We urgently need Full-Time Puppy Parents and Full-Time Foster homes for our puppies and dogs.
Although you do not need experience or qualifications to look after one of our puppies in training, you will need to meet certain criteria and be prepared to attend several training sessions as part of our induction programme.
Once accepted, volunteers work under the guidance of the training department to establish and maintain early socialisation and basic training, which is critical for the role of an assistance dog.
Hounds for Heroes provide food and equipment for each puppy and cover the cost of veterinary bills and pet insurance.
Start your application.
"I wanted to make the world a better place even if just for one person and Alf and I are the perfect people for that."
Donna - Volunteer Puppy Parent
Full-Time Puppy Parents
Puppy Parents are vital to our training programme. Being a Puppy Parent for Hounds for Heroes is a full-time commitment. Puppy Parents help to establish the foundations of training and early experiences that are critical developing happy dogs who are ready to move onto their advanced training. Our puppies learn through praise, play and positive reinforcement.
The role of the Puppy Parent includes:
- To provide a secure and happy home to care for a puppy from the age of 8 weeks.
- Puppies generally stay with Puppy Parents for 12-14 months. Hounds for Heroes may decide to move the puppy earlier than this.
- To attend a weekly puppy class and commit to 1:1 sessions with the puppy trainer.
- To introduce the puppy to the experience of learning in a positive way.
- To follow the Hounds for Heroes puppy socialisation & training plan.
- To follow Hounds for Heroes positive training methods.
- To keep the puppy’s health records up to date and visit the vet as required.
- To be open and honest with the puppy trainer with information about the puppy.
- To keep a photo album of the puppy’s time with you to give to their future Partner.
You will be supported by our training team so you do not need to have lots of experience or qualifications to look after one of our puppies in training but you will need to meet certain criteria:
- Be prepared to follow Hounds for Heroes training plan.
- Preferably live within a 25-mile radius of Petersfield – reasonable travelling expenses can be claimed.
- Be at home most of the day as pups in early stages of training must not be left for longer than 1 hour.
- Be able to attend weekly classes and one to one training sessions with the puppy trainer.
- Be able to carry and care for a young puppy in the early weeks
- Have regular access to a car to attend any of the following; classes, the local town or for vet visits.
- Have time on a daily basis to provide the puppy with socialisation activities and training
- Preferably have no more than 2 dogs that live with you or visit on a regular basis
- Have a fully fenced/secure dog-friendly garden
- Be prepared to fence off an area of your garden for a toilet area for the puppy
Hounds for Heroes provide food and equipment for each puppy and cover the cost of veterinary bills and pet insurance.
Full-Time Foster
We are looking for full-time fosterers for our dogs in advanced training. The puppies will have lived with their Puppy Parents until they are around 14 months old and then they move onto their full-time foster homes. The dog would live with you full-time and we ask that you keep up their basic training. The advanced training team at Hounds for Heroes will arrange several training sessions each week where they either collect the dog from you or you drop the dog at the training centre. To find out more about the stages of training click here.
During this stage of their training, we start to look at matching them with a potential Partner. Usually, the dogs will stay in their foster home until they then go out to live with their Partner. The length of time that a dog is with you could be anything up to 6 months and there may be occasions when we move dogs around so that they experience different lifestyles such as living with cats, other dogs, young children.
Full time foster volunteers’ criteria:
- Be prepared to keep up basic Hounds for Heroes training
- Preferably live within a 25-mile radius of Petersfield – reasonable travelling expenses can be claimed.
- Be at home most of the day, our dogs should be able to be left for a maximum of 4 hours per day.
- Be able to either a drop off and/or pick up from the centre for their training (approximately twice a week).
- Have access to a car to attend vets visits
- Have time to provide socialisation activities, exercise and training as advised by a trainer
- Have no more than 2 dogs that live with you or visit on a regular basis
- Have a fully fenced/secure dog friendly garden
- Be prepared to fence off an area of your garden for a toilet area for the dog
- Keep up the photo album of the dog’s time with you to give to their future Partner.
Hounds for Heroes provide food and equipment for each puppy and cover the cost of veterinary bills and pet insurance.
There are times when we may need some short-term cover for our puppies and dogs. It could be a Puppy Parent or full-time fosterer is going on holiday or attending an event that is not suitable for a dog. Sometimes we would like our dogs to experience a different lifestyle, like living with another dog in the house or with children.
In these situations, we would use one of our part time volunteers. We still expect their basic training to continue but it is not necessary to attend classes.
Holiday cover could be anything from the odd day here and there to weekend breaks up to a maximum of up to 4 weeks cover.
Part time Volunteer Criteria:
- Be prepared to follow Hounds for Heroes training plan whilst the dog is with you.
- Preferably live within a 25-mile radius of Petersfield – reasonable travelling expenses are paid
- Be at home most of the day as some of our younger dogs can only be left for very short periods of time.
- Be able to do some pick-ups and drop offs at the training centre.
- Have access to a car to attend vet visits
- Have no more than 2 dogs that live with you or visit on a regular basis
- Have time to provide socialisation activities, exercise and training as advised by a trainer
- Have a fully fenced/secure dog friendly garden
How do I apply?
To become a Puppy Parent or Fosterer, complete the form below.
Fill out this form to begin your journey to becoming a puppy parent or fosterer for our amazing dogs.