Issue 26 | June 2023 — Shelter
Revitalizing a Shelter Volunteer Program in the Wake of the Pandemic
Summary: Animal shelters were significantly impacted by the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Among other issues, lockdowns meant that animal shelters could no longer rely on their volunteers in the same way. As communities begin to reopen and shelters start to recover, they...
By John Reilly, MS, CBCC-KA
Adoption Events: Skills, Ethics, and Best Practices
Summary: Getting cats and dogs through the shelter and onto the next stage of their lives is understandably the main thing shelter staff and volunteers are focused on, and adoption events are one way to make this happen. However, adoption events are complex and can be...
By Tiro Miller, PhDFearful Dogs in Shelters Can Have A Brighter Future With Evidence-based Interventions
Summary: An interview with two of the authors of the ASPCA’s latest research paper, “Behavioral rehabilitation of extremely fearful dogs: Report on the efficacy of a treatment protocol.” With a combination of sufficient practical resources and a...
By Kristen Collins, MS, ACAAB, Emily Patterson-Kane, PhD, and the IAABC Foundation Editing TeamIssue 23 | February 2023 — Shelter
Everyone Is on the Behavior Team: How ASPCA’s eLearning Platform Broadens and Deepens Behavior Knowledge for Shelter Personnel
The ASPCA is committed to the evolution and expansion of behavioral care for homeless animals. The organization disseminates knowledge and research through its Learning Lab, an educational program focused on integrating science-based behavioral care into all aspects...
By Renee Dunaway and Amy DuskiewiczIssue 22 | February 2022 — Shelter
Claire: A Case Story
Summary: A case study of a shelter dog that came from a serious hoarding situation in Southern California. This dog initially showed significant avoidance and fear-based behaviors around unknown people. However, she was highly affiliative with other dogs and whilst...
By Paige Kim BCC-KA, CSB-CAn Interview with Dr. Lauren Finka
Dr. Lauren Finka is a postdoctoral researcher in animal welfare at the University of Nottingham Trent in the U.K. Her specialization is in feline behavior, particularly in sheltered cats. Dr. Finka recently co-authored a research paper entitled “Providing Humans With...
By IAABC Editing TeamIssue 21 | November 2021 — Shelter
The Dead Dogs on My Phone
Summary: Grief is a natural, unavoidable part of life with dogs. Especially for those of us who work in shelter and rescue. This article is a meditation on grief and the importance of witnessing and remembering the shelter dogs that come and go in the course of our...
By Paige KimPet Parent Support Network: Creating a Successful Alternative to Surrender Through a Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive Approach
Summary: During the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020, many shelters were able to successfully find fosters and adopters for the dogs in their care as more people wanted to share their homes with a pet. There was also an increase in requests for medical and behavioral...
By Beverly McKee ACDBC, CPDT-KAIssue 20 | September 2021 — Shelter
Horse & Halo: Caring for Horses at the End of Their Owners’ Lives
Summary: Horse & Halo is a facility that boards horses on behalf of individuals who currently suffer or have died from a terminal illness. This article looks at the history of this unique sanctuary and the stories of some of the horses and their people that have...
By Mandie StuhanIssue 19 | May 2021 — Shelter
Shelter Behavior and Medical Teams Find Success Through Synergy
Summary: Shelters, especially larger ones, are made up of different departments that seldom interact with each other. Shelter behavior and veterinary medical teams may have competing priorities due to limitations on their time and resources. However, if shelter...
By Melissa Taylor, Lori Seelhoff, DVM, Jennifer Pallanich, CPDT-KASelecting Shelter Dogs for Education Programs
When the idea of pairing shelter dogs and youth is discussed, dog training professionals generally have one of two reactions: That’s fantastic! – or – That’s risky! For decades, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) has brought amazing...
By Paula Ferrel, CPDT-KADangerous Puppies: A Heartbreaking Choice
Summary: A deeply personal case history of a litter of puppies from a stressed, abandoned Catahoula. Signs of significant, unusual aggression were present from very soon after birth in all the puppies, despite their mother being social and affiliative. After several...
By Chelsea EdwardsIssue 18 | February 2021 — Shelter
Using Research-based Protocols with Shelter Dogs
Summary: Shelter personnel and consultants are always looking for new tools that to introduce dogs into a new home, help resolve inter-dog aggressive behavior within a household, or form shelter playgroups. This article describes how a single evidence-based protocol...
By Kimm HuntSocially Conscious Sheltering: Examples in Practice
Summary: Shelters are a part of the communities they serve, and should be aware of the needs and challenges people and animals in those communities face. Socially Conscious Sheltering (SCS) is a framework for helping shelters change the way they operate and make...
By Dot Baisly MS, CPDT-KA, and Mara Velez MA, CDPT-KABuilding Confidence in Foster Dogs Through Passive Observation
How often do we use observation as a tool? We tend to monitor, assess, and weigh whether what we observe is what we would like to see. We question ourselves and judge the responses we observe to assess whether we are getting closer to our goal or nearing the outcome...
By Irene PerrettShelter Dogs Go to College
Summary: What better way to teach college students about canine learning and behavior than inviting sheltered dogs into the classroom? This article introduces a program at Saint Francis University that matches dogs from a local shelter with psychology undergraduates...
By Shlomit Flaisher-Grinberg¹, Megan M. Stanton²Issue 17 | November 2020 — Shelter
Socially Conscious Sheltering: Moving From Aspiration to Operation
In the first installment of this article series on socially conscious sheltering (SCS) for the IAABC Foundation Journal, we explored the basics of this relatively recent concept. In this article, we will explore how to operationalize the core concepts that we...
By Dot Baisly MS, CPDT-KA, and Mara Velez MA, CDPT-KAIssue 16 | July 2020 — Shelter
Socially Conscious Sheltering
The concept of socially conscious sheltering (SCS) as an approach to sheltering was developed in Colorado by shelter leaders Apryl Steele, DVM, Jan McHugh-Smith, Lisa Pederson, and Judy Calhoun. Three of these shelter leaders co-authored an article, “Crisis in Animal...
By Dot Baisly and Mara VelezCoping with Quarantine at a Shelter
This is a reflection on a distemper outbreak/quarantine from a behavior perspective, as opposed to an operations, medical, or management review. Our shelter Maricopa County Animal Care and Control is located in Phoenix, Arizona. We have two shelter locations known as...
By Kim Schulze, MSKids and Shelter Dogs Teach Each Other
As a professional working in animal behavior and training, I have always enjoyed the partnership of human and non-human animal, and what a better way to embrace that than to start teaching young people to respect and love animals. That was my inspiration to create a...
By Maria EgurenIssue 15 | April 2020 — Shelter
Training Cats to Become Therapy Cats
“I’m so happy to see my favorite cat!” the older gentleman said as Rainy and I entered his room at the senior retirement community. He held out his shaking hand to pet Rainy and said that he had been feeling down and in need of company. After he had stroked Rainy a...
By Allison Hunter-FrederickSo There’s a Pig in Your Shelter! What to Know, What to Do, and How to Help Them Thrive
Pigs are highly intelligent creatures. As a professional animal trainer, I will say pigs are more intelligent than dogs in many respects. They are also very emotionally sensitive; I’d compare them to an 18-month-old infant. They lack impulse control, don’t stay...
By Tabitha Davies ACDBC and Laura Bourhenne CDBCWhat Are We Going to Do With These Cats?! Case Studies in Difficult-to-home Shelter Cats: Murray
Murray was probably the scariest cat I had met in my five years of working one-on-one with shelter cats. The handsome 5-year-old neutered male Nebelung (a breed I’d never heard of before!) was surrendered by a married couple who was going to have a baby. Although they...
By Cheryl Kolus, DVMOne Dog at a Time: Enriching the Emotional Lives of Shelter Dogs
The animal sheltering world is an emotional one for all stakeholders: the animals who live with the stress of an imperfect and unpredictable environment; a shelter organization that is constantly addressing challenges with funding, staffing, and rehoming animals;...
By Nee Kang, CDBC, Elisa Ang, and Jaipal Singh GillEmpathy, Antecedent Arrangements, and Fun! What to Think About When Working with Youth Clients
Many of us working in the animal field do the work we do because we love animals. But we often don’t realize how much we really rely on interacting with people of all kinds, including children. I have a unique perspective when it comes to working with youth and dogs....
By Paula FerrelIssue 14 | January 2020 — Shelter
Communication and Documentation in an Animal Shelter
It is the responsibility of the Behavior and Training Department at our animal shelter, the Humane Society of Pinellas (HSP), to create, communicate, and implement behavior modification and training plans for the animals in our shelter’s care. Staff and volunteers are...
By Heather Gibbs, SBAGrey Zone Dogs
“Is this a no-kill shelter?” That’s one of the most common questions I was asked when I worked at the Denver Dumb Friends League, a huge shelter that provides services to over 20,000 homeless animals per year. The answer depends on how you define no-kill: Our live...
By Kayla Fratt, CDBCWorking with Rescues as an Animal Behavior Consultant
Building a relationship with your local rescue can not only be a way of improving the welfare and rehomeability of many dogs but can also help with expanding your client base and business. Time is a hugely important and often stretched resource and therefore the idea...
By Tom Candy, CDBCIssue 13 | October 2019 — Shelter
Training Shelter Dogs for Conservation Detection Work
The San Joaquin kit fox is a small endangered species of fox that lives in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Its scat is small — these foxes are only about 5 pounds. The almond-sized scat pellets are usually the same color as the desert ground. Biologists...
By Kayla FrattIssue 12 | July 2019 — Shelter
Setting Everybunny Up for Success: Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Home. Part III: The Adoptive Home
Congratulations! You’ve just adopted one of the most popular pets on the planet. (Ellis, McCormick, Tinawro, 2017). To allow for focusing on the behavior aspects of life with a rabbit, let’s assume that you’ve set up a proper environment for your bunny, have the...
By Emily CassellWhat are we going to do with these cats?! Case studies in difficult-to-home shelter cats: Craisin
Her big green eyes sucked me in the moment I saw them. They had the potential to be so beautiful, but right now they were filled to the brim with fear. And they wouldn’t change much for a good 10 weeks. Craisin came to our Colorado limited-admission,...
By Cheryl Kolus, DVM, KPA-CTPIssue 11 | April 2019 — Shelter
Setting Everybunny Up for Success: A 3-Part Series on Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Home
Part II: The Foster Home Foster parents are the backbone of any rescue operation. In addition, they are the best opportunity for animals to learn how to be part of a family. Fosters often fill a variety of roles, from simply being a holding space to nursing a sick...
By Emily CassellEuthanasia in Shelters: Data and Decisionmaking
Euthanasia in shelters is a frequently discussed topic among staff, volunteers, and increasingly on social media by people with little experience of the realities of the situation being discussed. Looking at these often highly emotional discussions, it would seem that...
By Amy SchindlerBoo! Training a Bear: 2018
Background Readers were introduced to Boo, a male grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), in the Winter 2018 issue of the IAABC Foundation Journal. Born in 2002, Boo weighs around 550-600 pounds in the spring, and up to 750-850 pounds in the winter before hibernation. We came...
By Cindy Peacock CPDT-KA, KPA-CTPThe Shelter Playgroup Alliance
How the Shelter Playgroup Alliance (SPA) Started Toward the end of 2017, I was putting the final touches on a canine enrichment program for the open-admission, high-volume shelter at which I am a behavior and training consultant. I started to develop an inter-dog...
By Mara Velez, MA, CPDT-KAWhat are we going to do with these cats?! Case studies in difficult-to-home shelter cats.
Case 1: Oomie I finally had a moment to get some work done on my laptop, so I pulled a chair up to the desk and started typing away. Oomie joined me. The sleek black cat jumped on my lap and settled in comfortably, purring. After a minute or two, Oomie stretched his...
By Cheryl Kolus, DVMIssue 10 | February 2019 — Shelter
Setting Everybunny Up for Success! Helping Rabbits Succeed in Their Adoptive Homes, Part 1: At the Shelter
One of the world’s most popular pets, rabbits are known for their adorable ears, noses, and cotton tails, but little is commonly understood about their behavior. Indeed, a U.K. study revealed that 50% of rabbit owners misunderstood their rabbit’s basic needs,...
By Emily CassellSpecial Challenges of Senior Cats in Shelters
How do senior cats end up in shelters? For over a decade, I have volunteered in the cat areas at Dallas Animal Services (DAS), a municipal shelter which has the fifth highest intake volume of animals in the United States. I routinely see senior cats on their rescue...
By Molly DeVoss, CFTBSIssue 9 | October 2018 — Shelter
Weekend Getaways: A Lifesaving Short-Term Foster Care Program
Shelter dogs can vacation too! Participants in our animal shelter’s Weekend Getaway program are provided with a much-needed break from the kennel, fresh scenery, and new friends to meet — both furry and non-furry. Weekend Getaways have increased foster volunteer...
By Heather Gibbs, CPDT-KA, SBAEnrichment and Stress Reduction for Sheltered Dogs and Cats: Targeting the Five Senses
Working in animal sheltering, we are all faced with combating the levels of stress experienced by the animals in our care. Animals are subjected to a wide array of psychological stressors, including loss of control of their environment, unpredictability of daily...
By Jennifer ToofDesigning Our Shelter’s Own Behavior Evaluation for Intakes and Transfers
I work for the Society for the Improvement of Conditions of Stray Animals or SICSA, a private nonprofit shelter and adoption center located in Kettering, Ohio. Our animal population is composed of dogs and cats from owner surrenders and transfers. We transfer dogs in...
By Renée Grant, SBAIssue 8 | July 2018 — Shelter
Building a Solid Volunteer Base
So many people working at nonprofits are caught in the cycle of focusing on the urgent task in front of them and just trying to get through the day. They know a well-trained and motivated team of volunteers could really help them accomplish more without breaking the...
By Kimberly Elman, Manager, National Outreach Volunteer Programs, Best Friends Animal Society®Pet Retention Programs in Play: A Case Study
In July 2017, the Pet Retention Program at Contra Costa Animal Services (CCAS) got a request for the return of a young tabby cat adopted from the shelter a few months prior. When Stefani Buzzard, the pet retention coordinator at the time, responded with a request for...
By Dilara Göksel Parry, CCBCFeral Kittens
It’s springtime, which means kitten season is upon us. Shelters around the country will soon be inundated with box after box of kittens that need to be bottle fed or “tamed.” These kittens will come from under a person’s porch, a live trap set for skunks, and inside...
By Kayla FrattIssue 7 | April 2018 — Shelter
Rural Dogs
Often times in sprawling country areas, such as the one I’m writing from now, the overall majority of dogs (and cats) brought into shelters and rescues are what I typically describe as “rural.” Not exactly social and not exactly feral, the...
By Mallory RobinsonExpressive Writing for Resilience in Animal Care Professionals
Helping professionals of all kinds are exposed to a variety of stressors related to both their workplace systems and the ongoing exposure to direct and indirect trauma. This complex combination of stressors requires helping professionals to explore the steps they can...
By Jessica DolceIssue 6 | February 2018 — Shelter
Successfully Handling Transitions in Shelters
Animal shelters and rescues often struggle with resources. The ability to adapt to change is just as important as community and staff support. In April of 2007, the Jacksonville Humane Society suffered a great loss after a massive fire, which you can learn more about...
By Amy Schindler, CPDT-KA, SBAIssue 5 | October 2017 — Shelter
Playgroups the LIMA Way
Playgroups are undoubtedly a beneficial practice in shelters and rescue groups, and over the past few years they have increased in popularity. As with most tools, though, playgroups can be implemented with varying degrees of skill, or misapplied altogether. While my...
By Emily Strong, CPBC, CPBT-KAHousing Cats in Shelters
Appropriate housing is essential for animal wellbeing in shelters. Without clean, comfortable, spacious housing, no amount of enrichment will be sufficient to maintain low stress levels. An animal may receive enriching interaction with staff, trainers, or volunteers...
By Jessica Hekman, DVM, MSIssue 4 | July 2017 — Shelter
Simple Solutions for Common Behavior Issues in Shelters
Since 1990 I have been volunteering in or working with a variety of shelters and rescue groups, until 2013 when I accepted a full-time position at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. While there, one of my fellow behavior consultants, Allie Bender, and I...
By Emily Strong, CPBCK9 Nose Work® in Shelters
The winter months are cold and damp in Kansas. During this time, a lot of our dogs do not get out for enough exercise. At the Lawrence Humane Society, we do not have indoor space for exercising our dogs. We are situated on 4 acres, and most of our property is divided...
By Amy OglebyEnrichment Involving Human Interaction Saves Lives
As I walked through the intake room of a large county animal shelter in Dayton, Ohio, evaluating dogs to enroll in the Behavior Modification and Enrichment Program (BMP), I stopped in front of a kennel and looked down at a young pit bull–type puppy, with a turned-up...
By Regina WillenShelter Canine Behavior Evaluations: Why The Animal Rescue League of Boston Uses MATCH-UP II
Over the past 15 to 20 years, behavior evaluations have become the standard of care in shelters for identifying dangerous and potentially aggressive dogs that may not do well in a home as a pet. Today 28 percent of shelters use a formal evaluation and about 60 percent...
By Dot Baisly, MS, CPDT-KAIssue 3 | April 2017 — Shelter
Spotlight on Research: Rabbits in Shelters
According to the House Rabbit Society, rabbits are the third most commonly surrendered pets in the United States. Rabbits have also been steadily gaining in popularity as indoor pets in many parts of the world, with an estimated one million pet rabbits in the United...
By Clare Ellis, interviewed by the IAABC Foundation Editing TeamSpecies-Appropriate Enrichment for Ferrets
When I first started volunteering with a ferret shelter, I had owned ferrets for over 13 years, but I still knew very little about them. I understood my own ferrets, but the species and its behaviours were something of a mystery. What I didn’t know at the time was...
By Shannan SkitchMultisensory Enrichment for Shelter Dogs
I have worked in the animal industry for over 18 years. I currently work at the Arizona Humane Society, where my original title was canine welfare specialist. My role is to provide mental and physical stimulation to the dogs in our care. We get a lot of medically...
By Mik MoellerIssue 2 | February 2017 — Shelter
Enrichment for Small Animals and Birds in Shelters: Often Overlooked But Much Needed
Animal shelter staff members often find themselves caring for (and rehoming) many animals besides cats and dogs. Though many of us have come to realize the importance of enrichment for the small and exotic animals in our care, it is often left on the back burner...
By Dot Baisly, MS, CPDT-KAA Circle of Friends Makes the Difference for Chiquita: A Video Case Study
Chiquita was living with two other under-socialized dogs in the previous home. Their owner was starting cancer treatment, and could no longer care for all three dogs. We ended up getting Chiquita and Ramon both surrendered to us. All dogs were fearful when we met...
By the Humane Society of Silicon ValleyCase Study: Raisin
Case Information Dog’s name: Raisin Sex: Spayed female Age: 1 year Breed: Terrier mix Other people involved: Cindy Lowrey, Megan Hewes, Sylvia Brink, Collin Stevens, and various volunteers. Location Animal shelters in Jacksonville, Florida. To help the community and...
By Amy SchindlerInterview With Dr. Alexandra Protopopova
“I was actually planning to be a veterinarian.” And so were declared the earliest professional aspirations of Alexandra (Sasha) Protopopova, PhD, a scientist whose work is finding a varied and eager audience in the animal welfare world these days. With a doctorate in...
By Barbara Davis CDBCThe Ethics of Medicating Dogs with Behavior Issues in a Shelter Setting
Each year, millions of pets are surrendered to humane societies, county pounds, and private rescue groups. While a survey of the research shows broad variation nationally, it is fairly well accepted that somewhere between three and four million dogs per year are...
By Susan CullinanIssue 1 | October 2016 — Shelter
The Perils of Placing Marginal Dogs
(Originally published in Sheltering Magazine, 2003) Rosie was a loving, beautiful dog with doting owners, but in the end, her predatory instinct made her too dangerous for human society. Her attack on another dog was the last straw for her owners, who vowed never to...
By Trish McMillan LoehrIssue 27 | June 2016 — Shelter
Multisensory Enrichment for Shelter Dogs
Summary: Originally published in Issue 3 of The IAABC Foundation Journal, this article focuses on practical, creative, low-cost ways to provide multi-sensory enrichment to sheltered dogs. I have worked in the animal industry for over 18 years. I currently work at the...
By Mik Moeller