I recognize that 3 to 4 walks per day isn't going to be readily achievable for a lot of shelters. We are a smaller facility with 32 dog kennels on our adoption floor and 21 in our isolation area. We have about a 1:25 staff:dog ratio during each shift, but we also have a lot of volunteers who help manage some of the walks with us or for us. The first walk of the day tends to be a quicker one as a potty break; this is managed primarily by staff. The two middle walks tend to be more substantial. Those are done by animal care staff, volunteers, and sometimes other staff members from other departments when they have opportunity to do so. The last walk is longer than the first, but often shorter than the two middle walks.
In addition to our "regular" volunteer squad, we have a program we call Paw Pals, where we have some volunteers who sign up to be advocates for specific dogs. Those volunteers will often take the dogs out for field trip walks to parks and other areas outside of the shelter. This not only helps get the dogs an extra special walk that day, but it also gives them a break from their kennel, which has been really great for them. And they get extra visibility when they're out in the community.
We also have a lot of other volunteers who help with a lot of the other "back of the house" types of activities, such as laundry and dishes. That really helps us free up staff time for the walks, enrichment, and training.
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joyce voss
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-03-2024 11:13 AM
From: Maddie's University
Subject: Supporting shelter dogs' behavioral health discussion (Camp Maddie: Behavior Edition Day 2)
Unanswered question from the chat:
"How do you prioritize 3-4 walks per day?"
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Maddie's University
Maddie's Fund
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