The influence of length of time in a rescue shelter on the behaviour of kennelled dogs
Open accessAbstract
Animal rescue shelters provide temporary housing for thousands of stray and abandoned dogs every year. Many of these animals fail to find new homes and are forced to spend long periods of time in kennels. This study examined the influence of the length of time spent in a rescue shelter (<1 month, 2-12 months, 1-5 years, >5 years) on the behaviour of 97 dogs. The dogs ‘ position in their kennels (front, back), their activity (moving, standing, sitting, resting, sleeping), and their vocalisation (barking, quiet, other) were recorded over a 4 h period at 10 min intervals. The dogs’ behaviour was significantly related to the length of time the animals had spent in the rescue shelter. Dogs housed in the shelter for over five years spent more of their time at the back of their kennels, more time resting, and less time barking than dogs housed in the shelter for shorter periods of time. The age of the dog could not account for the significant results found, suggesting that environmental factors were responsible for the change in the dogs’ behaviour. The findings suggest that lengthy periods of time spent in a captive environment may encourage dogs to behave in a manner that is generally considered unattractive by potential buyers. This may decrease the chances of such dogs being adopted, resulting in longer periods of time spent in the kennel environment and the possible development of further undesirable behaviours.
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Displays of excessive arousal can be undesirable to potential adopters, resulting in an increased length of stay in the animal shelter.
“Further, displays of excessive arousal (e.g., vocalizations, repetitive movement back-and-forth) can also be undesirable to potential adopters, resulting in an increased length of stay in the animal shelter (17–19).”
From Combined enrichment and pharmaceutical intervention reduces excessive arousal in shelter dogs in a randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
The Animal welfare implications section says that behaviours unattractive to potential adopters may reduce dogs’ chances of adoption, and the paper links this to longer kennel stays. It does not identify excessive arousal or repetitive back-and-forth movement as those behaviours: it reports no stereotypies, and the Discussion says dogs staying longer barked less, not more. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMost studies evaluating the effect of length of time on the behavior of dogs in rescue shelters concluded that environmental factors led to changes in the behavior of dogs and that a prolonged period in a shelter may lead to unattractive behavior of dogs to potential owners.
“Most of them concluded that environmental factors led to changes in the behavior of dogs and that a prolonged period in a shelter may lead to unattractive behavior of dogs to potential owners.”
From Increasing adoption rates at animal shelters: a two-phase approach to predict length of stay and optimal shelter allocation (2021) · cites this paper as [25]
Persistent behaviors may be redirected toward inanimate objects and people, and may escalate to aggressive-like behaviors, posing a risk to animal and human safety and increasing risk of euthanasia.
“Persistent behaviors may be redirected toward inanimate objects (e.g., destructive chewing of toys, beds) and people (e.g., nipping, mouthing), and may escalate to aggressive-like behaviors (snapping, biting) (13), posing a risk to animal and human safety, increasing risk of euthanasia (17–19).”
From Combined enrichment and pharmaceutical intervention reduces excessive arousal in shelter dogs in a randomized controlled trial (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
The citation to this paper is attached to the proposed redirection and escalation of persistent behaviours, not to the later safety and euthanasia claims, which have separate citations. The Procedure section records activity and vocalisation, while the Animal welfare implications section says no dogs were observed exhibiting abnormal behaviours such as stereotypies or self-mutilation. Searches for chewing, nipping, mouthing, snapping and biting found no passage addressing the proposed progression. (LLM, conf=0.75)
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Cites
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Research works printed but not linked: 7
- Fox M W 1968 Abnormal Behavior in Animals. W B Saunders: Philadelphia, USA
- Howell D C 1992 Statistical Methods for Psychology. Duxbury Press: California, USA
- Martin P and Bateson P 1986 Measuring Behaviour. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK
- W B Saunders: Phildelphia, USA
- Morris D 1964 The responses of animals to a restricted environment. Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 13: 99-118
- Solarz A K 1970 Behaviour. In: Anderson A C (ed) The Beagle as an Experimental Animal pp 453-468. Iowa State University Press: Ames, USA
- Wells D L 1996 The welfare of dogs in an animal rescue shelter. PhD Thesis. School of Psychology, The Queen's University of Belfast, UK
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Characteristics and welfare of long-term shelter dogs
Raudies, C., Waiblinger, S., & Arhant, C. (2021) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani11010194 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Bradley, J., & Rajendran, S. (2021) · BMC Veterinary Research · doi:10.1186/s12917-020-02728-2 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Cisneros, A., O’Hanley, K., Moody, C. M., & Stellato, A. C. (2026) · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · doi:10.3389/fvets.2026.1931203
- Authors
- Wells, D. L., Graham, L., & Hepper, P. G.
- Affiliations
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wells, D L
- ORCID
- Wells, D L
- Venue
- Animal Welfare
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2002-08
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 317-325
- ISSN
- 0962-7286 (ISSN-L)
- 2054-1538
- OpenAlex
- W4315698407
- Cited by
- 70
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Animal Welfare (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Dogs Trust
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Veterinary Orthopedics and Neurology
- Keywords
- dog behavior, resting behavior, barking, vocalizations, stray dogs, abandoned dogs, dog adoption
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