Animal Welfare Professionals

It seems to be very unusual these days for shelters to take in truly feral dogs, although it does happen occasionally. The Lake County, Florida, shelter recently took in four dogs living in a pack situation, and is in the process of trying to capture another dozen or so. There have been public complaints that the dogs are killing chickens and threatening children. From a video and photos of the dogs taken in so far, I think it's possible that they are not truly feral, but they are very shy right now. The shelter is No Kill. It rates the dogs as not adoptable and is looking for rescue placements for them. Do any of you have any suggestions that I could pass along to the shelter director (I don't think she is a member here)? This shelter tends to run at capacity, so I'm sure any suggestions would be much appreciated.

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

I don't have any suggestions - except to say that when I was living in Florida, and working at a daycare/enrichment center for dogs, there was a lovely older lady who had 3 sibling dogs that were basically feral dogs. She took them in and they came to daycare once a week. They would sometimes play with each other, but mostly would just lay around and be outdoors with the rest of the dogs just observing. Our staff really couldn't touch them (they would flee) but we had it down to a routine where their mom would bring them and then we'd open gates to be able to send them back out to the lobby to go home with their mom. And they loved her like crazy! So it's possible for them to have a life. 

My only suggestion for the time being would be to put these dogs into a playgroup, and see how they interact with other dogs. That could really help bring their shyness down. This is also a great way to market the dogs as well - by having people see how they play with each other and other dogs. 

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

San Antonio Animal Care Services has a "Big Dog Program" where they reach out to members of the public to commit to caring for feral dogs (SA has a huge population of "community dogs"). They help with fencing, spay/neuter, dog houses, etc. to make sure the dogs are safe, contained, and cared for rather than running the streets. It's pretty successful - you might want to reach out to them.

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

What kind of dogs are they?  Are you looking for placement for them or help working with them? I specialize in working with feral and emotionally traumatized/fearful dogs and would be happy to help you work with them but I am on the west coast so would have to help remotely.  

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

Hey R Jordan, I was searching for info on feral dogs.  Long story I've been working with a dumped dog who is living in the desert in the middle of nowhere, she's super jumpy and extremely fearful of people, I would t say totally feral and I'm pretty sure she was dumped in November.  I see you are west coast, would you message me with an email so I can give you all the details.  I need to get here placed with an experienced person/organization before the heat comes and also no one knows about her except me and she's sneezing g into a military base.   Would love to chat if you have time Sarah B

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Sarah Bartley
Canine Behavior Consultant & Trainer
Confident K9 LLC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-24-2018 03:54 PM
From: r. jordan
Subject: Feral dogs

What kind of dogs are they?  Are you looking for placement for them or help working with them? I specialize in working with feral and emotionally traumatized/fearful dogs and would be happy to help you work with them but I am on the west coast so would have to help remotely.  

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll pass them along to the shelter director.

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

When I lived in Nicaragua, we had feral street dogs. While many of the street dogs were friendly and could be rehabilitated, there was a small, core group of fully feral ones. We wound up managing them similar to the way you would with TNR cats. The packs tended to be in poor neighborhoods and as long as they were not actively bothering the residents or spreading disease, they were appreciated for their rodent killing skills and tendency to act as a neighborhood alarm. We would trap them, vaccinate them and fix them. Once a month we'd track them down with hot dogs filled with heartworm and parasite medicine. They did not live the lives that we wish dogs lived, but they lived the lives they were used to, just happier and healthier. 

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment

Thanks for your response -- I like the idea of TNR for feral dogs, and asked the director about the possibility of sterilizing the dogs and relocating them to another outdoor area with a caregiver to check on them (analogous to the TNR approach). She mentioned that they had broken through fences to kill chickens, so I don't know if TNR is a possibility for them. These dogs are a real problem for the shelter -- the shelter is doing its best to save every dog, but with ferals it's hard. I think it's especially hard for a public shelter like this one, since they have to please the public, not just their donors.

#AnimalBehavior,TrainingandEnrichment