Is there hope beyond fear? Effects of social rehabilitation on unsocialised stray dogs

Unsocialised stray dogs are dogs that live freely in urban areas with limited to no direct human contact. If left free to roam, they may present a public safety problem, since they can facilitate the spread of zoonotic diseases and resort to aggressive behaviours towards humans. If captured, their chance of rehoming into human families is low as a consequence of their low sociability towards humans. In the present study, we aimed to determine if the implementation of a rehabilitation and training program could render unsocialised stray dogs to develop the skills needed for a successful adoption. Six unsocialised stray dogs (Group Stray) and 12 socialized shelter dogs (C1: Group Control 1, n = 6; C2: Group Control 2, n = 6), housed at a shelter in Portugal, participated in the study. Stray and C2 dogs went through 40 days of social rehabilitation and 40 days of leash training protocols. The behaviour of all groups was assessed for general behaviour in the home pen (General Behaviour Assessment – GB), sociability towards humans (Sociability Test – ST) and leash behaviour (Leash Test – LT). Behaviour assessment was performed at three time-points: before any intervention (GB1, ST1), after social rehabilitation (GB2, ST2, and LT1) and after leash training (GB3, ST3, and LT2). Tests were video recorded and further analysed by different observers. The rehabilitation and training sessions were also recorded every ten days to analyse the dog’s body posture overtime. Results showed that the stray dogs’ sociability towards humans improved from ST1 to ST3. Additionally, their general behaviour in the home pen also improved: from GB1 to GB3 the strays started to be found less often at the back of their home pens in a fearful body posture and more often in the front of the home pens in a neutral body posture. Similar changes in body posture were also found during social rehabilitation sessions. As for leash behaviour, no significant changes were found between LT1 to LT2 for either group. Importantly, there was large individual variation for Group Stray, with some dogs still showing intense fear of humans by the end of the study, while others were already interacting with the shelter staff and could be walked on a leash inside the shelter facilities. Our study suggests that with appropriate training and rehabilitation, some unsocialised stray dogs have the potential to become adoptable dogs. In conclusion, there may be hope beyond fear.