A Comparison of Four Environmental Enrichments on Adoptability of Shelter Dogs

Many animal shelters implement enrichment programs as a means of improving dogs' behavior and reducing the stress of the shelter environment. These programs, however, require significant amounts of time and money. In this study, dogs in an animal shelter received the standard environmental enhancement of twice-daily walks. One group received only the standard enhancement (walking). Three other groups also received one of three enhanced enrichment programs: a daily food-dispensing toy (toy), a daily session of standardized human contact (petting), or daily obedience training (obedience). These enrichment sessions occurred for five to seven days. The effects of these enrichments on the dogs' adoption frequency and time to adoption were evaluated. Ninety-two enrolled dogs became available for adoption; of these, 98% were adopted. There were no differences in proportions of dogs adopted or in time to adoption among enrichment groups (all P > 0.05). Overall, the enrichment programs had no effect on adoption frequency or time to adoption. However, it must be noted that most dogs (80%) were adopted by the second day of being made available for adoption (day 9).