Behavior Bites: Tackling Your Most Common Behavior Challenges Together

Behavior Bites: Tackling Your Most Common Behavior Challenges Together

Michelle Weaver, Director of Animal Care

Marla Browne, Network Specialist

Goal for the session: to share and receive ideas on a variety of behavior topics that are commonly an issue in animal sheltering and rescue, and to brainstorm new ideas.

Table topics (recurring challenges from network partners):

High-energy dogs: how to tire them out. Add mental stimulation since it is nearly impossible to physically tire them out in a shelter setting; play groups; food puzzles; research the breed for ideas on what “jobs” they would like; prison programs can be effective. Teach them to relax and learn to be calm.

Reactive dogs: how to safely and effectively walk through the shelter. Try training techniques and positive reinforcement; make sure the volunteer is trained on how to handle the dog. Try to get the dog out of the shelter and into a foster home — that might change the dog’s behavior. Limit the number of handlers; only those who have the skills to handle it; physical location of the dog closer to the door; choose to walk at quieter times; cover the kennel. Distract with toys/treats. Exercise. Try to address the underlying behavior. Gentle Leader or head halter can help, especially if the reactivity is mainly when on leash; muzzle training; write a blurb from the dog’s point of view to make him/her more attractive to adopters and for adopters to understand the behavior.

Quick tips for muzzle training. Distractions; get someone at the other end of the muzzle to give treats; worst case scenario, use slip lead as a muzzle — dogs are used to them. Use alternatives, such as a cone.

Using easy tricks to catch the eye of an adopter. Solutions were focused on de-stressing shy dogs and cats: read to them; have a consistent volunteer spend time with the dog; good foster candidates; treats; list on the kennel card what the right way to interact with the dog is; have children write descriptions of the dogs; more time out of the kennel; moving kennels; let the dogs be with you in the office. If the shy dog is dog-friendly, kennel him/her with a more social dog, which will sometimes make the shy dog come out of his/her shell more, and sometimes the adopter will take both.

How to quickly teach the most important cue: Come! Name recognition, eye contact, games, food rewards.

How to quiet down the kennel area. Provide natural sunlight; sound absorbers, Kongs; bring children in; clicker train with treats.

Litter box issues from within the shelter and in the home. Determine if it’s medical or behavioral; consider litter box size; distancing outside influences; put the cat into a foster home if he/she is at a shelter; use Cat Attract; try using shredded newspaper for litter; try grain-free diet; check diet in general to see if that is causing the litter box issues.

Creating time for staff or volunteers to do management or enrichment activities. Communication and planning are key. Flow charts, ways to organize time. Keeping volunteers involved with the animal’s progress. Make it clear that expectations are reasonable and that there has to be flexibility.

Getting shy cats to come to the front of the cage.

Consistent, structured interaction with staff or very well-trained volunteers, no matter how long it may take.
Move the cat to a colony room if possible.
Dip a straw in wet food and make the cat come to the front.
Socialization is key — and need the volunteers trained in how to interact with shy cats. More experienced volunteers should mentor new volunteers.
Try to utilize free roaming when possible, since they tend to show better than in cages.
It takes TIME — be patient. And consistent.
Designate people who understand cat body language (etc.) to work with the shy cats: working with the cats and making them feel comfortable.
Food not necessarily the best option.
If you use cages, don’t put shy cats on the bottom; put them up higher so that they are at eye level with people.
If you take shy cats to a pet store to show, leave them there for two weeks at a time to get them acclimated.
Ask volunteers to focus attention on the cats who are shy instead of the ones that come to the front of the cage.
Try to have some kind of program in place if you can. Train “cat socializers” to interact with the shy cats. Assessments are key; assess what issues the cat has and then have trained volunteers focus on those issues.
Sometimes there are too many volunteers handling/working with a cat, and that stresses them out and can be counter-productive.
Cats’ territory is decreased dramatically when they are caged; this is very stressful and can sometimes present as shyness, etc. But when they are placed in a home environment, they de-stress and come out of their shells.
Split up feral litters if possible because they reinforce each other’s feral behavior.
Behavior modification programs: one-on-one interaction daily, play with toys, treats. The key is consistency — making sure the cats are being worked with every single day.
De-stressing is key.