Different dogs deal with shelter environment in different ways, some cope with it better other deteriorate rapidly, but overall shelter environment is one of the hardest for any dog to deal with. It is a highly arousing environment with little or no ways for releasing excess energy and no ways to calm down. Dogs are often lacking exercise and mental stimulation, human contact and their behaviour tend to deteriorate rapidly.

These guidelines are aimed at helping the staff that deals with dogs to better identify and meet the needs of the different dogs inside a shelter environment.

Mental Stimulation

Mental stimulation is as important as physical exercise especially for dogs in a shelter environment. To mentally stimulate dogs is to offer them “work” or something to do, that will allow them to focus on the task at hand and avoid the development of unwanted behaviours such as constant barking, circling, over excitement or even aggression.

So how can we mentally stimulate a dog inside a kennel?

      Stuffed Kongs – Stuff several Kongs with different types of treats and freeze them. You can give up to 2 or 3 a day to any dog that stays inside a kennel all day long.  The food going into the Kong needs to be taken out off the normal daily ration to avoid gaining of weight.

      Feeding Balls – Feeding balls are a creative and fun way of feeding a dog. Of feeding kibble, just put it inside the ball and let the dog play football to get the food out. This will allow the dog to “work” to get his food, allowing him to focus on this task longer, as opposed to taking the food off a plate in 2 minutes.

      Rawhide Bones – Or any chewing toys which allow the dog to let out some energy and distract himself with it. Whilst chewing a toy the dog is not focused so much on developing unwanted behaviours.

      Training – Are you walking past the kennel and the dog is quiet and not barking? Click and treat! Clicking and treating for good behaviour is the best way to train a shelter dog to develop the behaviours that will earn him a home very quickly! If when people come to see a dog, they see a wagging tail dog, sitting down quietly they are more likely to develop an interest in the dog, rather than an over excited jumpy barking dog!

Physical Exercise

Physical exercise is very important as a way of releasing the excess energy and also allowing the dog to change the scenario and calm down from that over aroused state that kennel provoke.

How can we effectively give shelter dogs some physical exercise?

      Lead Walks – Lead walks are great to give the dog a chance to release some energy. Keep the walks fun and relaxed by letting the dog sniff the ground often and acquires as much information as possible. They thrive on gathering new smells and this helps them cope with the environment they live in. Also avoid letting them pull on the lead, by putting on a harness or an Halti to facilitate the walks and avoid pulling at the same time.

      Off Lead Walks – Every dog should be allowed off the lead at some point, in a securely fenced area. Releasing the dog in a run and going away will not be productive. The dog needs to be interacted with, needs to be thrown a ball, play some tug or just basically run around with a handler. The human companion is extremely important to helpt he dog exercise himself, 9 out of 10 times if the handler leaves the dog alone in the run the dog will just stand there staring at the gate.

      Playtime with other dogs – Not all dogs that go to kennels are dog to dog aggressive. Therefore, after carefully accessing your dogs, let them play together in the safe area. Two dogs playing it is probably the best and easiest way of allowing two dogs to exercise themselves in an effective way without much effort from the staff. However, dogs should always be supervised throughout play time, by at least one person. Dogs should have their collars on and no leads attached to them, to avoid accidents.

      Group Walks – Several staff walking more than one dog at a time, is also a good way of allowing controlled interaction between dogs, a nice walk and also a way of releasing energy.

Management

Management plays an important role in the life of dogs inside a kennel environment. Learning how to read the dogs and deciding what is best for them is a crucial way of helping the dogs cope inside the shelter and avoid behaviour deterioration. Here are some tips on how to properly manage different dogs:

      Highly Energetic Dogs – Border Collies types or any other breed of dogs that seems very energetic should be kept the furthest away from the doors as possible to avoid getting aroused with the constant movement of people coming in and out, noises and other dogs going in and out of kennel.

      Shy dogs – Contrary to what people might think putting shy and fearful dogs in a very busy kennel is the wrong thing to do. If you have a fearful or shy dog he should be also the furthest away possible from the confusion. We do not want to reinforce the bad behaviour or the fear and turn a fearful dog into and aggressive dog, remember dogs flight or fight, so if given no escape the dog will learn to use his teeth to defend himself or get the “thing” that he fears out of sight.

      Bouncy dogs – If the dog is bouncing off the walls, constantly circling, biting the grate, constantly barking at nothing and loosing weight although seemingly increasing muscle in the body, then he is in trouble. These dogs are not coping very well at all. Watch the signs and try to help the dog by giving him some time out of the environment if possible, These dogs are the ones who need a foster home the most, and if that is not possible, take them out of the kennel and have them inside a quiet back room for a couple of hours, a bathroom sometimes is enough.

      Sometimes covering the front of the kennels so dogs cannot see each other helps them cope with all the excitement better. Breaking the eye contact between dogs and not allowing them to excite each other is many times a great way of helping dogs. They do not need to see each other to feel better.

      Music. Having some music (usually classical) is a good way of helping dogs relax. It is proven that many dogs will relax and calm down when hearing music (so it works on them too, just not us); also some kennels will hang little bags with lavender herbs inside, as it is a calming smell for everyone!

      Don’t have all the toys spread around. Inside the kennel the dog should have stuffed Kongs and rawhide bones or toys to chew, his bed and some warm blankets. Other than that the toys which are used to play with and interact with the dog should be taken out and used only when playtime arrives.