How to Foster a Greyhound with Greyhound Welfare

Updated

Greyhound Welfare is a placement group for retired racing greyhounds serving the metropolitan Washington DC area, and it states directly on its site that it needs foster homes. Fostering is described as crucial to helping retired racers find their forever homes, and the group's adoptable dogs live in foster homes where they are "learning about retired life." If you are considering fostering, the starting point is the fostering information linked from the group's homepage — the site does not publish a standalone foster application form in the material available here, so expect to follow that link to learn the current process.

What fostering involves with this group

Based on the group's own description, foster homes are where greyhounds transition from racing life to home life. The adoptable dogs are all in foster homes, which means:

  • Foster dogs are learning house routines and what retired life looks like.
  • Foster homes are the pipeline that makes adoption possible — the group says fostering is crucial to finding forever homes.
  • Foster dogs also appear at public events. The site lists "Meet 'n' Greet" events where "Greyhound foster dogs and ambassadogs" attend, with foster dogs attending noted as TBD for each date.

New dogs arrive periodically. The site announced the arrival of 2 USA greyhounds from West Virginia on Sept. 25, 2026, with photos and bios under Adopt > Adoptable Dogs for "Holy Moly and Copenhagen."

Steps to get started

  1. Read the fostering information. The homepage says: "To learn more about fostering a greyhound please click HERE." That link is the group's own entry point for foster details.
  2. Check the adoptable dogs page. New foster dogs are posted under Adopt > Adoptable Dogs, so this shows you the kinds of dogs currently in the program.
  3. Attend a Meet 'n' Greet if you want to meet dogs first. Upcoming events listed on the site include:
    • Saturday, October 17, 2026, 11am–1pm — Unleashed by Petco, 3134 Olney Sandy Spring Rd, Olney MD
    • Sunday, October 18, 2026, 11am–1pm — Tilley's Pet Supplies, 5B E Washington St, Middleburg VA
    • Saturday, November 7, 2026, 11am–1pm — Weber's Pet Supermarket, 2280 Hunters Woods Plaza, Reston VA
    • Saturday, November 21, 2026, 11am–1pm — Unleashed by Petco, 3134 Olney Sandy Spring Rd, Olney MD
  4. Contact the group through the channel provided on the foster link. The site does not list a separate foster application in the available material, so the linked page is where the actual next step will be.

What to know before you offer to foster

  • The group does not accept adoption applications from homes with cats. This is stated as an attention notice on the homepage. If you have cats, ask the group directly whether fostering is also affected, since the notice is written about adoption applications.
  • These are retired athletes, not rescues. The group makes a point of this: "Racing Greyhounds do not need rescuing. When they retire, racing greyhounds are ready to be adopted and settle into their forever homes." It asks people to respect them as highly trained athletes and not describe a racing greyhound as needing to be rescued.
  • Greyhounds are described as low-key house dogs. The group says they are "very clean, intelligent and big couch potatoes sleeping approximately 18 hours a day."
  • Individual dogs vary. The featured dog Bess (racing name Killdoo Babe), a 4-year-old Irish greyhound who retired after 41 races, is described as possibly shy at first but with a personality that shines once she settles, and as an excellent walk partner with good leash skills. That is one dog's profile, not a guarantee for every foster.

Where to go next

Use the homepage's fostering link for the group's own instructions, browse Adopt > Adoptable Dogs to see current foster dogs, and use a Meet 'n' Greet to talk with the people already fostering. The group also lists resources on feeding, raw diets, dog parks and fun runs, and additional resources if you want to prepare before a dog arrives.