Doggy Day Outs, Field Trips & Short-Term Fosters: Reducing Stress in Shelter Dogs While Increasing Volunteers and Adoptions

Doggy day outs, “sleepovers,” and short-term fosters are gaining popularity as shelters find creative ways to give dogs a break and engage their communities. Research funded by Maddie’s Fund shows that even a single night out of the shelter significantly reduces dogs' cortisol levels. A 2021 study highlighted that social isolation is a major stressor for shelter dogs, and human interaction helps lower cortisol levels. A 2023 research study revealed that dogs on brief outings are 5 times more likely to be adopted than euthanized, and those in temporary foster care are 14 times more likely to be adopted. 

Ready to start or enhance your doggy day out program? Here are some things to consider.

Impacts of Short Outings 

As shelters face longer stays and a lack of long-term fosters, short outings can help:

• Reduce Stress: Short trips relieve stress for both dogs and staff, often leading to longer-term fosters or adoptions. While less effective than short-term fosters, they still provide benefits.
• Increase Adoptions and Volunteers: Low-commitment opportunities boost community engagement, attract new volunteers, and expand your network, ultimately inspiring more people to foster and adopt.
• Enhance Adoption Profiles: Outings provide insights into a dog’s behavior and yield photos and videos that better capture their personality, improving adoption profiles and matchmaking.
• Free Up Staff: Allow staff to focus on other animals while a dog is out.

At the ASPCA’s Adoption Center in New York City, Doggy Day Outs started as local park outings or a few hours snoozing in a volunteer’s apartment. After the program caught on, volunteers began taking dogs for overnights and weekends. “An open-ended foster period can be intimidating for people, Doggy Day Outs let people take a test drive, and more often than not, we’ve found people gain the confidence to try out short-term foster in no time at all,” says Abby DeMillo, Manager of Volunteer Engagement at the ASPCA Adoption.

Get Started & Keep It Simple

Starting a doggy day out program doesn’t have to be resource intensive. Start small with these tips:

• Create a Program Identity: Develop creative marketing to engage and motivate participants.
• Identify Your Audience: Decide if you’ll involve a few dedicated volunteers or open it to the public, based on your organization’s comfort with risk.
• Explain the Impact: Help participants understand how their involvement makes a difference.
• Communicate Clearly: Inform volunteers about the supplies and support they’ll receive so they know what to expect. 
• Simplify Sign-Ups: Create an easy system for scheduling outings or sleepovers.
• Encourage Sharing: Provide easy ways for volunteers to share their experiences, photos, and videos with shelter staff. Plus, include easy ways volunteers can help promote dogs and the program.
• Celebrate Successes: Highlight adoptions resulting from the program to keep volunteers motivated (and attract new participants).

Most dogs at the ASPCA’s Adoption Center are available for Doggy Day Outs, but the program has been critical to support long-stay dogs, especially those that experience high levels of stress at the shelter. Targeted pleas for specific dogs have led to improved outcomes for dogs that were at risk for behavioral deterioration. Download the short-term outing plea template.

They Did It & So Can You

Check out how various municipal animal shelters are implementing doggy day out programs and sharing their tips and toolkits to help you build your own program.

• New York City Animal Care Centers — NY ACC’s Borough Breaks and Straycations program offers shelter dogs a day out with catchy marketing. They’ve thoughtfully balanced reducing barriers for more outings and volunteers with avoiding staff overload and ensuring dogs remain available for adoption. The Borough Breaks Guidelines clearly outline expectations, emergency contacts, guidance for potential adopters, and volunteer agreements, with a more comprehensive outline in their waiver. To enhance the experience, they’ve also created a fun bingo game with prizes like branded swag and fee-waived adoption gift certificates. They also ask volunteers to complete a report card, also available as a Google Form. NY ACC is very happy with the high-quality content shared by volunteers to create top-performing social media. Check out these inspiring posts that both promote the program and get dogs adopted: 
  • Grimaldi: Adopted after waiting 90+ days!
  • Zeusy’s Adventures in the City
  • Martin’s Tie into National Walking Day
• Minneapolis Animal Care and Control—Community members apply online, complete a less-than-15-minute Fido Field Trip online training, and sign up on the MACC website. Then, they provide details about themselves, any other people who will join the outing, their planned activities with the dog, and their dog experienceto help match them with a shelter dog. Staff then pair them with a suitable dog, review agreements and emergency numbers, and provide a small backpack with equipment. After the outing, volunteers fill out a Field Trip Questionnaire with feedback on the dog’s likes and dislikes and ways to both send photos and videos and post them using MACC hashtags.

Overall, getting dogs out of the shelter environment through short-term outings offers crucial benefits. This approach not only enriches the dogs’ lives but also boosts adoption rates. Have a doggy day out program you’re proud of? Share what you’re doing and how it benefits the dogs in your care in our Dog Resources for Shelters and Rescues Facebook Group.

Resources & Downloads

• Doggy Day Out Starter Guide
• NY ACC Downloads
• Volunteer Plea template
• Adoption promotion business card template: front & back