Today I received my fifth response for my questionnaire. This is one of the main respondents I was eager to receive, as it is the Founder of the Canine Rehabilitation Centre and Sanctuary (CRCS). Her correspondance is fundamental, as her organisation is a rehabiitation facility for traumatised shelter dogs.
Q1: What is your occupation?
Founder, Executive Director- Canine Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary
Q2: How do you believe current dog shelter designs affect dog behaviour - Positively / Negatively / No affect? Please state your reason for your choice.
Shelter designs absolutely affect canine behavior. Without question. Most shelter designs affect canine behavior in a negative way. The designs tend to cater around very important factors such as controlling the spread of disease, the need to clean easily, and the need to maximize space for a high volume of dogs coming in and out among other things. However, these designs tend to create a very high stress environment for the dogs.
Q3: Do you believe that if given the right environment to rehabilitate, more dogs would be less 'aggressive' in shelters, and have the chance of becoming more adoptable?
The word "aggressive" is used incorrectly in this question. This question is insinuating that shelter dogs are aggressive and/or a majority of shelter dogs show aggression. This is not the case at all. Some dogs will show what we call "barrier aggression" in shelter environments. However, this is not true aggression (as in aggressive towards people or dogs) and is frequently misread and misstated just as it is here. Dogs are like people; their behavior can change depending on the environment you place them in. Put a social dog in a doggy day care and they are happy as a clam. Put a fearful or independent dog in a doggy daycare and you will see a major shift in behavior.
Q4: How would you describe an 'ideal' environment for dog rehabilitation? What key elements would it have?
It depends on the dog and what type of help they are needing. Rehabilitation and recovery mean something different for different personalities, different circumstances, different rehabilitation needs, and different breeds. There is no one ideal environment for every dog. Ideally, there would be a combination of environments that cater to specific needs. Some dogs like to see what is going on and have an open interactive atmosphere, others prefer a safe den feel and are much quieter when they feel safe and away from busy activity. Some dogs like space and the ability to move, others would feel vulnerable and fearful if thrown in a big room with lots of space. True rehabilitation requires a variety of environments for a variety of needs.
Q5: What do you believe are the best methods for dog rehabilitation?
This question does not make sense. There is no "method" for rehabilitation. There is physical rehabilitation and mental rehabilitation. Two very different things. True rehabilitation of the mind requires that you know and understand canine behavior IN ADDITION to knowing how to respond to it so as to retrain the dogs brain into a new way of thinking. Punishment type methods do not provide true rehabilitation. You are only evoking fear and pain in order to manipulate behavior with these methods. If you were afraid of spiders, and yet in order to help you get over your fear of spiders you were shocked every time you saw one, your fear of them would only be confirmed. Spiders = pain. Rehabilitation is about making positive associations with things that were viewed as negative beforehand.
Q6: Alongside rehabilitation methods, to what extent do you believe architecture has a role in rehabilitation?
Extremely Important
Q7: There are numerous examples of calming architecture, designed to calm people dealing with emotional trauma. Elements of this include panoramic views with lots of natural light, sound absorption and the integration of nature / outdoors.Based on your experiences, could this concept of calming architecture have a similar outcome for troubled dogs?
You bet.
Q8: Are you aware of any Rehabilitation Centres that allow traumatised shelter dogs to recover?
Yes
Q9: If selected 'Yes' on previous question, please state the name of the Rehabilitation Centre and any additional information regarding their methods. Otherwise, please state 'N/A'.
That is what we do here at Canine Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary. We focus on shelter dogs recovering from trauma.
Q10: Do you believe there needs to be more Rehabilitation Centres of this nature?
Yes
(SurveyMonkey, 1999-2014. SurveyMonkey [online]. Available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/ [Accessed on 9th November 2014]. Published questionnaire available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7PYBVBF [Created on 9th November 2014].)