Sleepless nights for dogs in shelters?

Every year, thousands of dogs enter animal shelters in the Netherlands. A shelter environment can be a stressful environment for dogs, despite the good care of shelter staff. This can lead to reduced welfare of the dogs. For this PhD dissertation we investigated whether and, if so, how dogs can adapt to a shelter environment and to a novel home after adoption. To study this, the resting pattern during the night (nocturnal activity) and stress hormones in urine and hair were measured. The results show that dogs in shelters had higher stress levels and higher nocturnal activity than a control group of pet dogs, especially during the first days in the shelter. The stress levels and nocturnal activity did decrease over time, but after 2 and 6 weeks in the shelter, they were still higher than in pet dogs. After adoption, the dogs had a lower stress response and lower nocturnal activity during the first days than during the first days in the shelter, but still higher than the pet dogs. The results show that dogs need to adapt to a new environment, but the shelter environment seems more challenging than a novel home environment after adoption. Individual differences were large, especially during the first days when stress levels were high. Smaller dogs had higher cortisol levels and nocturnal activity than larger dogs. Also, there is some evidence that dogs without previous kennel experience had a higher stress response in the shelter. Tracking nocturnal activity with an accelerometer on the collar, to observe (disturbed) resting patterns, proved to be a good measurement of adaptability of the dogs. This measurement can also be used in animal shelters. The results of this study can be used to improve the welfare of dogs in animal shelters and in new homes, by identifying dogs with adaptability problems and implement individual welfare management strategies.