Shelter and Rescue can be difficult environments for workers and the animals in their care. This podcast, hosted by Tom Candy BSc (Hons) MSC CCAB, CSBS, CDBC. Brings together some of the leaders in the field of animal behaviour to discuss practical tips and tricks that can be utilised by shelter workers, volunteers or anyone with an interest in animal sheltering or rescue. The podcast aims to bring high quality education, to improve behaviour and welfare of animal using up to date thinking and methodologies.
Ep. 70 Do Shelter Dogs Deserve Less Behaviour Support with Amy Fitzsimmons
This week Tom is joined by Amy Fitzsimmons from Dog Possible Austin for a really practical chat about life for dogs in shelters. Amy brings along plenty of real dogs she has worked with, and it's their stories that shape the whole conversation, showing how small, simple changes can make a big difference to how a dog copes in kennels.
Tom and Amy talk about getting more out of the time dogs spend with staff and volunteers, why every dog doesn't need the same thing, and how slowing down can actually be better for both the dog and the person holding the lead. They also chat about the social side of shelter dogs, and why there is so much more to it than whether or not a dog can go to playgroup.
Along the way they touch on shelter culture, being open to change, and why trying the easy things first often makes the most sense. If you've ever felt there just isn't enough time in the day, this episode is full of ideas you can try tomorrow.
To find out more about Amy's work, visit dogpossibleaustin.com or follow @dogpossible on Instagram.
About Amy
Amy is a Certified Behavior Consultant Canine (CBCC-KA) through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (https://www.ccpdt.org/) and a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) and Certified in Shelter Behavior (CSB-D) through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (https://m.iaabc.org/).
She is also a Fear Free Certified Trainer (https://fearfreepets.com/) (FFCT), a Pet Professional Guild Canine Training Professional (https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/), and holds several certificates in ethology, animal learning, and behavior from the Ethology Institute (https://ethology.eu/). Prior to transitioning to dog training and behavior modification full-time, Amy was a long time public educator, working in at-risk early childhood education and serving as a teen and family crisis mentor.
Her passion for providing humane, effective behavior modification and improving quality of life for dogs in homes and in shelters has only grown during well over a decade in the field. She also loves getting to work with the amazing humans who share that passion, whether for their own dogs or dogs they’re trying to help find their way home.
Amy is dog mom to elder muppet/luckdragon mix Monkey and honorary house coyote Socks!
9 Sept 2026
Owner benefits, expectations and relinquishment, what does it mean for us?
In this episode, we're joined by researcher Lauren Powell, whose work looks at why people get pets, what they expect from them, and why so many end up back in shelters. The conversation moves through four threads: the genuine benefits pets bring to our lives, the gap between what new owners expect and what actually happens, how that gap drives relinquishment, and the specific behaviour problems that push cat owners to give up their pets.
A recurring theme in Powell's research is that people go into pet ownership more optimistic than the evidence supports. Her 2018 study of nearly 3,500 prospective dog adopters in Australia found that almost everyone expected big upsides: 89% expected more happiness, 89% expected more walking, and 74% expected less stress. Fewer people anticipated the costs, with only half expecting behaviour problems and just 64% expecting more responsibility. The counterintuitive finding is that experience didn't make people more realistic, it made them more optimistic. Current owners were less than half as likely as people who'd never owned a dog to expect increased responsibility or training difficulty. Ironically, the group with no ownership history at all turned out to have the most accurate expectations of anyone.
This matters because that gap between expectation and reality is one of the quiet drivers behind relinquishment. Powell's paper opens by citing relinquishment and euthanasia figures to make the stakes clear, and a related Dogs Trust study by Holland and colleagues backs this up: potential owners consistently reported more aspirational motivations for getting a dog than current owners did, describing companionship, health benefits and helping a dog in need at far higher rates than people already living with the reality. The takeaway Powell and her colleagues push for is straightforward: prospective owners need honest education about the day-to-day demands of pet ownership, regardless of how much prior experience they have, because that experience doesn't appear to inoculate people against unrealistic expectations.
Taken together, Powell's research paints a picture of relinquishment less as a story about difficult animals and more as a story about mismatched expectations set long before the pet arrives home, and the practical, unglamorous fix is better information given earlier.
About Dr. Lauren Powell
Dr. Lauren Powell is an Assistant Professor in Animal Welfare & Behavior and the Director of the Powell laboratory. She also serves as a faculty member for the Master of Science in Animal Welfare & Behavior program and an elected board member for the International Society for Anthrozoology. Dr. Powell received a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience (First Class Honors) and a PhD of Public Health from the University of Sydney.
https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/research-laboratories/powell-laboratory/ (https://www.vet.upenn.edu/research/research-laboratories/powell-laboratory/)https://www.vet.upenn.edu/directory/lauren-powell/ (https://www.vet.upenn.edu/directory/lauren-powell/)https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-powell-a29448142/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-powell-a29448142/)
26 Aug 2026
Ep. 68 One Welfare Approach to Support Shelter Animals
About This Episode
In this episode, we're chatting with Dr. Ly about animal welfare and how research into one welfare, is changing how we think about supporting animals. We dig into the reasons why animals end up needing care, what affects whether owners can reclaim them, and the real challenges faced by caregivers looking after them. Understanding how we support owners over and above relinquishment is, in my opinion, essential to the future of our industry and I loved getting Dr Ly's view on things!
About Dr Ly
Lexis’ research focuses on ways we can use data to support One Welfare principles in animal shelters and multispecies communities. Her work supports efforts to support vulnerable human-animal bonds, help animal shelter services provide equitable services, and reduce intake to shelters. Current areas of research interest include owner relinquishment, self-rehoming, pet adoption processes, links between human and animal vulnerability, community-based support services, and access to pet care.
Lexis also has a strong interest in teaching and pedagogy. She has been a teaching assistant or co-instructor for numerous classes in the program and facilitated workshops about pedagogy for graduate students. She was honoured with the Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in 2025.
Who has been a guest on Simplifying Shelter Behaviour
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Lawrence Minnis
Kim Palermo
Sarah Ellis
Vicky Halls
Dr Lisa Gunter
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8 ratings
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23 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 53 / 100
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