Behavior Deployment

St.Croix: November - December, 2017:

St. Croix, the largest island in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea was damaged severely by two category five hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017.  Fallen trees, signs, electrical outage, roof damage, and complete destruction of wooden houses, went hand in hand with displaced animals who were either separated from their owners, surrendered by their owners, needed to be housed for their owners, or strays who had no owners at all.  

To care for these animals, a make shift shelter with a temporary metal roof stacked with crates, a dedicated play area with kid pool, stables, and pig pens was created in Christiansted and refuge for dogs (~382), cats, horses, and pigs.  The area was divided into sections and pods to help organize the influx of animals into species and special needs.  An isolation pod housed and treated sick dogs and cats.  Cards were added to crates to identify the animal by name and number (reflecting their order of intake), their individual behavioral precautions (i.e., handling sensitivity, aggressive, food guarding, bite propensity), and special medical considerations (swollen ear, blind eye, cherry eye, ringworm).  For examples: a) Stevie: Blind in one eye, extremely sensitive (especially around nose), touched treat and hid back in crate.  Would not take treat from hand, and b) Henna: Slow to approach and make friends. Takes treat from hand but then moves back to crate.

Days were organized to include behavior assessments, drive-bys, exercise/walks, handling, relaxation, socialization, and enrichment.  Dogs underwent behavioral evaluations to help determine their behavioral profile, sociability, and adoptability.  Behavior assessments using a variation of SAFER were conducted by a handler and an observer, and could take approximately 30 minutes (from crate to crate).  The dog was put through a series of situations and their behavior noted when: dragging a leash, recalled, being touched and handled, playing tag, in possession of food and chew, verbally scolded, and interacting with another dog.  

Drive- bys was the term used to describe walking through the pods and tossing treats into the crates.  This helped exposed the animals to positive experiences with people, and the current environment, which was stressful and highly atypical.  A behavior clipboard was used to help record and communicate observations regarding the state of the animal, the type of care required, and whether there was improvement or degradation developing.  Behavioral measures included whether the animal came to the front or stayed in the back of the crate, and their body posture while in the crate (hunched, low tail wag, tucked tail, tapping feet). Whether they accepted or refused a treat by hand, or took a treat and then recoiled, and whether they used a soft a hard mouth.  Whether a dog guarded their food and whether there was food aggression between neighboring dogs.  Food preferences.  Food refusal.  Sit for a treat.  Social. Gentle. Active.  Inactive.   Very slow to approach food or visitor.  No appetite.  Voracious appetite.  Territorial.  Handler specific. 

Walks twice a day (am/pm) provided adult dogs with exercise and human contact, in addition to helping them keep their crates clean and learning how to walk on a leash.  Dogs were labelled as House Trained (NOT Housebroken), and a walk chart was used to communicate whether the dog had been walked.  The list with house trained dogs would be charted on the kennel door paper work.  Sometimes an animal would be better with one handler over another.  Pushing or pulling animals out of their kennels/crates was discouraged., and replaced with luring with a toy or food.  Play groups and play dates were created and helped dogs and puppies socialize with their conspecifics, burn off some energy, and practice their canine social skills.  Regular human handling of frightened puppies encouraged long term benefits in human interactions.  

Adding and rotating enrichment toys to crates kept them novel and the animal engaged.  Treats for adults included hard boiled eggs, knuckle bones, chews, bacon, and cheese puffs.  Treat were also used to lure animals from and back into their kennels, and toys to help re-direct the animals attention away from stimulating triggers onto quiet stress reducing activities.  Cats were encouraged to relax, and the pigs were offered rooting opportunities. 

Each animals’ Quality of life (QOL) was of the utmost concern and evaluated to determine the best course of action for that individual.  Does the animal stay at the back of the cage?  Could the animal be touched?  Was the animal aggressive?  Was the animal ill?  Creating a QOL list including animals for transport to US adoption centers and those slated for euthanasia was a difficult necessity.  

Some of the dogs I was priviledged to meet:  Caine, Henna, Ara, Indra, Rottie, Stormy, Sir Jeremy, Sir Jonah, Amber, Sunny and Cher, Potato, Clarice, Lady, Kevin, Beyonce, Gentle man, Jonathan, Little Taz, Sharpie,Callie, Daisy, Monkey, Mario, Guru, Elvis, Charleston, Canelo, Belly, HawkEye, Chewy, Lily, Indra, Scooby, Stanley, Kestrel, Mermaid, Stingray, Barracuda, Maco, Ava, Ariel, Natasha, Zion, Monday, Josh, Bella, Benji, Leah, Pharoah, Queen, Fergi, Priscilla, Henry, Cheese, Fabio, Brodie, Spot, Mama bear, Hank, Red, Buddha, Bubba Gump, Peanut, Olive Oil, Nala, Mickey, Scooby, Amber, Dandelion, Mayo, Ava, Blue, Jewels, Benji, Pumpkin, CArny, Thunder, Sable, Iso, Turtle, Canelo, Batman, Robin...