Foster Portal

Welcome fosters!

Foster Documents

Need a quick reference to your foster documents? Click the links below:

Join our ARLGP Foster Facebook Group!

Engage with your fellow fosters by sharing pictures and stories. Our mission is to facilitate a strong sense of community amongst our amazing foster families. Join the fun now!

FOSTER BENEFITS/PERKS

While being a part of progressive lifesaving comes with plenty of rewards, there are many other reasons to become a foster for the ARLGP:

Help save the lives of animals in need and help individuals and families find loving companion animals
Continuing education opportunities
10% discount on ARLGP merchandise plus access to special discounts throughout the year
Lifetime service milestone awards
Annual appreciation event
Annual exclusive ARLGP volunteer/foster tee
Gain valuable experience and skills that transfer to academic pursuits, careers, and other volunteer roles
Become part of a network and community of other ARLGP fosters
Endless love and adoration from thousands of pets and pet families!

Browse a library of resources and materials on various topics below!

Kitten Care:

Behavior Tips for Foster Parents
- Tips on litter box locations and litter choices, providing appropriate and structured play, managing rough play, etc.
Socializing Feral or Fearful Kittens
- Describes creating appropriate and safe spaces for under socialized cats and kittens, socialization methods, etc.
Kitten Development Stages
- Describes kitten developmental stages and what behaviors you may see as your foster kitten ages.
Kitten Development and What You Can Do (age appropriate socialization)
- Describes developmental stages and what socialization techniques are age appropriate for each stage.
Housetraining and Litter Box Set Up
- How to best set up your foster cat’s bathroom area and how to set them up for success with housetraining.
Managing Kitten Rough Play
- How to manage and redirect rough play.
ASPCA Kitten Wellness Log
- Use this log to keep track of your kitten’s health and keep record of their appetite, bowel movements and common kitten illness symptoms.

Puppy Care:

Sample Puppy Schedule & Safe Spaces
- Sample schedule of what life with a puppy may look like, and examples of safe “puppy proof” spaces.
Dog Socialization Tips and Checklists
- Tips about best socialization practices as well as a check list of types of things, people and situations that are great to help young dogs get accustomed to.
Puppy Socialization- 30 Minute Video Lesson
- A comprehensive lesson on safe and effective ways to create positive experiences for your puppy with the world around them.
Behavior Tips for Foster Parents
- Canine section begins on page 5. Describes house training tips, managing rough play, lowering stress and other topics.
Puppy Chewing: Dealing with Destructive Behaviors
- Discouraging unacceptable behavior and encouraging acceptable behavior.
Puppy Rough Play
- Encouraging acceptable alternatives, discouraging rough play and to do’s/not to do’s.
Developmental Stages of Puppy Behavior
- Developmental stages of “puppyhood” and what behaviors are developmentally appropriate.
Teaching your Dog to not Jump Up
- Teaching your dog how to greet people appropriately.
Housetraining a Puppy
- Establishing routines, supervision, confinement and more housetraining methods.

Neonatal Fostering:

What to Expect When Your Foster Cat is Expecting
- How to prepare for a pregnant cat, what to expect and common problems. Please note that the contact info provided on this handout is for the author shelter, not the ARLGP.
How to Bottle Feed Kittens and Puppies
- Detailed step by step guide on bottle feeding including choosing bottles and nipples.
Kitten Bottle Feeding and Stomach Capacity Chart
- Chart outlines stomach capacity, caloric requirements and numbers of feedings for kittens of each age group.
Bottle Feeding – Common Issues and Solutions
- Information on a variety of common issues experienced when bottle feeding puppies or kittens and how to resolve them.
Kitten Growth and Monitoring Chart
- Keep close track of your foster kitten’s weight and appetite and quickly identify any concerns.

Small Animal Care:

House Rabbit Behavior
- Litter box training, types of vocalizations, and general information about rabbit behavior.
House Rabbit Dietary Recommendations
- Comprehensive list to appropriate fresh vegetables, greens and fruits.
Guinea Pig Care Sheet
- Information on housing, diet, health, handling, behavior and more.

Cat Behavior Resources:

The Fearful Cat
- Fearful behavior in cats, how to make them feel more comfortable, how to manage and decrease fear and what not to do.
Aggression Towards Humans
- Describes the different types of aggression and management techniques.
“Nothing in Life is Free” Training Technique for Cats
- A training technique for kitties to perform desirable behaviors to access the things they want.
Clicker Training for Cats
- How to use a clicker to effectively communicate with and train your cat (yes, it is possible!).

Dog Behavior Resources:

Dog to Dog Introductions
- How to safely introduce dogs and set their relationship up for success. Includes a chart on canine body language and describes “Tandem walking”.
Clicker Training for Dogs
- Using a clicker to streamline communication with your dog for more effective training.
Positive Reinforcement Training
- Learn more about how positive reinforcement training works, and how you can implement it with your foster dog.
Re-housetraining
- House training tips for adult dogs who may have already lived in a home, and just need a refresher!
Teaching Loose Leash Walking
- How to teach loose leash walking using positive reinforcement. Lists different tools and types of harnesses that can help set your pup up for success.
Fearful and Excitement Urination
- Why fearful/excitement urination happens and how to help your pup hold it!
The Fearful Dog
- Understanding fear behavior in dogs and ways to reduce stress and fear.
Understanding Dog Reactivity
- If your foster dog reacts poorly to seeing strangers, dogs or small animals on walks or through windows, this is a great resource for you.
Safe Interactions for Children and Dogs
- How to safely manage interactions between children and new foster dogs.
Keeping Your Flight Risk Dog Safe – Video Resource
- If you are fostering a flight risk dog, this video has a wealth of helpful tips on setting these dogs up for success and how to keep them safe.

Foster Video Resources:

Online Resources, Educational Series, and Training…

Maddie’s Fund
Maddie’s Fund flash classes offer quick 5-minute video lessons on various topics, or more in depth 20 minute courses. There are courses on health assessments, stress reduction, pet introductions, bottle feeding, checking for dehydration and so much more. Check out their flash classes here.

The Kitten Lady
Hannah Shaw, also known as “The Kitten Lady” is a published author and educator with a focus on fostering kittens. She has a wide collection of fun, easy to watch and easy to understand videos on bottle feeding, weighing kittens, troubleshooting kitten issues and so much more. Check out her YouTube channel here.

Fear Free Shelters
Head over to the Fear Free Shelters site for free training on improving the emotional experiences of animals while they are in the shelter. There are four modules, and when all are completed, you will be awarded with a Fear Free Shelter Program Certificate of Completion. Each module takes about 5 hours to complete, so it is a big commitment, but a worthy one! This certification is FREE for shelter employees and volunteers- that means you!

“Everyone is on the Behavior Team” course collection from the ASPCA
1. How to Communicate Shelter Animal Behavior Clearly: This 20-minute course will help you support the mental health of animals by sharing your observations of their behavior clearly.
2. How to Encourage Good Behavior in Shelter Dogs: This 20-minute course from the ASPCA Learning Lab will help you set shelter animals up for success by encouraging them to display desirable behaviors during the course of your regular work.

Canine Communication & Behavior Series
Check out this three-part webinar series from ASPCApro to build your skills interacting with dogs and identifying canine behaviors.

Feline Communication
This 51 minute free webinar is a deep dive into feline communication and body language, and how you can use your own body language to put a stressed cat at ease.

Animal Enrichment Best Practices
Another great webinar series from ASPCApro for those interested in behavioral health. See how enrichment gives animals more freedom from fear and stress, and to express normal behaviors.

ASPCA Pro Free Webinar Library
ASPCA Pro offers a wide variety of free webinars that can be viewed at your convenience. Supporting shy and fearful cats, gentle handling techniques, animal enrichment and more.

Kikopup Dog Training Youtube Channel
Educational dog training videos created by professional dog trainer Emily Larlham. Topics include basic to advanced dog training, puppy training, obedience, dog tricks, behavior modification, stopping unwanted behavior, reactivity, fear, aggression, anxiety and over-arousal.

Shelter Playgroup Alliance Youtube Channel
The Shelter Playgroup Alliance youtube channel includes awesome videos about dog body language, dog to dog interactions and introductions, and enrichment ideas.

Maine Animal Shelter, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland is an animal rescue and pet adoption organization in Maine.