dog need its own evaluation?
Can a foster dog be groomed on the day it arrives?
What happens if my foster dog is adopted by a family on Cape Ann?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- Cape Ann Animal Aid
- Cape Ann Animal Aid resources
- Gloucester dog licensing
- Gloucester beaches: detailed information
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
The same door for every foster.
Book a bath for arrival day, then the free evaluation for a weekday morning once the dog has settled, and tell us it is a foster.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
