If your shelter or rescue is interested in starting or expanding a short-term foster program and improving quality of life for dogs in its care, the Maddie’s^® Short-term Foster and Field Trip Online Apprenticeship is for you! The 3-week course replicates as closely as possible the onsite Maddie’s^® Field Trip and Sleepover Foster Apprenticeship, all from the comfort of your own home!

During this online apprenticeship, you’ll learn how to create and run several different types of lifesaving short-term foster programs, including field trips, overnights and emergency foster care. You’ll learn what the research says about the benefits of short-term foster, how to structure your program, how to enlist volunteer support and techniques for marketing your program and keeping it strong. Your instructor and other experienced leaders will be available to troubleshoot during three video conferences.

“Short-term foster programs are quickly becoming a must-have program for organizations that want to engage with their communities and increase the quality of life for pets in their care,” says Foster Care Specialist Kelly Duer, who will be teaching the course. “Short-term foster programs lower the bar to fostering and allow many more people to get involved. They allow organizations to learn more about the pets in their care and market them better for adoption.”

This course runs for three weeks, from September 16 – October 4, 2019. It is applicable to foster coordinators, leadership or anyone at your organization who will be involved with short-term foster care. You’ll get personalized support and a chance to learn from organizations running successful programs during three online video conference sessions each Wednesday during the course at 7pm EDT.

Organizations with one staff member or more who complete this course are eligible to apply for the Dog Field Trip grant through our friends at the Petfinder Foundation!  This grant provides up to $500 of funding to purchase needed supplies for short-term foster/dog field trip programs such as collars, leashes, harnesses, Adopt Me vests and more.

Twenty students will be accepted, and the application process is competitive. Apply today!