Foundations of shelter management

Foundations of Shelter Management comprises five general shelter management sessions which can be implemented in a dog or cat setting and a further collection of sessions, specifically targeted to dog or cat welfare and rehoming.
Each session will take no more than two hours to complete, although many are shorter; we recognise that it can be challenging for animal welfare personnel to attend longer training sessions. 

Those who fully complete the general and dog or cat modules may then apply to attend the Residential Week at Battersea’s London and Old Windsor sites.

Foundations of Shelter Management is suitable as an induction programme for staff and volunteers new to your organisation or for someone looking to upskill or refresh their existing knowledge.

Duration: Live online – five weeks (one two-hour session per week) | E-learning & pre-recorded (at learner’s pace)
 

Dates & times

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General Module

Pre-recorded

The Customer Journey

In this session, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the rehoming journey that your customers go through and identify opportunities to improve the customer experience to help increase rehoming efficiency.

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Pre-Recorded

THE PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF SHELTER METRICS

In this pre-recorded session you will have the opportunity to apply the principles of shelter metrics to data from animal shelters and explore the impact that changing intake strategies might have on the efficiency of a shelter.

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E-learning

ANIMAL WELFARE, ETHICS AND DECISION MAKING

In this pre-recorded session this introductory e-learning module will explore some of the key principles in animal welfare and ethics.

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E-learning

STRATEGIC THINKING AND ACTION PLANNING

You will explore root cause analyses and how these can help ensure solutions will be effective – both inside your organisation and outside.

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E-learning

RECORD KEEPING

This module explores the benefits of effective record keeping for you, the animals in your care and your organisation, whilst encouraging you to reflect on your own record keeping practices.

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E-learning

HYGIENE AND HUSBANDRY

This module we will explore daily husbandry practice for shelter dogs and cats in the context of welfare best practice.

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Dog Specific Module

Live Online

DOG BODY LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION

This module highlights how to recognise dog body language signals and understand what they are communicating to us, as well as how our own body language can influence how a dog feels.

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Live Online

STRESS AND ENRICHMENT IN THE KENNEL ENVIRONMENT

This module will explore stress signals in dogs, potential triggers in the rescue environment and how we can alleviate stress to improve welfare.

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Live Online

HOW DOGS LEARN

This module explores the different ways in which dogs learn, the methods of training available and how we can set our dogs up for success during training sessions.

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Live Online

PERFORMING AN ENHANCED ASSESSMENT FOR DOGS

An Enhanced Assessment (EA) is used to categorise the risk of a bite incident. This module looks at the process of undertaking an EA and gives you the opportunity to undertake part of the process yourself.

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Live Online

INFLUENCING REHOMING SUCCESS FOR DOGS

This interactive module will reflect on the factors that influence your ability to rehome dogs efficiently. We will share ideas for overcoming barriers and effective promotion, to improve success for dogs that are more challenging to rehome.

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E-learning

Dog Behavioural Assessing

Assessing the behaviour of dogs is a key part of the rehoming process . This e-learning module explores the way in which Battersea assesses our dogs - ranging from which behaviours we assess, how we assess them as well as how we record our observations - to help you identify how some of the principles described in the module can be adapted to suit the needs of your own animal rescue.

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E-learning

Puppy Development

This module explores the various stages of puppy development, additionally highlighting how to effectively socialise puppies, what life skills are key to them and why a home environment is the best place for raising a puppy.

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Cat Specific Module

Live Online

CAT-FRIENDLY INTERACTIONS

Cat-friendly interactions not only benefit the cats in our care, but humans too. It is especially important for new owners to have positive encounters with their cats. We will look at these benefits and how they enable cats to find their new home sooner by using the 3 second rule and the 'CAT' acronym.

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Live Online

STRESS MANAGEMENT IN CATS

In this module, we will look at measures we can take to manage stress in the shelter and foster setting and help cats to settle into this new environment quicker.

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Live Online

CAT WELFARE ASSESSMENT

In this session, we will use examples to highlight how best to assess welfare based on the behaviour seen in the shelter.

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Live Online

CAT TEMPERAMENT ASSESSMENT

We will look at the six behaviour profiles that are useful for assessing temperament in cats and how this helps us to assign a traffic-light colour to each individual and ensure they receive the appropriate outcome.

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Live Online

DECISION MAKING TO IMPROVE CAT WELFARE

This module describes the concepts of learned helplessness and behavioural depression in cats and the interventions we can put in place to prevent suffering and assess quality of life.

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E-learning

CAT INTAKE

This e-learning module will delve into these questions by providing examples. What information can we find out about the cats coming into a rescue shelter, and how can this information help to ensure tailored care for each individual cat.

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E-learning

DOMESTICATION OF THE CAT

The domestic cat descends from the African Wildcat, a species still found in the wild. The African Wildcat is very similar to modern domestic cats. In this e-learning module, we will explore how cats came to be domesticated, the wild behaviours that underpin the behaviour we see today and how this helps us to better understand the cats that come into our care.

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Pre-recorded

CAT BEHAVIOUR AND BODY LANGUAGE

In this module, we look at the behavioural strategies available to cats to help them better cope with stressful situations. We also look at subtle changes in behaviour and body language and how to recognise different temperaments of cat.

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Residential Week

The Residential Week is open only to those who have fully completed the general module and the dog or cat module of Foundations of Shelter Management. Bursaries are available for eligible individuals.

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Dates & Times

Course

Dates & Times

PERFORMING AN ENHANCED 
ASSESSMENT FOR DOGS

Thursday 5 February 2026 | 10:00am – 12:00pm GMT

Thursday 9 July 2026 | 10:00am – 12:00pm BST

Tuesday 26 May 2026 | 10:00am – 12:00pm BST

Tuesday 27 October 2026 | 10:00am – 12:00pm GMT

INFLUENCING REHOMING
SUCCESS FOR DOGS

Thursday 12 February 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 16 July 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 2 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 3 November 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

DOG BODY 
LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION

Thursday 15 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 5 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 18 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 6 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

STRESS AND ENRICHMENT 
IN THE KENNEL ENVIRONMENT

Thursday 22 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 12 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Thursday 25 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 13 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

HOW DOGS LEARN

Thursday 29 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 19 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 2 July 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 20 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

CAT TEMPERAMENT
ASSESSMENT

Tuesday 3 February 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 28 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 14 July 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Tuesday 29 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

CAT-FRIENDLY INTERACTIONS

Tuesday 13 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Wednesday 6 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 16 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Thursday 8 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

STRESS MANAGEMENT IN CATS

Tuesday 20 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 23 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 14 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Thursday 15 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

CAT WELFARE ASSESSMENT

Tuesday 27 January 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 21 May 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 30 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Thursday 22 October 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

DECISION MAKING TO
IMPROVE CAT WELFARE

Tuesday 10 February 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Thursday 4 June 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

Tuesday 21 July 2026 | 10am – 12pm BST

Thursday 13 November 2026 | 10am – 12pm GMT

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