Maddies Insights: Benefits of Pair-Housing Dogs on Welfare Measures and Length of Stay - Live

Course overview

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 co-housed soon after intake. We 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, we will review the literature on cohousing dogs, go into detail on our study methods and results, and discuss the benefits of pair-housing dogs, as well as practical considerations for pair-housing dogs.