MEETING THE WELFARE NEEDS OF SEIZED DOGS IN A KENNEL ENVIRONMENT 17
��� COMPANY
as it is safe and appropriate for the individual dog and
individual circumstances (section 4.1c is relevant here).
m) To ensure biosecurity and appropriate controlled socialisation
(see section 3.4.1), bitches with puppies and litters of puppies
must be housed in separate facilities to other adult dogs.
n) Puppies that remain in the care of enforcement bodies after
weaning should be housed with their littermates or with
other puppies of a similar age and size. They should remain
as a group unless their behaviour dictates otherwise and if
the needs of each dog can be met. For example, establishments
must ensure that the kennel is sufficiently large to allow each
dog to be able to walk, turn around and wag his/her tail
without touching the sides of the kennel, play, stand on his/
her hind limbs and lie down without touching another animal
or the sides of the kennel.
o) Puppies under 7 months of age should be housed somewhere
safe and quiet preferably away from the main kennel block.
4.2 Human company
a) Depending on past experiences, many dogs find human
company rewarding and calming. Contact with humans must
include activities such as grooming, exercise, playing, petting
and training, but at a level that is suitable for the individual dog.
b) Dogs who enjoy human contact get more benefit from
exercise if people are involved, so whenever possible such
dogs should be exercised in the presence of people (see also
section 3.1a). It is important that, when staff are interacting
with dogs, they are able to concentrate fully and so use of
mobile phones or other distractions must not be allowed.
c) All staff must strive for a positive relationship with each and
every dog and negative interactions must be avoided.
d) Staff must be able to identify a dog that is anxious or fearful
about contact with people from his/her body posture.
Photographs and videos of some of the behaviours described
above can be found at: www.bristol.ac.uk/vetscience/
services/behaviour-clinic/dogbehaviouralsigns Such dogs
should be slowly and patiently introduced to people and
rewarded for calm behaviour. During this process, and until
human contact becomes rewarding, additional enrichment
should be provided, e.g. exercise, toys and feeding devices.
e) In addition to routine care and management, wherever
possible, there needs to be sufficient adequately trained
staff available every day to carry out all the interactions and
procedures with dogs specified within this guide.
4.3 Staff training/competency
a) The establishment licence holder is responsible for ensuring
that they and their members of staff have adequate
knowledge and skills that must be kept up-to-date, so that
they can implement the guidelines in this document and
ensure the well-being of dogs in their care. The contract
holder should check this prior to the contract being agreed.