Browsing by Author "Gunter, Lisa M."

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
  • Thumbnail Image
    Canine Nosework as an Intervention for Behavior Change in Shelter Dogs
    Semione, Nisa (Virginia Tech, 2024-05-08)
    Millions of dogs enter the shelter annually in the United States. Dogs living in shelters experience a variety of stressors that can contribute to impaired welfare. Shelter enrichment programs are one way to mitigate these stressors and improve the welfare of kenneled dogs. This study compared the effects of nosework activities and positive human social contact via petting on the behavior of kenneled shelter dogs in response to an unknown person approaching the kennel. The present study found that dogs exhibited three behaviors most often in response to an unknown person approaching the kennel, 1) barking, 2) standing, and 3) jumping on the kennel. There were no effects found in either intervention on the proportion of time spent jumping on the kennel. Dogs exhibited increased standing behavior in their kennels after both interventions. There were no significant effects of the petting intervention on the proportion of time spent barking. The nosework intervention demonstrated an increase in the proportion of time spent barking the day-after the intervention, indicating a possible frustration response.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Companion animal foster caregiving: a scoping review exploring animal and caregiver welfare, barriers to caregiver recruitment and retention, and best practices for foster care programs in animal shelters
    Phillips, Grace E.; Gunter, Lisa M. (PeerJ, 2024-12-13)
    Each year, millions of animals enter animal shelters across the United States and are met with a variety of potential stressors that can negatively impact their experience, including noise, confinement, and social isolation. Foster care, a unique form of human–animal interaction, is increasingly understood to be an effective tool for improving welfare by allowing animals to escape the stressors of the shelter, providing an environment that allows for greater social interaction, and offering opportunities for improved health and behavior. This review includes 42 published articles, reports, master’s theses, and doctoral dissertations that have previously evaluated companion animal foster care programs. While scientific literature in this area has increased over the last decade, no review of the research exploring companion animal fostering has been published. Here, we examine foster care programs and their effects on human and animal welfare, evaluate the successes and challenges of supporting shelter foster care programs, recommend best practices for programmatic success, illuminate discrepancies in equity and diversity of caregiver engagement, and offer directions for future research in animal foster caregiving. The examinations in this review conclude that fostering provides both proximate (i.e., physiological and behavioral) and distal (i.e., length of stay and adoption outcomes) welfare benefits for shelter animals as well as their caregivers. Companion animal foster care programs may be further improved by providing greater caregiver support and increasing the diversity and extent of community engagement. Meanwhile, scientific investigations should explore lesser-researched components of foster care programs that are not yet well understood.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Comparing the Differential Effects of Neighborhood and Nature Walks on Behavior and Urinary Cortisol Levels of Dogs
    Cupp, Glenna N.; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Gunter, Lisa M.; Hekman, Jessica P. (Virginia Tech, 2023-12-07)
    Dog training practitioners suggest that walks in nature provide more welfare enhancing benefits than the neighborhood walks that most dogs experience daily. While the benefits of nature walks are a well-studied phenomenon in humans, to date there has been little investigation of this topic in companion dogs using objective measures. This study compared the effects of thirty-minute walks in nature to walks in the dogs’ home neighborhoods. Fifteen dogs took part in a within- subjects design that measured physiology and behavior to examine the effects of the two types of walks. Dogs had free catch urine samples taken multiple times per day for urinary cortisol analysis, were video recorded during walks, and were outfitted with activity monitoring collars. We found significant variation in cortisol levels in accordance with time of day, but no difference was found between the neighborhood and nature walks. Several stress, movement, and exploratory/foraging behaviors were found to differ between conditions. While we found that the experimental conditions did influence some of the dogs’ behavior in this study, they did not impact cortisol levels.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Emergency Fostering of Dogs From Animal Shelters During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Shelter Practices, Foster Caregiver Engagement, and Dog Outcomes
    Gunter, Lisa M.; Gilchrist, Rachel J.; Blade, Emily M.; Reed, Jenifer L.; Isernia, Lindsay T.; Barber, Rebecca T.; Foster, Amanda M.; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Wynne, Clive D. L. (Frontiers, 2022-04-27)
    Each year, millions of dogs enter thousands of animal shelters across the United States. Life in the shelter can be stressful, and one type of intervention that improves dogs' experience is human interaction, particularly stays in foster homes. Prior research has demonstrated that fostering can reduce dogs' cortisol and increase their resting activity. Despite these benefits, little is understood about the utilization of foster caregiving in animal shelters, and even less so during a crisis. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus outbreak a worldwide pandemic, and subsequently a nationwide emergency was declared in the United States. Nearly all states issued stay-at-home orders to curb the spread of the virus. During this time, media outlets reported increased interest in the adoption and fostering of shelter pets. This study explores canine foster caregiving at 19 US animal shelters during the first 4 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In our investigation, we found that shelters' utilization of foster caregiving increased from March to April 2020 but returned to initial pandemic levels by June 2020. Slightly less than two-fifths of foster caregivers were community members with no prior relationship with the shelter, and these caregivers were over four times more likely to adopt their fostered dogs than those with a pre-existing relationship to the shelter. Individuals fostering with the intention to adopt, in fact, adopted their dogs in nearly three-quarters of those instances. With regards to shelters' available resources, we found that very low-resource shelters relied more heavily on individuals with prior relationships to provide foster caregiving while very high-resource shelters more often recruited new community members. We also found that our lowest resourced shelters transferred more dogs out of their facilities while more resourced shelters rehomed dogs directly to adopters. To our knowledge, these findings represent the first in-depth reporting about dog fostering in US animal shelters and, more specifically, foster caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, they provide greater understanding of how monetary and human resources were utilized to affect the care and ultimately, the outcomes of shelter dogs during this time.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Evaluating the effects of a temporary fostering program on shelter dog welfare
    Gunter, Lisa M.; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Gilchrist, Rachel J.; Wynne, Clive D. L. (PeerJ, 2019-03-27)
    One of the greatest stressors for dogs living in animal shelters is social isolation. Many studies have demonstrated that human interaction reduces cortisol in shelter dogs, with the possibility that longer periods of interaction may yield greater effects. These types of interventions are contingent upon removing the dog from the kennel and any such reductions in cortisol are often lost when the dog returns to the kennel. More recently, animal shelters are utilizing short-term fostering programs to provide relief from the perceived stresses of kennel life; however the effects of these programs are not well understood. This study assessed the impacts of one-and two-night fostering programs on the urinary cortisol levels, resting pulse rates, longest bout of uninterrupted rest, and proportion of time spent resting of dogs awaiting adoption. Five animal shelters, open and limited-admission facilities, from across the United States participated in the study. During the study, dogs' urine was collected in the morning before, during, and after fostering stays for cortisol: creatinine analysis. Non-invasive health monitors were worn by the dogs, which collected heart rates and activity levels, in the shelter and in foster homes. In total, 207 dogs participated in the study, and 1,076 cortisol values were used in our analysis. Across all shelters, we found that dogs' cortisol: creatinine ratios dropped significantly during their fostering stay, but returned to baseline levels after return to the shelter. However, the observed reduction in cortisol varied in magnitude across shelters. We found that dogs of greater weight, age, and average resting pulse rate had higher cortisol levels; and dogs with longer bouts of uninterrupted rest had lower cortisol levels. Dogs had their longest bouts of rest during sleepovers, followed by in the shelter after their sleepovers. Lastly, significant differences were found when comparing in-shelter cortisol values at our five shelters, differences that were in some cases greater than the impact of the fostering intervention itself. Considering the diversity of facilities that participated in this study, it is possible that as yet unstudied, shelter-specific, environmental factors could be contributing to the overall welfare of shelter dogs. Thus while a reprieve from the shelter is impactful for dogs awaiting adoption, mitigating the stressors present in kenneling conditions should also be addressed to improve the lives of shelter dogs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Exploring the Domestication Syndrome Hypothesis in Dogs: Pigmentation Does Not Predict Cortisol Levels
    Platzer, JoAnna M.; Gunter, Lisa M.; Feuerbacher, Erica N. (MDPI, 2023-10-04)
    Previous research has found connections between pigmentation, behavior, and the physiological stress response in both wild and domestic animals; however, to date, no extensive research has been devoted to answering these questions in domestic dogs. Modern dogs are exposed to a variety of stressors; one well-studied stressor is residing in an animal shelter. To explore the possible relationships between dogs’ responses to stress and their pigmentation, we conducted statistical analyses of the cortisol:creatinine ratios of 208 American shelter dogs as a function of their coat color/pattern, eumelanin pigmentation, or white spotting. These dogs had been enrolled in previous welfare studies investigating the effect of interventions during which they left the animal shelter and spent time with humans. In the current investigation, we visually phenotype dogs based on photographs in order to classify their pigmentation and then conduct post hoc analyses to examine whether they differentially experience stress as a function of pigmentation. We found that the dogs did not differ significantly in their urinary cortisol:creatinine ratios based on coat color/pattern, eumelanin pigmentation, or white spotting, either while they were residing in the animal shelter or during the human interaction intervention. These preliminary data suggest that pigmentation alone does not predict the stress responses of shelter dogs; however, due to the small sample size and retrospective nature of the study, more research is needed.
  • Thumbnail Image
    The Influence of Brief Outing and Temporary Fostering Programs on Shelter Dog Welfare
    Gunter, Lisa M.; Blade, Emily M.; Gilchrist, Rachel J.; Nixon, Betsy J.; Reed, Jenifer L.; Platzer, Joanna M.; Wurpts, Ingrid C.; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Wynne, Clive D. L. (MDPI, 2023-11-15)
    Human interaction is one of the most consistently effective interventions that can improve the welfare of shelter-living dogs. Time out of the kennel with a person has been shown to reduce physiological measures of stress as can leaving the shelter for a night or more in a foster home. In this study, we assessed the effects of brief outings and temporary fostering stays on dogs’ length of stay and outcomes. In total, we analyzed data of 1955 dogs from 51 animal shelters that received these interventions as well as 25,946 dogs residing at these shelters that served as our controls. We found that brief outings and temporary fostering stays increased dogs’ likelihood of adoption by 5.0 and 14.3 times, respectively. While their lengths of stay were longer in comparison to control dogs, this difference was present prior to the intervention. Additionally, we found that these programs were more successful when greater percentages of community members (as compared to volunteers and staff) were involved in caregiving as well as when programs were implemented by better-resourced shelters. As such, animal welfare organizations should consider implementing these fostering programs as evidence-based best practices that can positively impact the outcomes of shelter dogs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Investigating the Impact of Brief Outings on the Welfare of Dogs Living in US Shelters
    Gunter, Lisa M.; Gilchrist, Rachel J.; Blade, Emily M.; Barber, Rebecca T.; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Platzer, JoAnna M.; Wynne, Clive D. L. (MDPI, 2021-02-19)
    Social isolation likely contributes to reduced welfare for shelter-living dogs. Several studies have established that time out of the kennel with a person can improve dogs’ behavior and reduce physiological measures of stress. This study assessed the effects of two-and-a-half-hour outings on the urinary cortisol levels and activity of dogs as they awaited adoption at four animal shelters. Dogs’ urine was collected before and after outings for cortisol:creatinine analysis, and accelerometer devices were used to measure dogs’ physical activity. In total, 164 dogs participated in this study, with 793 cortisol values and 3750 activity measures used in the statistical analyses. We found that dogs’ cortisol:creatinine ratios were significantly higher during the afternoon of the intervention but returned to pre-field trip levels the following day. Dogs’ minutes of low activity were significantly reduced, and high activity significantly increased during the outing. Although dogs’ cortisol and activity returned to baseline after the intervention, our findings suggest that short-term outings do not confer the same stress reduction benefits as previously shown with temporary fostering. Nevertheless, it is possible that these types of outing programs are beneficial to adoptions by increasing the visibility of dogs and should be further investigated to elucidate these effects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Reducing barking in a Brazilian animal shelter: A practical intervention
    Baldan, Ana Lucia; Ferreira, Bruna Lima; Warisaia, Vinicius; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Monticelli, Patricia Ferreira; Gunter, Lisa M. (Elsevier, 2023-08)
    Barking is a common problem in animal shelters. Loud noise is an irritant and stressful to both humans and other animals. In the present study, we tested a positive reinforcement intervention using food delivery with 70 dogs at a municipal animal shelter in Pirassununga, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The experiment consisted of three conditions with three daily phases: pre-intervention (A1), intervention (B), and post-intervention (A2). The intervention consisted of the experimenter (ALB) entering the building in which dogs were housed, stopping at each of its 12 kennels (between 4 and 6 dogs in each kennel), and delivering food to the dogs after they had ceased barking. After the first study condition with its single experimenter, we conducted two other conditions to test the generalization of the intervention with novel stimuli. In Condition 2, the experimenter was accompanied by a student; and in Condition 3, the experimenter was with the same student and a shelter employee. Continuous sound levels (Leq dB) and duration of barking were measured pre- and post-intervention throughout the study's three conditions as well as the amount of time needed to carry out the intervention each day. We found that, on average, both Leq dB and barking duration reduced following the intervention with a decrease in both measures from the beginning to the end of the study. Furthermore, intervention implementation time shortened across the study's conditions, with less than three minutes needed for the intervention to be carried out in Condition 3. In total, our findings suggest that the Barking Reduction Protocol (BRP) is an effective, low-effort intervention that reduces dog barking in the animal shelter. When considering the many issues that compromise the daily lives of shelter dogs, this intervention may be a useful tool in changing dogs’ barking behavior in response to people and improve their welfare as they await adoption.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Scented Toys as Enrichment: Exploring the Duration of Engagement with Scented Toys in Shelter Dogs
    Howard, Skyler; Feuerbacher, Erica N.; Gunter, Lisa M.; Hekman, Jessica (Virginia Tech, 2023-05-15)
    Millions of dogs enter shelters every year. Dogs being housed in shelters encounter a variety of stressors which may negatively impact their welfare. Many shelters use different forms of enrichment in an effort to mitigate the stress experienced by kennelled dogs and to improve their welfare. This study explored using scented toys as enrichment by utilizing a free operant preference assessment to investigate shelter dogs preferences of four different toys and four different scents by recording duration of engagement with each item. The preferred scent was then combined with the preferred toy and least preferred toy. The current study found that dogs spent significantly more time engaging with a plush dog toy than the other offered toys. There was no significant difference found between the duration of engagement with the different scents. Dogs spent significantly more time engaging with a scented preferred and least preferred toy than an unscented preferred and least preferred toy, indicating that adding a preferred scent to a toy may make the toy more salient to the dog and a more effective enrichment item.
  • Thumbnail Image
    State- and Context-Dependent Learning Effects in Different Dog Populations
    McGuirk, James N. (Virginia Tech, 2023)
    Animal shelters have limited resources, especially when considering the time and resources required for implementing behavior change protocols for resident dogs. This issue of resources is particularly relevant to the question of whether training should be carried out while dogs are living in shelters or if shelters should allocate their training resources to when the dog has been adopted and is in its new home. Given that a shelter is a different context from an adoptive home, a context in which dogs experience much greater stress levels than those living in homes, their learning could be impacted by both state- and context-dependent effects. These effects could result in reduced retention and recall of behaviors learned while living in the shelter. Research in other species has shown state-dependent and context-dependent learning effects, little is understood about the retention of learned behaviors by shelter dogs. In this study, we trained 20 owned and 20 shelter-living dogs in a training room within the animal shelter to acquire a novel behavior: touching their nose to a traffic cone. One month later, we tested both owned and shelter dogs’ performance of this behavior in their homes. We then assessed their response latency, and whether dogs correctly responded in their homes at the same training level reached in the shelter, or if behavioral criteria needed to be lowered for them to respond correctly. Results show that acquisition and recall by former shelter dogs closely correspond to that of owned dogs. Shelter dogs had much longer initial response latencies than owned dogs, but both groups were able to demonstrate fluency and test at higher criteria levels in the home than at the shelter. Dogs also demonstrated generalization of the behavior to their owners.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Sterilization Timing Effects on Lengths of Stay in Shelter Dogs and Cats with Positive Outcome
    McDonald, Amita (Virginia Tech, 2024-08-09)
    In 2023, an estimated 6.5 million pets entered one of the thousands of animal welfare organizations across the United States. Currently, animal shelters are experiencing a capacity crisis as an additional 900,000 animals have entered shelters since 2021 and have remained in care. Previous studies have attributed longer lengths of stay to many factors about the animal and shelter, including abnormal or problem behaviors, medical conditions and treatment, and available resources. Understanding how the timing of an animal’s sterilization surgery can affect its length of stay might aid in the development of evidence-based best practices regarding this procedure. The current study utilized records sourced by Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit organization that maintains a centralized database of United States animal sheltering data, for the year 2023 to investigate what shelter and animal variables, including the timing of its sterilization surgery, affect dog and cat lengths of stay. Our analysis showed significant relationships between sterilization surgery timing and days in the shelter, such that adopted dogs and those that were transferred out for placement had the shortest lengths of stay when sterilized post-outcome, while adopted and transferred cats had the shortest lengths of stay when sterilized before their arrival to the shelter. Moreover, we uncovered relationships between an animal’s length of stay and how it arrived at the shelter and the animal’s positive outcome as well as the region in which the shelter was located and the type of positive outcome it experienced. In all, we found associations between sterilization surgery and length of stay, in addition to impacts of intake type and geographic region, that suggest the timing of this procedure could impact animal welfare and organizational resources, and warrants further investigation.