Last night GAP held its final information session as part of a month-long series of events, both in-person and online, to celebrate National Adoption Month and all things greyhound. This session was hosted by Rose Streatfield, GAP Volunteer and Foster Care Coordinator, and covered everything a potential foster carer would need to know.
As GAP’s go-to person when it comes to foster care, Rose knows firsthand many of the questions and concerns that first-time foster carers have. During her presentation, Rose ran everyone through each concern to put people’s minds at rest and educate them on greyhounds as a breed.
People may not be aware, but fostering a greyhound is not like fostering other breeds of dogs as greyhounds are not used to pet life. This must be taken into consideration prior to becoming a foster carer as you will be helping introduce a grey into a whole new environment that they have never experienced before. Many have never seen a glass sliding door, walked on wooden floorboards, or walked on a lead, so this can be very intimidating and scary for a greyhound. The role of the foster carer is to teach the greyhound that they have nothing to worry about when it comes to these everyday items and activities and set them up for a successful adoption.
Joining us on the session was Kate Stevenson who is GAP’s Foster Care Ambassador. Kate herself has fostered around 10 greyhounds over the past several years, so she was able to speak to the group about her own challenges with being a foster carer. The biggest challenge for Kate, and we’re sure all foster carers will agree, is having to give the greyhound back to GAP so they can be adopted. A bond is formed between the foster carer and the greyhound over the few weeks they are in their care, many ups and downs are experienced and overcome, so handing them back to GAP can be a very emotional time. Although this can be hard, Kate said that it is good to remember why you foster in the first place. You must remind yourself that you are there to help the greyhound go on to have a happy life with a forever home.
To find out more about foster care, please head here.
To everyone that has joined any of our information sessions throughout the month or attended the National Adoption Day at GAP Seymour, we would like to say thank you! Make sure you are following us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with any events we have coming up.
