Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-18-2023 07:46 AM

    I'm curious how everyone feels about one on one bonding with a dog in the shelter...as in the same technician/volunteer always working with the same dog/going on outings/etc. Does your organization discourage employees or volunteers from bonding with one dog in the shelter? Do you feel it's unfair to the animal to do so? 



    #Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment

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    Judy Jolley
    Kennel Manager
    Nassau humane society
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  • 2.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-18-2023 01:13 PM

    Our shelter encourages it! For on site shelter staff we are each asked to pick a dog that might be a little harder to place and work with them via walks, yard time, office time, ect. This helped the dog get extra time out of the kennel, as well as provides us with more information on the dog's personality to find them better placement!



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    Bethany Abraham
    Admin Assistant/TNR Coordinator
    Pinal County Animal Care and Control
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-20-2023 11:05 AM

    The problem for me is I am the only fulltime employee and responsible for the cats and dogs during the day. They bond with me and that makes it hard to introduce them to some of the people interested in adopting. One dog refused to interact with the family when I left the area. Some become protective of me, making another problem for me to deal with. 
    I try everyday to get volunteers to simply stop in to take a dog for a walk in our dog park. Now I am pushing for day out fosters, weekend fosters, etc. It is slow going but the dogs that have been able to enjoy a day or two with a foster have received so much more attention because we are able to show how much more mellow they are out of the shelter. 



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    Kate Williams
    Manager
    Animal Welfare Friends
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-19-2023 04:51 AM

    We would encourage it at first for the dogs who scared or shy, but then we would try to "pass on" the dog so they could build a similar relationship with other staff and volunteers. For example, I would sit with a dog in the kennel until he would let me touch him, get him out, and walk him. Then, I would get him out and let someone else walk him. Then that person would get him out and walk him, then teach someone else to get him out. We felt that this way they would learn to trust new people and have an easier time bonding with their potential new adopter.

    The biggest problem we found with bonding with a dog was the stress on the humans. That's what eventually burned me out - I spent all of this time and emotional energy to bond with this animal to get them adopted instead of euthanized and then their adopter brings them back for some stupid reason, like that they won't bark when a car comes into the driveway (yes, that really happened). It absolutely killed me. 



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    Marilyn Wheaton
    Client Services
    AnimalsFirst
    Leesburg VA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-20-2023 06:50 AM

    There is so much value in having a "champion" to advocate and learn individual details about a shelter pet. One-on-one attention and bonding can help support case management needs and pathway planning. This is a really informative webinar on attachment in dogs that just came out recently: https://university.maddiesfund.org/products/maddies-insights-becoming-a-secure-base-using-science-to-improve-human-animal-bonds-and-welfare-on-demand-webcast. Highly recommend!



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    Heather Kalman (she/her), CPDT-KA, SBA, ABCDT
    Research and Development Data Coordinator
    American Pets Alive!, Human Animal Support Services
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-20-2023 08:22 AM

    Just dropping a few links to research on the benefits of human attachment on shelter pets:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938405005433
    The current study not only utilized the human contact session as a treatment to reduce stress but also as a resource for individual temperament/personality information that could be later used to facilitate compatible adoptions. Human interaction may be an effective means of reducing the cortisol response of dogs in the aversive shelter environment.

    https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/11/932 
    Foster dogs with secure attachments displayed higher levels of persistence and performance on cognitive tasks compared to foster dogs with insecure attachments. On a survey given to foster and shelter volunteers, we found that securely attached dogs were rated as less neurotic than insecurely attached dogs for both foster and shelter groups. These results indicate that attachment relationships are associated with other important behavioral and cognitive traits of foster and shelter dogs, suggesting that the potential for causal associations should be explored further.



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    Kelly Duer
    Senior Community Solutions Initiative Specialist
    Maddie's Fund
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Bonding with shelter dogs...a pro or a con?

    Posted 04-20-2023 09:02 AM

    I have a small shelter so we bond with all of them but it is kind of hard not to pick a favorite. The harder dogs I do have my volunteers spend more one on one time to help the dog have a better experience .



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    Justine Petalcu
    Animal Control Officer
    City of tuttle
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    Original Message


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