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​Volunteer

Here at MSRH, “it takes a village” to accomplish the many tasks required to rescue and re-home Miniature Schnauzers.  We have no paid employees.  Everyone is a volunteer, and every volunteer job is important and appreciated. If any of the activities below interest you, please fill out our volunteer form, or if interested in fostering the foster application, and one of our MSRH team member will contact you.

 

If you are seeking an opportunity with more involvement, please visit our Open Opportunities page and review the various job descriptions.

 

Foster Parent

The foster parent serves a very important role in helping a homeless dog through the transformation process to a new life.  The homeless pet may need a quiet environment to go through medical treatment, need help gaining or losing weight, or may need to be taught manners to get them ready for their new home. 

 

Fostering takes patience, love, and observation of the personality and other traits to assist MSRH in finding the best match for the dog and his or her perspective new family.  Most dogs coming into the care of MSRH do not come with a resume of their past lives, so spending some time with the dog in a home setting is the best way to make them feel safe and learn about them.  We cannot glean this information if we have to board the dog at a kennel.  The kennel environment is also stressful to the dog and expensive to MSRH. 

 

As a foster parent, you must ask yourself:

  1. Do I have the time and desire to care for the animal properly? 

  2. If the animal is not housetrained, am I prepared to teach that skill? 

  3. Am I and everyone else in the household willing to treat the foster dog as a family member? 

  4. Am I willing to try to maintain harmony between my foster dog and my own pets? 

  5. Although MSRH pays for veterinary care, am I prepared for any out-of-pocket costs involved (for food, bowls, bedding, leash, crate, etc.)? 

  6. Do I have the time to take the dog to weekend adoption events (Houston area residents only)? 

  7. Am I prepared to be committed to this effort? 

 

If you answered ‘yes’ to these questions, please submit an online foster application.  

 

Home Visits:

Home visits are required when we have adoption applicants who have either never had a dog before or else it has been quite some time since they last had one.  For these applicants, a home visit is to help assure the success of the upcoming adoption.  A volunteer will visit the home of the applicant to make sure the home is a dog-friendly place.  If there is a backyard, the volunteer will make sure the fence is in good repair, the gates have locks, and there are no plants in the yard that would be harmful to a dog.  If there is a swimming pool, we make sure the applicant is mindful of the dog’s safety and has a plan in place.  We help educate the applicant by giving tips and answers to their questions on dog care.  All new home visit volunteers will be given thorough instructions and materials for this task to assure that they are comfortable with it. 

 

Transportation:

There are three scenarios where we need transports:

  1. Pick up and transfer from area animal shelters to one of our veterinary clinics -this is typically a weekday task

  2. Transport a dog to another city - this is transport to Texas cities such as Dallas, Austin or San Antonio and can occur on both a weekday or weekend. We typically do our best to arrange for someone from the other city to meet halfway, so that neither volunteer has to drive the entire distance.

  3. Transport our foster dogs to a Meet & Greet for potential adoption - these events typically run from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Transporters are not required to stay at the event, just drop off and pick up. The crate will be needed for the dog to stay in during the event.

 

For most transportation activities, we try to arrange within a reasonable distance from the volunteer's home. NOTE: mileage driven is tax deductible, so keep track.

 

Other Opportunities:

We are also in need of volunteers that have other skills or would like to assist in other ways. Areas of need include:

  • Grooming

  • Coordination of events - Meet & Greet

  • Fundraising Activities and Events

  • Photographing rescues or event activities

  • Administrative - assisting with record keeping or paperwork

  • Creative Writing

  • Graphic Design

  • Public Relations

  • Information Technology

  • Any Other not listed here

 

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