Foster Policies & Resources

1. Dog Adoption Event Requirements: Tips to make adoption events successful for you and your foster dog.

2. Out of State Adoption Policy: Guidelines and steps if your foster's adopter lives outside of Georgia.

3. LifeLine's Adopters Welcome Approach: How we handle all adoptions and ask our fosters to follow as well. 

4. Humane Society's Manual for Adopters Welcome: the national standard for an Adopters Welcome Philosophy.

When posting publicly on social media as a Foster Parent, please remember and be mindful that you're a representative of our organization. This includes best practices for talking about the organization online, and expectations in our internal Facebook groups.

LifeLine Social Media Policy

• We practice positive-only training with fosters to build trust and ensure our foster pets can become confident and well-adjusted. We only recommend equipment and trainers certified by reputable organizations (e.g., CPDT-KA or CDBC).

• Focus on rewarding good behavior with high-value treats rather than punishing bad behavior.

• If your foster does something you don't want them to do - like mouthing your hands or chewing on something inappropriate - redirect them with a toy or noise and praise them for making the right choice. 

  • • Never take anything out of your foster's mouth without offering a high-value trade option.

• Keep training short, aim for 5-10 minutes of 1-on-1 training a few times a day to keep your foster engaged and interested.

Use of the following may result in removal from the foster program:

❌ Physically pushing, hitting, or snapping a foster pet

❌ Prong collars /choke chains

❌ Vibration, spray (citronella), or shock collars

❌ Electric fences for outside

❌ Cat Shock Pads aka "Scat Mats"

❌Head halters without slow such as Gentle Leader or Halti without proper introduction / positive association.

❌ Leash corrections "popping" or any equipment used to intimidate, startle, or cause discomfort

💡Get Help: You're never alone with training and behavior! We offer internal training support and can create individualized plans and protocols. Reach out to your foster coordinator about specific issues, and join us for weekly group training classes at our CAC location.

Outside Training & Reimbursement: Any work with an outside trainer (including individual sessions or "board and train" programs) must be approved by the foster team prior to the start of training and must abide by our training policies. LifeLine cannot reimburse for training sessions with external providers.

Fundraisers that are not approved by LifeLine may not be posted or shared in LifeLine groups and social media pages. Please reach out to your foster team if you're looking to raise money for your foster pet for any reason.

If your foster pet has been diagnosed with a more complex, non-emergency medical condition that falls outside of LifeLine’s veterinary care, we can help you raise money through LifeLine's tax-deductible platform and connect you with external clinics who can help. If approved, LifeLine will cover the cost for the procedure.

✅Peer to Peer Fundraising Announcement🩺

Approved and safe donation platforms include: 

• LifeLine's website

• LifeLine's Facebook & Instagram donation platforms

• LifeLine's official Amazon Wishlists

• Any fundraiser that is directly promoted on LifeLine's social media or websites. 

If you're donating through GoFundMe, a personal Facebook fundraiser, or any other crowdfunding site, please be aware that we have limited ability to ensure that the funds donated will ultimately benefit the animals in our care and that your donation is not tax-deductible; hence they may not be posted to LifeLine social pages. If you are selling a product or service whose proceeds benefit LifeLine, please email news@lifelineanimal.org prior to posting in this group. For questions on fundraising, please reach out to donations@lifelineanimal.org.

We prioritize stability for urgent dogs with deadlines to allow them to decompress and succeed in homes.

1. No "Foster Trains": We do not condone moving dogs between multiple short-term homes (foster-to-foster) as it increases anxiety and reactivity.

2. Long-Term Commitment: Fosters for urgent deadline dogs must have long-term availability in case adoption or rescue plans fall through.

3. Assessments Matter: Rapidly moving homes makes it difficult for our team to accurately assess a dog's needs and find the right adoption match.

4. Short-Term Alternatives: If you can only help for a few days, please join our Dog for the Day, Weekend Warrior, or Foster Petsitting programs for dogs without deadlines.

5. The Golden Rule: Never hand off a foster pet to anyone else without explicit email confirmation from the in-shelter team.