Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello everyone,

After over a year of fundamentally rebuilding and restructuring the Animal Care Department in my shelter, I'm looking to set my sights on my next big project to help the both the dogs in my shelter and my employees and I am hoping for some additional insight from you wonderful folks in the field. I am sure that this story is going to sound familiar to everyone here: as times get tougher financially and the government continues its mass deportations we're getting flooded with time sensitive surrender requests that turn into dogs picked up RAL  by Animal Control if denied due to financial, health or behavioral concerns. Due to the uptick in dogs that we might not normally accept under more favorable conditions we're ending up with a lot more behaviorally challenging dogs that are hovering on the cusp of being adoptable. My plan is to develop and implement a program that sorts dogs into one of two tiers based on the behavioral issues that they are presenting: level 1 would be for dogs just riding the cusp and in need of extra enrichment or specialized play time or maybe just more socializing while level 2 would be for dogs showing more severe behavioral issues that require employees with a higher level of training (issues like leash biting, biting at clothing, over stimulation, dog reactivity with the possibility of redirection,.etc). I have a general outline but am interested in feedback from others who may have put together something similar OR having something completely different that was successful. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

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Ian M
Manager of Animal Care Dept
NJ
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This sounds like a really thoughtful and much-needed initiative, especially with the increase in tougher behavioral cases coming into shelters. The two-tier system makes a lot of sense - it gives staff clarity, sets realistic expectations, and ensures dogs get the right level of support instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. I've seen similar programs work well when paired with consistent documentation and short daily behavior check-ins. Also, if you're looking for outside training perspectives, reading through Bark Busters reviews can be helpful - they often discuss approaches for dogs with leash reactivity, overstimulation, and other issues you're describing. It could give you a few extra ideas as you refine the program.

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Tyrone Pierce
Veterinarian
Maryland Hospital
MD
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Hi Ian, I saw your post and wanted to share the canine color code system that my organization has implemented. Rather that putting dogs in just two different categories based off their behavior we decided to make 6 categories that are each color coded, each dog is then assigned a collar with the same color as their behavior category so volunteers, staff, and even visitors can look at the collar and see where the dog is on the behavior spectrum. Attached is an image of the breakdown of the color code system. 

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Rachel Rothman
Donor Relations Coordinator
Patty Baker Humane Society Naples
FL
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