Fearful Shelter Dogs Benefit From Early Start to Treatment
When fearful and reactive dogs are admitted to shelters, it’s best to start desensitization and counterconditioning right away, study finds.
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When fearful dogs come in to a shelter, is it better to start behaviour modification early or should the dogs have a few weeks to settle in first? New research from the ASPCA finds that it’s best to start behaviour modification right away, if possible.
The research, published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, examined the question because arriving a shelter is stressful for a dog. They are in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people, missing the family that has just had to surrender them, and missing home comforts like a settee to lounge on. As well, the kennel environment is often noisy and there are unfamiliar smells of other dogs and of the cleaning materials.
Because of this, some shelters give fearful dogs time to settle in and get used to the shelter environment before starting behaviour modification to help them to become less afraid. So this research has important practical implications.
Bailey Eagan PhD, Director of Research at the ASPCA and co-author of the research, told me,
"Our research on the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center program suggests that structured treatment can prove highly effective in reducing fear and improving the lives of shelter dogs. In our study, 86% of dogs completed the program and entered adoptive homes, despite showing such high levels of fear on intake that they were considered unadoptable.
“By controlling when treatment sessions began, we were able to determine that the use of behavior modification protocols, rather than time or enrichment alone, drove behavioral progress.
“Importantly, compared to dogs who were given time to “settle in,” dogs who started treatment sooner showed faster reductions in fear; therefore, if shelter resources allow, starting behavior modification as soon as possible is likely the most efficient path to improved welfare."
How they did the study on fearful shelter dogs
Previous research had shown that a behaviour modification plan based on desensitization and counterconditioning is very effective at treating fears in dogs admitted to shelter (Collins et al, 2022). The new study re-analyzes some of that data to find out whether getting used to the shelter environment plays a role in improving fears, or if it’s just behaviour modification that makes a difference.
More than 370 dogs took part at the ASPCA’s New Jersey and North Carolina Behavioural Rehabilitation Centres. The dogs were healthy but had moderate or severe fears which meant that they were not adoptable. Dogs with aggression, resource guarding, or separation anxiety were excluded from the study.
Most of the dogs were adults (age 1-7) with some juveniles (5-11 months) and seniors (over 7). The dogs were originally from other shelters, foster homes, or from cruelty cases including hoarding, neglect, and puppy mills. Dogs were brought to one of the two centres after being accepted into the program.
After a 3 day settling in period, the dogs were randomly assigned to start treatment either right away or after a delay of 2 or 4 weeks.
The shelter’s treatment protocol for fearful dogs
The dogs had a regimen of environmental enrichment 4 times a day. At lunch, they had an hour of rest called Zen Time. This began with staff playing a recording of household noises, then handing out chews or other edible enrichment items before turning the lights down and leaving the area.
The behaviour modification took 15 mins a day, 5 days a week. The protocols aimed to get the dogs used to being around people, to having a leash put on and going for a walk, and to being handled. The dogs also had some training for being in a crate and in a vehicle and for coping with new things in their environment.
Both desensitization and counterconditioning and positive reinforcement were used in the treatment protocol.
For almost all of the dogs, treatment included anti-anxiety medication (fluoxetine and gabapentin). As the dogs made enough progress to get close to the time when they would be able to graduate from the program, they were gradually weaned off the medication under the guidance of a veterinary behaviourist.
The results
Dogs who were initially rated as more fearful needed to spend more time in the behaviour modification program, which is not surprising.
The treatment was very successful. Over time in the program, the dogs were rated as less fearful. For the dogs whose outcomes are known, 100% of those who graduated from the program were adopted; however, outcomes are not known for some of the dogs.
The delayed start did not affect graduation from the program or adoption rates at either location. At the New Jersey location, the dogs who had a 4 week delay before starting the program needed to spend less time in the program. But the faster progression through the program did not make up for that wait time.
As well, starting treatment right away led to a reduction in fear, which is very important from a welfare perspective.
Summary and conclusions
These results show that it was the behavioural modification program, and not a delay to allow settling in, that resulted in improvements in the dogs’ fears. So if shelters have the resources available, it’s best if they start behavioural modification for fearful dogs right away.
Because all of the dogs had a 3 day “settling in” phase on arrival, it’s not known if that affects treatment. This 3-day period is still part of the routine at the Behavioural Rehabilitation Centres.
But given the results of this study, the ASPCA now makes sure that all of the fearful dogs in these centres start treatment for their fears as soon as that 3 day period is up.
This is a valuable study that other shelters will also find interesting.
Some people may wonder if the same would apply to a fearful dog who is in a new home. While this study looked only at severely- or moderately- fearful dogs in a structured shelter program, it does seem that taking action to address the fears early on would be beneficial for dogs in homes too.
If your dog is reactive or fearful, consider speaking to your veterinarian about potential medical issues and medication, and hire a good dog trainer to help (or a veterinary behaviourist if advised by your vet). You can also find lots of tips in my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog.
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References
Collins, K., Miller, K., Zverina, L., Patterson-Kane, E., Cussen, V., & Reid, P. (2022). Behavioral rehabilitation of extremely fearful dogs: Report on the efficacy of a treatment protocol. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 254, 105689.
Collins, K., Miller, K., Eagan, B. H., Patterson-Kane, E., Rehner-Fleurant, T., Cussen, V., & Reid, P. (2025). The impact of delaying behavior rehabilitation onset on fear and outcome measures in dogs in a shelter setting. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 106743.
