 |
No More Homeless Pets Forum
May 26, 2003 Dog Manners |
How can you make the dogs in your shelter more adoptable? Jean Donaldson of the San Francisco SPCA's Academy for Dog Trainers will offer advice on how to refine the manners of the dogs at your shelter so they can get adopted more quickly and how you can make their stay at the shelter more pleasant.\
Introduction from Jean Donaldson:
Most of my day-to-day work involves teaching dog training students, some of whom will go on to teach classes or do behavior consulting and some of whom go on to shelter work. I have been involved in some of the initiatives in the Behavior and Training Department here at the San Francisco SPCA, such as training protocols for shelter animals, staff training and behavior evaluations.I look forward to participating in the NMHP Forum to chat with shelter people, who I admire so greatly.
Questions
Temperament testing
Stopping excessive barking
Placing dogs with separation anxiety
Offering dog training to a shelter that won't accept
Placing "dog aggressive" dogs
Top five tips for making dogs more placeable
Dogs that don't present well in shelters
Easing transitions from shelters to forever homes
Adopting a dog that is afraid of strangers
Adopting out a dog that has bitten
Enriching our own dog's environment
Making stays in kennels less stressful
Overcoming liability issues to put dog programs in place
Identifying cage behavior
Temperament testing
Question from a member:
At our shelter I see a lot of inconsistency about how the dogs are temperament tested. We use parts of different existing tests, but we don't have a written policy or procedure so it really comes down to one person making a decision with no oversight or backup. I feel that some dogs are not getting a fair chance because what someone considers "adoptable" can vary from person to person depending on who is doing the testing. Can you share what you consider to be a good temperament test so I can share it with our staff?Response from Jean:
Here is my $.02.A good temperament test is one that would do two things: provide consistent results regardless of who's testing as well as results consistent across time (a week later or after a few training sessions the dog's results should be the same; if not the test is not good or else "temperament" will have to be redefined)
Predicts behavior in the real world. These two yardsticks are well known in the science literature (the testing of humans on a dizzying array of parameters has been examined for many, many decades) and are called reliability (inter-tester reliability and test-re-test reliability) and validity. There are existing
experimental procedures to evaluate whether any given test does well on either or both of these measures.
Interestingly, the animal sheltering world has not used either of them to decide whether tests used on shelter animals are any good. The prevailing model has been to come up with some tests, support them with logical argument and then make the test available to other shelters. The absence of data collection and objective analysis would never occur in any other field.
So, there are not tests out there that have been formally tested and the tests on the tests peer-reviewed, the best modality I know to get beyond the realm of my opinion/your opinion and build real knowledge. One exception are certain sub-tests on a behavior evaluation that Emily Weiss came up with at U of Wichita to predict whether dogs from shelters might make good service dogs. She has presented some evidence but we need more, a lot more. In '99 we had a nationally renowned shelter expert give a seminar at SF/SPCA during which she tested a bunch of our shelter dogs.
The sample size was too small to publish but consisted, in validity follow-up, of 5 out of 5 false positives and 1 out of 3 false negatives (5 dogs were said to be unadoptable and were adopted out and, at the two-year post adoption mark were still in their homes without incidents of aggression and with no reported significant behavior issues - chewing, etc. excepted - and 3 labeled adoptable went out and one came back within a couple of weeks with dog-dog problems and a redirected bite). It sure got us thinking about the existing dogma out there.
I would urge your institution to come up with formal criteria for what you consider an adoptable dog, that all technical and policy-making staff sign off on, and then a test that is as objective as possible, i.e. based on observations rather than interpretations of behavior, to get at these criteria, so that no one is stuck in the subjective-judgment role. Not only does this hamper data collection but puts whoever must "play god" at risk for burnout.
Stopping excessive barking
Question from Gail:
I have a 25 lb male feisty (terrier-type) doggie that was bred for treeing game (squirrels and raccoons). You may be familiar with the hunting process: the dogs are loosed in the woods, start barking when they locate the "game" and then chase the game to a tree or hole, barking the whole time until the hunter arrives. They continue to bark usually until the game is killed and they smell the carcass.Well, my little guy, Tiny, was rescued at 5 weeks old & 15ozs. (almost dead due to dehydration & organ shutdown) from that life. He is gun-shy anyway so wouldn't be good for hunting.
I have used a "no-bark" collar over the years with some success. To keep it tight enough chokes him, and if loose enough for safe swallowing, he can shake it around to the side of his neck so that it doesn't work when he barks.
I have considered asking my vet to surgically do something to his vocal chords so that he could still make noise, just not the loud barking.
He barks when people come to my house (for 5-10 minutes), when I leave my house and when I come in and when I am in my front yard - nonstop barking for 30 minutes or so. A loud "NO-BARK" command from me will always work immediately, but then he starts it again. Sometimes a quiet, "Tiny, no bark." works.
The barking is really a problem now, and I am moving to a zero lot home where it will be even more so. What do you think I could do?
Response from Jean:
Tough one. For this type of barking, the choices are getting a "quiet" command more solidly on cue, building a behavior mutually exclusive to barking (to fill the "void"), positive punishment, which you've used with the anti-bark collar, and negative punishment (time-out style penalties). Some mix and match combo is what usually works best, e.g. spend some time teaching him to bark and stop barking as a trick - proof the trick until it's quite reliable - then, start employing your "quiet" cue in real situations, when you actually need it, combined with...... teaching him to run and lie down on a mat in order to be given a chicken-stock drenched bully stick or other high value long-to-consume reinforcer (which may or may not help by providing an attractive distraction), both these in conjunction with...
... instant penalties for any barks that ensue after any "quiet" command: 5 minutes in the bathroom, penalty crate, anything that will bug him. There are also reports of regular, hard aerobic exercise reducing barking sequence lengths, as well as making any of the above training go more smoothly. Given this kid's predispositions, I'd give regular doses of "find it" games, where he must use his nose to find something, fetch it to you and then play fetch or tug.
If you feel your back is to the wall and this all fails and you opt to use an anti-bark collar, make sure it's a model with a warning tone and one that has a correct fit - it might mean having someone handy modify your existing one or purchasing one that will punish every time. Surgical devocalization carries risks as does any surgery, and carries no guaranteed outcome. Sometimes the dog makes a worse sound than before. Sometimes the result is temporary and the vocal folds grow back (and make a similar or worse sound than before). Sometimes it does seemingly nothing!
Placing dogs with separation anxiety
Question from Mary Ann:
Is there any hope for adopting a dog with separation anxiety? There is a sweet pit bull at a local shelter that just cannot stand to be out of a human's sight.Response from Jean:
Very tough! Not only are they tough to market in the first place but there's some evidence that being rehomed could exacerbate their condition, i.e. they'll be more severe in the next home. We have had **occasional** success with a combination of meds, crate training, hard daily exercise, post-adoption consulting and careful adopter choice e.g.. dog is extremely dog-friendly and is adopted out as a second dog, adopted out to someone with some time to do exercises before forced prolonged absences etc., but many, many times that didn't work. If you want to pull out all the stops for this dog, get him worked up and on meds (typically clomipramine or fluoxetine), develop a strong positive emotional response to a crate (teach him a "go in the crate" game using C/T, then work duration - up to a couple of minutes down-stay in crate for C/T, then door close C/T etc.) and start an aggressive home search once the meds have been on board 4 - 6 weeks.I completely understand why shelters throw in the towel on these guys and also how heartbreaking that is.
Offering dog training to a shelter that won't accept
Question from Jean N:
I am a dog trainer and have offered to work with the dogs at our local SPCA so they can be adopted easier. So far I have had no luck with the SPCA. They either put me off or tell me they will call me. How can I educate them on how important it is for the dogs to have good "manners"?Response from Jean:
My honest advice to you is to stop banging your head against the wall. Compliance (clients not doing what they've been instructed to do and/or not committing time and energy fully) problems have historically been a thorn in the side of dog trainers and the longer in the tooth among us have learned that if the client is not fully on board, expectations need adjusting. In this case you don't even have a **client** let alone one who is failing to apply recommendations. You've offered and for whatever reason - who knows - they've declined. Put your energy elsewhere.Placing "dog aggressive" dogs
Question from Beth:
One of our biggest challenges is placing our "dog aggressive" dogs. These dogs do wonderful with people of all ages, but cannot be placed in a home with other animals. Any tips on finding these animals good homes would be great!Response from Jean:
Depending on your shelter's space, time and people resources, there are a few things you can do. One is to determine whether the dogs are dog aggressive both on and off leash, or are they reasonable to good off leash, but lunging/snarky, etc. only when on leash. To make such a determination you need:- bullet-proof dogs to use as an off-leash play group test (bullet-proof = extremely experienced, scores of novel social contacts, extensive play history and at least the size of the dog being tested) (and preferable to use more than one to "dilute" the test dog)
- at least as many experienced people on hand as there are dogs in the group, along with a fight protocol, e.g. noise first (pots and pans), pull apart second by people wearing animal control gloves, Direct Stop (citronella spray) third, as well as a latch-on procedure
- willingness/buy-in from relevant staff to do this kind of stuff
- space that's large enough for play/maneuvering but secure and with good footing
Don't test adult pits or other game-bred dogs with known histories - adopt those out management style.
Any dogs that prove to be okay off leash can be rehabbed in a week or two with a typical DRI protocol. For this you need a skilled body or two to implement the training and transfer the maintenance to the adopter.
If you *really* have resources, you could attempt to fix some of the garden-variety off-leash aggression (too big a can of worms for this post).
For no-fix dogs (either because you're not going to diagnose and/or fix the on-leash only guys or your other more severe dog-dog population), your choices are management or management. Market to suburban dwellers and send any such dogs with standardized written instructions (meeting/managing dogs on walks, managing other kinds of encounters, expectations, dispelling myths about dog-dog being predictive of any other problems etc.) and adopter follow-up. If your market would support it, you could offer growly dog classes, which give these adopters as well as the owners of other dog-dog types in your community access to training and information, as well as supplying a revenue stream to the shelter. For this you need suitable space, know-how regarding curriculum design and some depth about behavior and rehab, and a high ratio of trained assistants (volunteers, interns etc. who've had training at same).
Public education about a) normal kinds and levels of dog spats and arguments and b) how to access professional resources to improve their dogs would go a long way toward making people less reluctant to take on such dogs, who, as you point out, may be great dogs otherwise.
Another possibility is trades with other shelters. We occasionally trade with other shelters or sanctuaries with different adopter pools. If your shelter is too urban and/or dog-park oriented, for instance, you could trade some dog-aggressive, but otherwise perfect dogs, with suburban shelters that can't market their types who need greater exercise and stimulation than predominantly backyard suburban living can afford.
Top five tips for making dogs more placeable
Question from Jamee:
What are the top 4-5 things you do to help dogs become more placeable?Response from Jean:
Reduce barrier barkingselect kennels strategically so that dogs that unload when other dogs go down the hallway are at the end of a row where there are fewer passes per day
institute system so that all passersby do a food drop into each kennel on each pass to prevent development and fix the easier existing cases
Play groups and/or co-housing
all dogs that are not frankly dog aggressive get a 15-20 period each day in a different space where they may socialize off leash with other dogs (*properly supervised*)
house dogs in compatible pairs - must train staff on management, e.g. mealtime food-guarding management, removing one dog from kennel protocols etc.
if room visible to public, helps marketing of playing dogs, as well as education opportunity re: socialization and normal social behavior
Presentation manners
teach sit and lie down and show this off for all adopters
Clean them up
groom coated dogs and supply info sheets on grooming to all adopters of same
Have volunteers walking/training dogs outside of their kennels at peak traffic times
reduces barrier frustration barking
most dogs look better this way
opportunity to proof simple training in distraction-laced area
give priority to plain (black, smooth coated and/or older, less animated, less attractive dogs) dogs and teach them cute tricks
Dogs that don't present well in shelters due to behavior issues
Question from a member:
We don't have a behaviorist on board at our shelter or staff trained in behavior issues. But we get a lot of dogs that do not present well in their kennels to the public and get overlooked a lot. For instance, we have some dogs that are afraid of men, or some who cower in the back of the cage and won't come to the front, or some who bark nonstop when people come by and are so hyper active that no one looks at them. What can we do to make them "show" better to the public?Response from Jean:
The cowering types sometimes do better in a more quiet part of the kennel. If you have more than one row, put the quieter dogs together so they're not right next to some riotous barking lunger. These types, as well as the ones with specific fears, such as timid with men, can attract the right adopters sometimes if there are attractive information signs with photographs up on their doors. For instance, "I'm Max. I'm a 55 pound German Shepherd mix who learns fast, loves walks, needs to go to school and *hates* being here in a kennel situation. You might see me looking forlorn and afraid at the back of my run. That's because I'm stressed out by this environment, not because I don't adore people. I may be the dog for you but I need to be introduced to you somewhere else. Here's a picture of me when I'm feeling better." Insert picture of dog playing with or cuddling with a volunteer, looking brighter.The dogs with fence/barrier frustration, who lunge and bark do better with daily hard exercise. Dog play groups once a day (preferably before the peak visiting hours) make them less off the wall. We also have explanatory signs up in the shelter explaining what barrier barking is and that this isn't the whole personality of the dog.
Chew toys can help some and, even if you don't have highly skilled people on board, simple training executed by volunteers can tire dogs out mentally by making them work for part of their meal ration.
If there seems to be a dynamic whereby one particularly loopy dog is setting off others, the worst one can have visual access to the hallway blocked to reduce his tendency to barrier bark.
Ian Dunbar has been pioneering a program at the Berkeley Humane Society called "Open Paw" where they're experimenting with measures to improve presentation of such dogs, among other initiatives. So, more help may be on the way soon!
Easing transitions from shelters to forever homes
Question from Marie:
Our breed rescue program receives the majority of our 500+ dogs per year from animal control agencies across the US and Canada. Our volunteers take in these dogs after they have been in a shelter environment for anywhere from 3 days to 3 months (most often, just a few days). The dogs are given thorough veterinary care, and usually stay in a foster home for a minimum of 2 weeks, and often 2 months or more, before being placed in a permanent adoptive home. We urge our foster parents to crate train, to feed separately, to train with treats and to avoid scolding.How can we restore the dogs' confidence and help them to relax? What management tools or training suggestions would help ease their transition from shelter, to foster home, to forever home?
Response from Jean:
An excellent question. It has been credibly suggested that re-homing, kennel stays and life disruptions - all of which are along for the ride in shelter animals - potentiate separation anxiety in susceptible dogs. It's not too much of a stretch to postulate that anxiety problems in general are kicked into high gear by the bouncing around from place to place of homeless dogs.There's been some lively debate about whether it is best to give such dogs maximum stability, i.e. if in a shelter environment as much routine and as few care and training people as possible versus avoiding the dog hyper-bonding to someone and then ripping apart that bond, essentially repeating the bond break from the original owner.
I personally favor maximum routine, stability and **safety** for dogs in transition. Brava to you for cautioning foster homes against aversives/heavy-handedness with these dogs.
To build general confidence, structured games where the dog is invited to chase, fetch and tug are excellent choices. Suspension of aversives is important.
Dog-dog play is also great for dogs that are sociable. Leash walks are an under-rated activity I think. Many dog people are so well set-up at home yard/area etc. wise that their dogs get fewer leash walks and so the opportunity to investigate novel smells is reduced. Also, a lot of people hustle or coerce the dog to maintain a certain pace, thwarting many or most of the dog's attempts to thoroughly check out some smell or other.
I'm intrigued by the testimonials of people who've had success with things like 5-HTP, Rescue Remedy, melatonin and herbs of various sorts. Many are in the "unlikely to hurt, might help" category and may be worth tinkering with.
Adopting a dog that is afraid of strangers
Question from a member:
We recently adopted out a dog that is wonderful with her owners and good once you get to know her, but will snap at strangers approaching her to pet her. It doesn't matter whether she is in her own house or off-property. After she snaps at people, then she wags her tail like she wants to approach them. The owner is now afraid to take her for walks or have people come over to the house and pet her. They don't want to get rid of her but have called us for advice. She came in as a stray so we don't know her previous background. Do you have any thoughts?Responses from Jean:
Yes. Most such cases result from a predisposition to be spooky with unfamiliar people and/or some degree of lack of exposure to a sufficiency of people while young. Either way, the priority is to keep the dog from offending (biting) as that will spell disaster. Many such dogs, once their owners are sensitized to their shyness, do well and live long, full lives.Her owners must be counseled to protect her from people coming up, attempting to pet or touch her etc. If this keeps happening, she will have a harder time improving, and may even get worse. Tell the owners she can't help it and forcing her to interact is a bad move. They can take her out but politely request people to be more respectful of her space until she demonstrates willingness to go up them (sometimes she will, sometimes she won't). They can also have people over and give them the same instructions - ignore the dog unless she makes overtures. This way she will be able to come up to people at her own pace, which is *vitally* important.
Visitors to the house can also be supplied with food treats to give her (again, no petting, just give her the treats, then ignore her until she's relaxed enough).
Once owners are able to empathize with the dog and see that the behavior is limited to this, the dog's space is more protected and she can start to make gains.
Adopting out a dog that has bitten
Question from a member:
While our group has a general policy against bringing in dogs that are known biters, what should our policy be when a dog already in the program bites and draws blood? Recently, we had a dog returned from his adoptive home for aggressive biting (it is a 15 pound dog) to men and kids only and the board is unsure how to proceed. We don't have liability insurance and want to protect our members, yet some people think the dog should be rehabilitated, if possible. As we still are trying to find volunteer legal counsel, what is the recommended policy? Thanks!Response from Jean:
You raise a couple of issues. One is protecting the shelter from prospective litigation while maintaining treatment criteria that are not overly stringent and the other is the assessment of severity in aggression cases.Setting the bar regarding what dogs to adopt out is highly individual and depends a great deal on how severe the overpopulation is in your neck of the woods. Are you euthanizing dogs for space etc.? It's easier to make a case for a high bar (e.g. no dogs with any sort of rap sheet go out) when you're overflowing with dogs. Put the resources elsewhere. If you're not, then rehab is a sure option. The other issue is risk of third party litigation. Even if you get the adopter to sign off, the dog may bite the adopter's neighbor who then sues you for adopting out a "known" biter (legally, that's how it goes - there's no recognition of behavior modification). In the case of a 15-pound dog, you're on pretty safe ground no matter what you do. You could still be sued, but such a case would be less likely to be successful. It usually comes down to your board's degree of nervousness about this issue.
The other issue is the assessment of severity in aggression cases. The most important prognostic indicator is degree of bite inhibition, i.e. pressure exerted when the dog bites (note that this is not bite -threshold-which is how easily/under what conditions the dog will bite). Pressure is gauged by the presence or absence of puncture wounds, presence and pervasiveness of contusions (bruising), location of bite and other mitigating factors. While people are understandably freaked out by the sight of blood and this warrants a disease risk quarantine usually, it's not necessarily very significant in terms of the dog's softness/hardness of mouth. Some of the best mouths out there will lacerate skin and "draw blood" with zero or next to zero pressure exerted. For instance, an open mouth bite on a moving target will usually produce some blood. Looks dramatic but is actually evidence *against* severity. Contrast this with a high-pressure bite that draws no blood but produces black contusions extending for several inches beyond the bite site and/or a broken bone.
Enriching our own dog's environment
Question from a member:
In last week's forum on cat behavior, there were a lot of ideas given about enriching a housecat's environment. I have two dogs and am gone 8 hours at work, during which time I am sure the dogs are completely bored. I wondered if you had some similar ideas for things I could do to give them fun things to do besides sleeping for 8 hours!Response from Jean:
The fact that you have left two dogs for 8 hours suggests that you have left them with the ultimate enrichment toy: another dog. That is, provided they like each other (there is still enrichment if they don't, but it's a different kind :).The standard suggestions of puzzle toys and work-to-eat are made more complicated by the presence of two dogs. If they guard resources (toys, food, bones, pigs' ears etc.) from each other off the charts, it's extremely important that a) their fights are clean (no serious injuries to either dog when they scrap) and b) you're comfortable with the possibility that any toys/enrichment items you leave won't be very equitably distributed, if you get my drift.
Do they have a doggie door to go into the yard and cruise? (if yard fenced of course)
You could stash small cookies and chew toys in hiding places around the house prior to leaving so they have some searching to do in your absence (teach them the game with easy finds coached by you while you're home). If they're TV watchers, leave on Animal Planet (I'm not kidding). It also helps mask outdoor sounds that may elicit barking.
Dog walking is a major industry here in the bay area. Maybe a couple of times a week, their day could be broken up by a dog-walker, who takes them hiking or to a dog park.
If you're not already doing so, stuff Kongs or hollow bones with part of their meal ration and/or creative stuffings. Again, these may end up in the possession of one dog, so think about how you feel about this as well as about how to compensate for calories lost/gained.
My sincere gratitude to you for wanting to spruce up your dogs' alone time.
Making stays in kennels less stressful
Question from Dominique:
I volunteer for a shelter that houses dogs in kennels with outside run (obviously nothing like the San Francisco SPCA). All dogs have elevated beds, are given a blanket and toys. They get to go out, either on walks and/or play areas. Anything else that we could do to help reduce the stress while they are in our care?Response from Jean:
Kudos to you for supplying all those. The only things that spring to mind to add are hang-out time, simple visits with people for patting, dog-dog play for those suitable, co-housing for the most gregarious, and simple manners training, on an opportunistic basis. For example, sit for supper dish, sit before door opened to go on a walk, time-outs for rough paws/jaws ("too bad!" and immediately leave the kennel - return in a minute to try again - repeat as necessary). People are inclined to write off rude behavior as "well, they're in such awful circumstances, we can't DEMAND anything of them." I don't buy this. They can most certainly learn that putting paws or jaws on visitors sends visitors away and this is a huge favor to do them.Overcoming liability issues to put dog programs in place
Question from a member:
Our shelter is incredibly concerned with liability issues relating to shelter dogs. As a result, when some volunteers or staff try to introduce new ideas like allowing volunteers to walk dogs through a local park, do a foster for a day program, allow play groups of dogs, or taking dogs to off-site adoption events, the Director won't allow it. How can we get around liability concerns, making it safe for the dogs and people and still allowing a good time for the dogs?Response from Jean:
This is a very, very tough question. Getting Directors to loosen up or finding ways to improve the lives of the dogs that are risk-free. Oi. Whatever you *do* succeed in getting implemented, do your utmost to make it successful and safe, so that your Director does not have the experience of allowing some change and then getting burned - the prophecy is then fulfilled and subsequent attempts will be met with even firmer resistance.The safest bets to lobby for are:
- puppy play (8 - 20 week olds) groups or co-housing
- co-housing juveniles (5 - 7 month olds)
- walks on Gentle Leader head collars but only after a well-structured training - program for volunteers on how to fit a halter, leash handling, situational awareness etc. (not only do such courses lessen the likelihood of incidents but vastly decrease liability if an incident ever does occur, as the shelter can demonstrate to have been diligent in its training of volunteers and safety procedures)
- training classes where volunteers handle the dogs and are instructed on how to - teach sit, down, stay, off, anti-jump, walking nicely on leash - stimulating for the dogs, education for people, improves adoptability and increases volunteer skills so they can better manage dogs on walks
- well-kept records of dogs' behavior on walks so that some sort of system can be put in place that keeps horribly behaved or anti-social dogs out of parks or allows volunteers to walk dogs that are within their skill level (they rate dogs as "green, yellow or red" at SF/SPCA and volunteers, depending on how many courses they've done, walk dogs they've been approved for)
- if you're leaning toward more play groups, get at least one person on staff well-tooled on how to observe social behavior, break up fights etc. and impart this information to others. We have a post-Academy dog-dog internship that does chapter and verse on this, but there are dog people out there with good skill sets in this regard
- reinforce your Director for any small, baby step in the right direction. We're all very adept at positively reinforcing dogs but often resort to coercion and punishment to accomplish behavior change with people (I plead guilty to this, alas)
- come up with a screening program for potential foster-for-a-day parents and/or train them. Experienced dog people, with a fenced yard, have taken XYZ courses, can only take dogs in categories ABC etc. may help put your Director more at ease than the idea without fleshed out safety measures.
