The Okotoks Pound Rescue is in need of a few residents to open their hearts and their homes to foster dogs in need.

The organization has been dealing with an influx of dogs coming in from a Foothills community and is hoping to find them caring foster homes while they try to find them their forever homes.

Rosa, board member with the Pound Rescue, says it's important people understand the reality of being a foster home.

"What happens with people is they have this fantasy of what fostering is all about, so they want to be able to say 'what breed is it? What size is it? Is it house trained?'. We don't know anything about the dogs, we just take the ones that are in need. These are always great dogs, you just have to open your heart, have compassion, and try."

She adds being a foster home requires patience but brings a great sense of reward.

"They are dogs that have to have somebody take them in, teach them to come into a house, teach them to go to the bathroom outside, so there is initially a few days of trying to get that done but it is absolutely the most rewarding thing, you just have to be open to whatever animal needs your help."

Rosa points out that fosters need to be open to having the dogs in their home for an unspecified amount of time as there's never an exact timeline of how long it will take for a dog to be adopted.

Recently, the Pound Rescue has saved two separate dogs that were found in dumpsters as well as one dog with three legs.

She explains it's important foster homes make an effort to integrate the dogs into their family.

"We don't want fosters that are going to chain them outside or put them in kennels and leave them all day. They have to become part of the family, trained to be in a home and be in a loving environment and have free access to the house. If you don't teach them to be free in your home you have a harder time with them because they don't get that bond with you."

For more information on becoming a foster home to one of the four dogs the Pound Rescue is urgently hoping to assist, click here.

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Another one of the dogs in need of a foster home.