Maddie’s Insights: Benefits of Pair-Housing Dogs on Welfare Measures and Length of Stay - On Demand
Recorded On: 01/09/2025
-
Enroll
- All Users - Free!
Maddie's® Insights is our ongoing webcast series with practical tips based on current research to help pets and people.
Presenter: Erica Feuerbacher, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech and Director, Applied Behavior & Welfare Lab
Program Description:
Dogs are often housed alone in shelter settings to reduce injury and disease spread. However, social isolation can be a stressor for dogs. Most prior studies have focused on laboratory dogs or shelter dogs that have been kenneled for several months. Thus, those results might not necessarily generalize to shelter dogs, many of which have shorter lengths of stay than those dogs studied to date and might be cohoused soon after intake.
The presenter and her team investigated the behavioral and physiological effects of single- or pair-housing shelter dogs, most of which had recently entered the shelter, as well as the impact of pair-housing on length of stay. In this talk, Dr. Feuerbacher will review the literature on co-housing dogs, go into detail on her study methods and results, and discuss the benefits and practical considerations of pair-housing dogs.
Attendees will learn to:
1. Identify behavioral and physiological benefits of pair housing
2. Identify adoption benefits of pair housing
3. Understand the requirements to consider using pair housing safely
Earn continuing education credit from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement towards 1.0 CAWA CEs. This webinar has also been pre-approved for 1.0 continuing education credits by the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA). It has also been approved for 1 hour of continuing education credit between 12/6/24 - 12/6/26 in jurisdictions which recognize RACE approval. Complete the quiz to earn continuing education credit.
Visit Maddie's Pet Forum to comment, follow a discussion or ask questions: https://maddies.fund/MIwebcast...
keywords Maddie's Insights, Erica N. Feuerbacher, pair-housing shelter dogs, co-housing shelter dogs, adoption benefits of pair housing
Erica N. Feuerbacher, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Animal Sciences, Virginia Tech
Dr. Erica Feuerbacher is an Associate Professor in the School of Animal Sciences at Virginia Tech and director of the Applied Animal Behavior & Welfare Lab, where she focuses her research on dogs and horses. She also coordinates the online Master’s degree program in Applied Animal Behavior & Welfare at Virginia Tech. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Florida and her Master’s in Behavior Analysis at the University of North. She is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Her research focuses on understanding domestic animal behavior and learning from a behavior analytic perspective, using applied animal behavior to solve behavioral issues in dogs and horses, and identifying interventions that improve shelter dog welfare. She has published her research in a variety of scientific journals and has won awards for her research and teaching. She is passionate about humane, effective animal training, and working with owners, trainers, and shelter staff to improve our interactions with animals.
Key:
Complete
Next
Failed
Available
Locked
Search this site