About Kennel Stress

Animal shelters are very stressful and scary places for animals because of the loss of a familiar environment and all of the strange new people, scents, and sounds. When shelter staff and volunteers gain an understanding of how and why the shelter experience is so emotionally taxing for animals and learn how to implement programs to reduce their fear and stress, the results are dramatic.

Stress has been shown to deplete the immune system increasing the odds of physical illness. Reducing stress and anxiety helps to prevent illness and reduces the cost of veterinary care. Emotionally healthy animals are happier and get adopted more quickly.

We believe that dogs in shelters experience real psychological trauma. The Unsheltered Project exists to address the mental and emotional health of kenneled dogs with the same seriousness that human mental health is treated — through safe environments, evidence-based interventions, and trained caregivers. Behavior should never be judged without first treating the nervous system that produced it.

Chronic stress can:

  • Suppress immune function and increase susceptibility to illness

  • Hinder learning, behavior shaping, and adoptability

  • Mask a dog’s true personality with fear‑based or shutdown behavior

  • Make shelter stays emotionally harmful — particularly for dogs surrendered from homes who are suddenly isolated from familiar people and routines.

Kennel Stress Is Not Just “Bad Behavior”

Stress responses are not signs of inherent “bad behavior” — they are biological reactions to a challenging environment. Understanding this helps shift how caregivers, adopters, and the public view shelter dogs not as “broken” but as animals in need of mental health support and humane interventions.

Kennel stress isn’t just “being bored in a cage.” It’s a measurable psychological and physiological response that many dogs experience when they are confined in shelters. Research shows that shelter environments, with noisy sounds, unfamiliar routines, lack of social contact, and restricted space, can trigger stress responses similar to those seen in humans and other animals.

Stress Is Common in Shelter Dogs

  • Dogs entering a shelter environment show elevated cortisol levels, a key biological marker of stress. Cortisol naturally spikes upon admission and may remain elevated during confinement.

  • After six weeks in a shelter, cortisol levels measured in hair were found to increase by about one‑third compared to levels at intake, indicating prolonged stress exposure.

Behavioral Responses Reflect Stress

  • Stress‑related behaviors — such as lip‑licking, whining, ears back, pacing, and repetitive movements — are commonly observed in dogs housed alone in kennels.

  • Dogs housed with another compatible dog exhibited fewer stress behaviors and even shorter shelter stays — suggesting social isolation in kennels contributes significantly to distress.

Effects on Rest & Recovery

  • Studies show that dogs in shelters sleep less than dogs in homes due to surrounding noise and disruption.

  • Short‑term interventions like sleepovers (1–2 nights in a home environment) temporarily reduce cortisol levels and increase restful behavior, underscoring how meaningful relief from kennel environments can improve welfare.