Transporting Your Foster

Before transporting your foster, ALWAYS ensure that they have an appropriate and well fitting collar, a silver GPG tag, and that you are using appropriate leashes &/or the crate/carrier is securely closed (zip tie if not!), etc. If you are transporting a high-flight-risk adult dog, please talk with shelter staff about whether they should be moved in a crate and whether you will need additional human assistance getting them into your house.

Dogs: There are several methods you can use in a car to ensure the safety of the dog (s) and the driver from a dog who may want to bounce around, including into the driver's field of vision or get into a nervous tussle with its foster sibling that it has just met.

• • • Use a doggie seat belt or harness attachment

    • Slam several inches of the leash into a car door, window, or hatchback. This method allows for you to have hold of the leash before opening the car door. You can also climb in from the other door, grab the leash, and then release it from the door it is slammed into. If transporting two dogs, you can slam the leashes at opposite ends of the car so they cannot reach one another.

    • Utilize a crate

Be sure to lock all doors and windows while your foster dog is in the car! Do not open windows more than a couple of inches to prevent them from jumping out (believe us, it has happened!)

Puppies: Puppies should be transported in a wire or travel carrier due to their high risk of parvo. Puppies can potentially contaminate your car in such a way that it would not be able to be cleaned, and you would no longer be able to transport any dogs or puppies that were not fully vaccinated in that car again. Also, they poop a lot.

Cats and kittens: Cats and kittens should ALWAYS be transported in a closed carrier to prevent escape and getting trapped in a dangerous part of your car. Check closures and latches each time you use the carrier.