Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Alternative Enrichment Programs for Shelter Dogs

    Posted 09-02-2020 03:00 PM

    Hello, I am currently working on my capstone project for my masters degree through UF Maddie's Shelter Medicine program. My project is on what I'm referring to as "alternative" enrichment for dogs. So any kind of enrichment that gets dogs out of their kennels and/or the shelter briefly; such as play groups, field trips, spend the nights, training, running, hiking, etc. 

    I'm looking for feedback from any shelters who have participated in or have programs like those mentioned above that get dogs out of their kennels for enrichment. I would love to find out about your experience with such programs: program details, pictures, social media posts, impact on staff/dogs/community, feedback on what worked and what didn't, any improvements you would make and so on.

    Feel free to comment on this post or email (email listed in comments) with information, any questions, resources/papers, and/or links to social media posts regarding such programs. 

    Thanks in advance for any help!


    #fieldtrips
    #capstoneproject
    #running
    #hiking
    #spendthenights
    #daytrips
    #AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment
    #playgroups
    #alternativeenrichment
    #obedience
    #enrichment


  • 2.  RE: Alternative Enrichment Programs for Shelter Dogs

    Posted 09-02-2020 03:14 PM

    my email is britanl.8 at ufl.edu


    #AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment


  • 3.  RE: Alternative Enrichment Programs for Shelter Dogs

    Posted 09-03-2020 04:54 AM

    I'm not sure if they have representatives here on the forum, but if I may, I suggest reaching out to Austin Pets Alive! in TX, Lifeline Animal Project in Atlanta, Pasadena Humane in CA and Gateway Pet Guardians in East St Louis, IL. There are many others, too, but these four have very creative & mature behavior/enrichment programs (including field trips, sleepovers, "dog for a day" etc) that others model and likely reliable corresponding data. It will also give you good geographic representation and all four are in states with the highest kill rates (1. CA, 2. TX, 6. GA, 12. IL ... according to Best Friends 2019 data). 

    Congratulations on your Master's degree!

    https://www.austinpetsalive.org/programs/dog-program

    https://lifelineanimal.org/

    https://pasadenahumane.org/

    https://gatewaypets.org/

     


    #AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment