Lecture 10

Learning Obj - working w/ behaviors in shelter - behavior decision making

What behaviors can we work with in shelters

What behaviors can we work with in shelters

shelter-specific behaviors and behaviors that may transfer to home

• reactivity

• walking/ leash manners

• stress/ fear/ aggression

• inappropriate elimination

• resource guarding (manage)

• high arousal

What behaviors can we NOT work with in shelters

• home specific behaviors, not present in shelters, or hard to evaluate in shelters

  • inter-cat aggression

  • scratching furniture

  • separation anxiety

  • house training

  • excessive vocalizations

  • nuisance behaviors

• cases that pose a severe risk to public safety

How to work w/ behavior

• depends on shelter resources, concern and severity

  • can it be managed in shelter

• provide safe handling instructions

  • mandatory for any animal that poses a risk to human safety

• behavior modification plan (BMP)

  • optional, shelter-dependent

Safe handling instructions

• mandatory for any animal that poses a risk to human safety

• helpful to determine if behavior is manageable

• short term, day to day interactions

• generally provided in written/oral communication

• should be readily available

• any staff working w/ animal should be familiar/ comfortable

• human well-being is important, never work w/ an animal if you feel uncomfortable or do not have the necessary tools

---

1. what is the behavior and what does it look like

2. list tools needed to work w/ animal

3. provide clear, step by step instructions that anyone can follow

Possession aggression/resource guarding (Safe handling instructions)

• always use guillotine or remove dog to feed or add/remove items to kennel

• never try to take back a stolen item

  • trade or swap for higher value

  • only obtain item when dog is safely contained away from it

• may need basket muzzle for walks

• be mindful of location of high value items

• hard to cure this behavior in shelter

---

Example:

1. this dog is presenting w/ resource guarding. This dog has a tendency to guard their food items including their food dish, and items w/ food/treats (kongs)

2. tools needed

   1. high value reward (enjoys liver treats)

   2. squeaky toy for auditory redirecting

3. handling and interactions

   1. prior to approaching dog, ensure food dish is empty

   2. if there are food items in kennel, redirect dog to non-resting area and close guillotine

   3. place basket muzzle, harness, and leash on dog

   4. take dog out of the kennel

4. cleaning and entering kennel

   1. redirect dog to non-resting area and close guillotine

   2. clean resting area, add food dish to kennel

   3. redirect dog back to resting area

   4. close guillotine

   5. clean non-resting area

   6. when complete, open guillotine

Fear/ aggression (safe handling instructions)

• lecture 7 (will add some slides on this)

• always watch animal’s body language

• never push past their threshold

• allow animal to decompress/hide

• use tools if necessary to handle

---

Fear

• move slowly and purposefully

• never approach from above, go from side

• if putting on harness is too fear-provoking, can use slip lead

• provide high value treats w/ every interaction

• create positive associations w/ humans/ fear stimuli (treat toss)

• if animal is too fearful, leave and try again another time- leave on a high note

---

Aggressive

• move slowly and purposefully

• have a plan, what do you need to do, can it wait?

• never try to continue w/ an animal who is attempting to bite- try again later, use tools

• leave on a high note

Create safe handling instructions for Francis (I do not have notes for this so just making an educated guess)

• Fearful of humans and environment

• will show aggressive warning signs when attempting to handle (barring teeth, growling, snapping)

• staff need to work w/ this dog to take on daily walks and vet care

1. what is the behavior and what does it look like

2. list tools needed to work with animal

3. provide clear, step-by-step instructions that anyone can follow

1. the behavior is fear which turns into aggression when handled and it shows with showing teeth, growling and snapping (more than likely FAS 5)

2. tools we may need

   1. slip lead if we can see physical handling is leading a possible bite

   2. high value treats when handled/ drive by treats to promote positive associations with the shelter and people

   3. if the interaction is too much- try again in a bit

Reactivity (safe handling instructions)

• very common in shelter settings

• may be fear or frustration based

• avoid contact w/ other dogs

• use visual barriers (use guillotine to put dogs on other side, cage covers)

• keep rewards on hand for redirecting (treat, squeaky toy)

---

Fear-based

• fearful of stimuli

• want to increase space bt themselves and stimuli

• “please leave us alone”

• fear towards stimuli may stem from lack of socialization, genetics, or traumatic experience

---

Frustration-based

• excited about stimuli

• want to decrease space bt themselves and stimuli

• “please lemme go see it”

• frustration towards stimuli may stem from socialization methods during early times, or lack of outlet for dog socialization

What does fear and frustration based reactivity look like?

Fear-based

• barking

• lunging

• pulling on leash

• growling/barring teeth

• upright head

• tail in lowered position, may be wagging low

• reduced body position- tense

• fear-related behaviors (avoidance, “whale eye”, lip licking, panting, yawning, defensive aggression)

---

Frustration-based

• barking

• lunging

• pulling on leash

• whining

• upright head

• tail in alert position, wagging

• upright/alert body postures- tense

• stress-related behaviors (pacing, circling, includes fear-related behaviors)

high arousal (safe handling instructions)

• very common in shelter settings

• can arise from lack of training, boredom/frustration, genetics

• often leading to jumpy/mouthy behavior, which may lead to injury

• may look like “excitement”- difference being excessive and stress related behaviors seen

• be calm, stay still, cross arms like a tree

• use calming voice/tone

• keep rewards on hand for redirecting (treat, squeaky toy)

• reward when energy lvls have reduced, calm appropriate responses towards humans

• be sure to provide appropriate lvls of enrichment and activities

Behavior modification plan (BMP)

• how to improve behavior

• long term plan

• need to consider

  • do we have time

  • do we have staff

  • do we need to improve this or leave it for adoptive home

• necessary for some behaviors (IE)

• generally, in combo w/ safe handling instructions

• some are generalized, some need more tailoring to animal

Reactivity (BMP)

1. identify trigger

   1. know what stimuli dog is reactive towards

2. identify threshold

   1. at what point, distance, volume of stimuli does dog being to show early signs of reactivity

   2. before dog is at point at over arousal

   3. where you start working

3. avoid stimuli

   1. in early stages of training, avoid stimulus that is causing response

   2. not long term solution

   3. if you see stimuli while not in training session, turn away, positively reward

4. control stimuli

   1. acquire stimuli that you’re able to control (friend’s friendly dog, car driven by friend, someone unfamiliar walking outside w/ you)

5. apply desensitization and counter-conditioning programs

   1. slow exposure, gradual build up w/ paired rewards

   2. always start at distance before stimuli response occurs

   3. want to obtain high value reward (something more enticing than stimuli)

   4. obtain something as a redirector (clicker, squeaky toy, cue word) to refocus on you

---

Fear-based

• stimuli not scary

• we can pass stimuli and it won’t hurt us

• learn positive association w/ stimuli and remove fearful association

---

frustration-based

• if we are calm, we can access stimuli

• maintain positive association, however, reduce their response

Inappropriate elimination (BMP)

What is this

• urinating or defecating outside of litter box horizontally

• spraying is diff

• cats instinctively use a litter box, do not want to go outside of one area

Why

• stress

• spay/neuter status (hormones)

• medical

• litter box preferences

---

• identify type of IE: spraying, urination, or defecation out of box

• is this ongoing or new issue (seen in previous home, unknown)

• often resolved by spaying/neutering: typically first step/attempt

• identify reason for IE and tailor plan

  • medical: always check first, see vet

  • litter box preferences tests

  • reduce stress (lecture 7)

• ensure IE is resolved before adoption, inform adopter of preferences/history

---

Litter box preferences

• uncovered box

• unscented, clumping, clay substrate

• number of cats +1 = # of boxes

• should be 1.5x length of cat (head to tip of tail)

• located in a quiet, low traffic area (in home)

• scooped frequently

• hard to evaluate in cage

Case Study in shelter (BMP)

• dusty, intact male, 2 yr old

• currently shelter uses metal litter pans w/ unscented non-clumping litter

• presenting w/ high FAS scores often demonstrated by frustration

• was surrendered to shelter due to peeing outside box in previous home

• was in home with 3 other intact animals

• was provided w/ 2 covered boxes, scented, clumping litter

• has gone outside box once in shelter but otherwise using litter box

• been examined by vet and has been deemed healthy/ no medical reason for IE (need to finish)

What should we do for Dusty

• use clumping, unscented litter

• try to reduce a frustration-based response → reduce stress by

  • enrich environment

  • provide proper/specific enrichment

  • change their space/ enrichment

  • change their interactions

  • making notes on what worked/what didn’t

• should neuter Dusty for a first attempt

• make sure if home with others there is (number of cats + 1) amount of litterboxes

• keep an uncovered litterbox

POV for behavior decision making

• need to consider what is best for animal, not what WE want

• think of world from animal’s viewpoint

• need to consider is it a life worth living (QoL)

  • can their QoL improve

Quality of Life (QoL)

• assessing welfare (lecture 6)

• need to consider mental and physical well being

• how long will they be in this current state (acute or chronic)

• what will happen if caretaker does not adhere to instructions

• scales may be provided to pet owners to help with decision making

• these scales not typically used in shelters, however, do follow decision making protocols as outlined by shelter SOPs

How do we make behavior decisions

1. assess behavior

   1. review history

      1. is it new or chronic

      2. is it shelter related

   2. what does it look like

      1. behavior assessments

      2. daily observations

      3. have you witnessed it or told

   3. does it pose a risk to public, caretaker, animal safety

   4. is it something avg pet owner can manage/work with

2. reflect on Asilomar Accords and Adoptability Guidelines

   1. determine categories for presented/ noted behavior

   2. if not following Asilomar, determine if behavior is treatable, manageable to your shelter/public’s capabilities

   3. determine if this may be an ongoing issue or can resolve in a home

3. evaluate shelter resources

   1. do we have means to safely manage this behavior

      1. space

         1. ex. for reactive dog, do we have enough space to move them away from others

      2. staff

         1. are staff competent to handle behavior concern

         2. do they have time to work on behavior

      3. additional resources

         1. do we have fosters available

         2. do we have tools needed to safely manage

         3. can we afford tools needed

4. determine best outcome for animal

   1. may include

      1. adoption

      2. transfer

      3. other programs (barn cats)

      4. euthanasia

Behavior euthanasia decisions

when to make the choice

• severity of behavior negatively impacts QoL

• attempted interventions have not been successful

• severity of behavior poses a threat to animal, caretaker, or public safety

• shelter doesn’t possess resources to safely manage or alleviate severity of behavior

• considerations for other outcomes have been made and are not viable options

Case Study: Stitch

• 2 yr old, neutered male, Cane Corso mix

• surrendered due to high energy/ previous owner did not have time

• in shelter presenting w/ high FAS daily

• during behavior assessments determined to have over arousal, jumpy/mouthy behavior

• has been under bite quarantine 2x for mouthing that broke skin

• began object eating (PICA) and spinning in kennel (ARB)

• shelter is at high capacity for dogs, has many high LOS large breed dogs up for adoption

• has been at shelter since Dec 2023

• Stitch is currently on Gabapentin and Trazadone for high stress

What can we do

what considerations should we make

what are potential outcome options

• keep documenting behaviors and daily observations

• try to keep behavior manageable with medication and maybe some new enrichment like physical play like fetch to burn energy and also some olfactory scents like Adaptil to reduce stress and also some auditory enrichment like classical music to increase resting time

• we need consider if we have enough space to isolate him, staff and time, fosters available, tools to manage further bite incidents

• once out of quarantine, we can see if a foster is available capable of meeting his high energy since Stitch is showing high FAS scores daily

• try to adopt once the behavior is managed and no new bite incidents

• try to transfer to a lower capacity rescue to see if the high capacity was too much → may show improvements

• if the ARBs and over arousal cannot be solved or managed with medication or enrichment and Stitch does not seem to be able to live a good quality of life due to FAS, last resort would be euthanasia

Behavioral euthanasia

• no requirements to be met for an animal to be euthanized in shelter

• shelters do need to report on yrly stats that are publicly available

• have to provide a reason for shelter reporting

• should have some form of internal comms about decision making

• decision making may change based on pop/trends

• requirements for HOW an animal is euthanized

Euthanasia guidelines

AVMA

• continuously updated based on best practices/ evolving knowledge

• acceptable and unacceptable methods

• methods used for diff species (cats v. dogs) and groups (neonates v. adults)

• how to provide a good death

• personnel requirements: must demonstrate proficiency in use of technique in a supervised environment etc… (in the picture)

---

State-dependent

• texas requires course completion

access to sodium phenobarbital

• some states allow shelter access

• if not, requires vet