You may remember us mentioning we have a few surveys coming your way this winter. Here’s a NEW one about shelter behavior practices. Supporting and making outcome decisions for dogs with behavioral concerns is a challenge for many shelters, so we’re looking to do an assessment of current shelter behavior practices. This survey primarily focuses on dogs,… Learn More
Finding foster caregivers for pets who have behavioral needs can feel daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are six strategies animal welfare organizations across the country are using to do just this! 1. Prioritize “unicorn” fosters who have ideal home set-ups for some of your more challenging pets (people who don’t have children or other pets). Be responsive and treat… Learn More
When people get frustrated with their pet’s behavior, their bond suffers, and if they can’t figure out how to deal with the issue, they may feel that their only option is to surrender their pet to the shelter. In How to Help People Resolve Some Common Behavior Problems and Keep Their Pets, from Saving Nevada’s Pets Conference: Shelter… Learn More
Often times, when a pet owner is looking to surrender their pet to a shelter or rescue organization, they are under stress. And most likely, it’s a problem they have been dealing with for a long time and they don’t feel they can solve it. In this new Maddie’s University course, Keeping Pets in Homes, you… Learn More
This post was originally posted in April of 2017. Our Feline Communications Course was the TOP visited page on our website in 2019 and with kitten season quickly approaching, we wanted to share it again! Join the thousands of people who have learned to speak cat! Ever wanted to ‘talk to the animals’ like Dr.… Learn More
This guest post is written by Stefanie Sacripante, Director of NoVa Cats Advocacy, Inc. Sacripante has been using social media to give voice to overlooked adult cats in shelters, rescues, and foster homes in the Northern Virginia region since 2014. When cats urinate in places other than the litterbox and once medical issues are ruled… Learn More
This post originally ran on June 28, 2018. We wanted to share again because we think this topic is very important. An in-shelter behavior assessment is not a reliable way to determine whether dogs will or won’t be safe in adoptive homes, reports a new ASPCA position statement. Instead, such evaluations need to be based… Learn More
Button had been at the Kansas City Pet Project for about a month, and he wasn’t doing well. He was displaying alarming signs of kennel stress, including pacing, spinning, vocalizing and jumping up and down over and over. The shelter has an excellent enrichment program that includes play groups, walks, puzzle toys and more, but… Learn More
Do animal shelters need to be stressful places for pets? Leading shelter medicine and behavior experts say no, and they’ve created a free online course to show staff and volunteers how to make the process from intake to adoption a happy one. The course is part of Fear Free, an educational company originally founded to… Learn More
Looking to start or expand a low-cost shelter enrichment program for dogs? We have the resource for you! In case you missed this valuable post on Maddie’s Pet Forum – one of our Innovation grantees, Far Side Journey, used their grant to develop the Boredom Buster Program, a low-cost shelter enrichment program for dogs. They piloted the… Learn More