Animal Welfare Professionals

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!

Hey Zach,

We would definitely be interested in hearing some ideas for our cats as well. We are located in Florida, we don't deal with as high temperatures as you but we do have 2 outdoor rescue shelters that we have adults cats in. We are working on funding to build an indoor air-conditioned shelter but we might not getting it done before we get to the summer months. We have large fans installed that help keep the cats cool and we make sure we keep large amounts of water in the shelters to help keep them hydrated.

Look forward to hearing any ideas!

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!

#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

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Zach Mills
Animal Behavior Manager
Heidi's Village
AZ
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Hello Zach,

Until recently, I lived in the Phoenix area and volunteered with Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue so I know Heidi's Village very well!  Great place!   And you have that wonderful indoor space where you could add scent training to give the dogs an indoor activity.   Here is a short clip showing an easy way to set up nose work with misc. cardboard boxes (recycle those Amazon boxes!).  This is how I trained one of my dogs, and the room was full of boxes of various sizes.  Only a few of the boxes had treats under them.  

https://youtube.com/shorts/x83HmiKlj74?si=EjcKwv4t8LczZk3H

I'm now living in Oregon and volunteering at our local Humane Society.  I was just talking to our Volunteer Manager today about additional ideas for in-kennel activities.  Maybe you have already seen the Boredom Buster Program (attached)?  I found it here on Maddie's Fund forum.

Hope your summer is a good one!

Lisa Smiley, CFDM

VSA Student

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!

I am the Animal Care Manager at a shelter in the desert. During the summer, temperatures are regularly 110 degrees or more. Due to this, we typically struggle to get dogs out of their kennels after 11am. During cooler weather, we are fortunate enough to get dogs out at least twice a day but last summer had us almost lose a large amount of staff because there wasn't a summer protocol in place and people were burning out and getting sick from the heat. We had staff pulling dogs and using misters and hoses to keep yard areas slightly cooler, which didn't work as well as we'd like. 

As we move into the summer months, we are working on restructuring our days to ensure all of our dogs get out before the day gets too hot and focusing on in-kennel activities for the remainder of the day. With that being said, does anyone have ideas for in-kennel activities that are engaging for the dogs? We've got kongs and click-for-quiet along with some other things, but I'm hoping to get some creative ideas that are a little out of the box. We do have some indoor spaces, so I was thinking of group training "classes" with the animal care staff and volunteers and the dogs. Any insight or resources that would help with that would be hugely appreciated!

We're very open to any and all ideas! We just want to make sure we are doing everything we can for the dogs while keeping everyone safe and healthy. 

Thank you!