Stray Hearts Animal Shelter: Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The importance of daily enrichment for our shelter dogs is difficult to overstate. Beyond the basics of food and water, physical/mental enrichment is just as essential as proper nutrition and medical care, especially for those confined to a shelter where the unfamiliar sights, smells, and sounds, can cause fear and anxiety.
Our grant from the Petfinder Foundation allows us to mitigate these impacts by providing the necessary toys, puzzles, and training tools to stimulate the animal’s overall wellbeing. This is especially important at SH because most of our shelter dogs are strays who are undersocialized and unaccustomed to being on a leash, let alone penned in. Daily enrichment is a dire need for these animals, keeping their mental and emotional health stable while they await spay/neuter procedures and, hopefully, adoption.
How many pets did this grant help?
200 dogs
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
The photos show one of our adoptable dogs, Pumpkin Spice Latte, engaging with her JW Pet Ho-lee Roller ball. We purchased several of these from Chewy through the Petfinder Foundation enrichment grant. The Hol-ee Roller provides dissection simulation for dogs.
As you can see in the photos, we’ve inserted rolled up pieces of newspaper into the holes of the ball. The newspaper has treats rolled up inside. The dog then has to pull out the pieces of newspaper, simulating dissection of a carcass, and then tear and shred the paper to get to the food hidden inside. Not only does this activity provide an outlet for natural canine behavior (dissection), it also serves as a self-soothing activity.
Pumpkin Spice Latte is a high-energy, high-drive American pit bull terrier mix. She is also reactive towards other dogs, and her stress levels increase when she sees or is around other dogs. So it’s very important for her welfare that we’re able to provide her with enrichment activities in her kennel, which is a safe space for her away from the other dogs. The Hol-ee Roller is easy for volunteers and staff to put together and gives her an opportunity to use her brain and engage in a species-specific behavior.
We’ve noticed a decrease in Pumpkin Spice Latte’s stress and anxiety when she has daily enrichments, and she can often be found dozing off on her cot after finishing up with her Hol-ee Roller.
