Dog Behavioral Health Through The Shelter Process

Note from Con Slobodchikoff: This is a post from guest author Nancy Frensley, CAP 2, CPDT, who is Manager of Behavior and Training at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society in Berkeley, California. She will write periodic posts about the behavioral challenges and joys of shelter dogs.

More dogs are abandoned and surrendered to shelters for behavioral problems than for any other reason. Statistics support it and as the Manager of Behavior and Training at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society in Berkeley, California, I see it first hand.

I’m a certified Pet Dog Trainer and hold a CAP 2 designation in clicker training. My work includes supporting the public with training classes and counseling for behavioral problems and working with adopters, shelter staff and volunteers on understanding shelter dog behavior.

Dogs are amazing creatures. They are always learning, seeking and forever trying to figure us out. In the 20 years of working within shelters, I have found that if we provide staff, volunteers and adopters with the right tools – dogs not only grow but thrive during their shelter stay and in their new homes.

A significant part of our shelter’s mission is to take animals from the municipal shelters in our surrounding community. We seek out animals that are healthy, treatable and able to be rehabilitated (both medically and behaviorally). Our work begins with the selection process.

During regular visits to local facilities, we look at how the dogs present themselves to a stranger passing by the kennel, their reactions to when we hold out our hand or when we make eye contact. Behaviorally, we lean more toward dogs that exhibit a relaxed body and who greet us warmly. From these initial contacts, we then select dogs for further temperament testing. Our choices are influenced by a number of factors including the current population in our shelter.

After the dogs have passed, we then do a standard temperament test which places emphasis on the following: a dog’s tolerance for being handled, the ability to make a connection with one or more people and for possessive behavior over food and valuable objects. Once the group is selected and transported to our shelter… the real work begins!

Upon arrival, dogs are given a thorough medical exam by the Shelter Medical Director. Most of the dogs need some level of medical treatment and are all quarantined for a minimum of five days prior to spay/neuter surgery. One thing we have learned about behavior in shelter dogs is that we must begin the process of maintaining behavioral soundness from day one.

To accomplish this, we use a trio of activities that a shelter dog experiences at least once a day. Each dog gets a minimum of three enrichment activities, such as: training time during a walk, free exercise (either off leash or playing with other dogs) and a “down-time” activity. Since we are limited to where we can take the dogs during the quarantine period, we double up on down time, handling activities and quiet work inside the kennel. These activities serve to maintain normal behavior and allow the shelter dog to relate well to people and become well-mannered individuals before they are adopted. Interactions with the dogs are always structured, goal oriented and consistent.

There are always a few dogs who will challenge the staff with behaviors that were not apparent during the initial testing phase or that developed during their shelter stay. These behaviors include: unruly, mouthy, rambunctious tendencies and the other extreme – shyness and withdrawal. And, we are challenged to keep all the dogs as veterinary-friendly as possible since they need to receive preventative care. For those, we write special behavior plans, complete with charts for tracking behavior sessions. We have been successful in changing behavior with these plans, which usually involve some form of counter-conditioning, desensitization and differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior. All of our behavior work includes generous amounts of plain old Pavlovian conditioning.

The final pieces that complete the process with each dog are adoption counseling and post adoption work. Our adoption counselors provide standard information on how to successfully start a dog in a home and discuss each dog’s individual profile. Profiles might include any special training routines or behavior changing protocols assigned to that particular dog. The canine staff and I gladly provide private training sessions to support adopters, especially for those dogs who need a little extra work to help fit into a home environment.

Of all the components that go into making a successful adoption happen, it’s best when an adopter truly is in love with the shelter dog and is committed to making it work.

Comments

[USMLE Step 1]

Wow it's amazing that there's study like this one to address pet's behavior towards their surroundings. I so love my dog so I will be giving him this privilege.

[dog health]

Hi Mr. Ramarao, Your feeling has really inspired me to take a PROACTIVE action for street dogs. Please think to start a movement for street dogs I will certainly contribute to it by creating a blog and changing the attitude of discrimination towards street dogs. Really good idea.

- Mehul

[Nancy Frensley, CAP2, CPDT]

Thank you for your comments on my article. I enjoyed your post. It is wonderful that you are thinking of the street dogs in your area. Street or village dogs have a rich culture all their own and it is amazing how they learn to get along with one another and with the humans that live around them.

The question of whether "breed" matters is a complicated one. When dogs are selectively bred over a number of generations for certain characteristics, those characteristics start to appear in all members of that group and create a "type" of dog.

In some ways, the street dogs in a particular area resemble a breed in that they emerge from a common gene pool and have similar physical and behavioral characteristics. This enables them to develop a common system of communication and instinctive responses to their environment. Even though they are not selectively bred for a specific type of look and behavior, they often achieve it anyway. And they certainly should not be considered less than purposefully bred dogs.

Dr. Raymond Coppinger has done some fascinating studies of village dogs which he wrote about in his book,"Dogs, A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution."
You might enjoy this book.

There are international animal groups that are working on spay/neuter, vaccination and sheltering projects in a number of countries. You might research them on the internet to see if they can help in your area.

[ramaraobobby]

great work.. As a dog lover I love those who love n take care of dogs.. I don't have any certificate in dog training n all but I have been with dogs for about 20 years.. n most of all I have more relation with street dogs. Here in India you get to see lot of them and no proper care is being taken by anyone, neither the government nor any organizations.. All I can afford it to feed some dogs in my vicinity with biscuits etc.. But I have real zeal to do something for the betterment of life of street dogs here at our place(kakinada,Andhra Pradesh, INDIA). To be frank I don't see any difference between any breed..so I feel street dog is no way less than any other costly breeds and I feel sad when street dogs are given less credit coz they are on streets.. after all they are also dogs na.. does the breed make a difference?? All the dogs seem to be my like my own dog. So can you help me reach my goal in anyway?? Ready to work with you anywhere anytime... damn ready