National English Shepherd Rescue needs more than just fosters to rescue dogs! These are our volunteer roles, and how they help English Shepherds get adopted:
Evaluator volunteers meet a candidate for intake and work off a scripted interview form to develop an sense of who the dog is, and whether they might be viable. This role is generally pretty infrequently called on, and is a low-cost way to stay involved with us.
Transporters help move a dog from one place to another. As a general matter, we limit transporters to a three hour one-way drive unless they specify otherwise. Transport volunteers are especially critical in southern states, and the mountain west.
Fosters take a dog into their home and care for it until a permanent adoption can be made. Often this is a foster-to-adopt scenario, where the foster takes on a dog that they might be interested in, with the option of moving the dog on if it is not a good fit. This requires a lot of commitment: introductions to the house pack (if any), time spent working with the foster on deficiencies (such as leash manners, counter cruising, etc.), trips to the vet for intake care, etc. We cannot operate without our network of fosters, and they are the biggest single key to our success.
After a dog has passed evaluation, coordinators oversee every step of a dog's journey to an adoptive home. They
find someone to pull the dog from a shelter (if in a shelter) or get the dog from a surrendering owner
arrange for a foster and transport to the foster
find a suitable adoptive home, or
market the dog if no such homes exist or are interested.
This is a potentially significant time commitment; it can be very close to zero once a dog is in a foster-to-adopt situation, or a part-time job if a dog is a hard placement in need of a very particular foster or adoptive home. Coordinators start as the assistant to an existing coordinator, and then with experience become a coordinator themselves.
Our ability to rehome dogs is determined partly by the number of foster homes we have, but a lack of coordinators can stop the process cold. We sometimes have to "close the doors" because of too many dogs and not enough coordinators.Contact volunteer: A lot of coordinating is contacting people by email, text, and phone. To reduce the workload on coordinators, minimize dead ends, and get dogs into adoptive homes quicker, we need someone to contact
adopters as their applications age out (after a year)
fosters on break at such time as they are eligible to return to active service (people return from vacations, have personal emergencies, etc.)
foster and transport volunteers on a periodic basis to see if they are still available for those roles
references on adopter, transport, and foster volunteer applications.
Because transporters and fosters both have physical custody of a dog, we require them to sign a contract with us outlining responsibility in those respective roles. Coordinators require a signed confidentiality agreement as well.
If you can help in any capacity other than fostering, please apply at our online volunteer application form. (Fostering has its own application.) Thank you so much for thinking of us, and more importantly, the dogs we serve.
