New Agility Equipment Adds Enrichment for Shelter Dogs
In September 2025, Joint Animal Services launched a Dog Enrichment Program to help combat kennel stress in its shelter dogs. As dogs in the shelter spend most of their time in kennels, mental and physical stimulation are critical to maintaining their mental health. Holding true to our mission, Friends of Joint Animal Services (FoJAS) moved to support JAS in this endeavor by raising money to purchase agility equipment for the shelter’s off-leash area. Thanks to a grant from the Nisqually Indian Tribe and individual donations, FoJAS purchased a tunnel and two dog jumps to provide doggie entertainment.
Kennel stress is a grave issue for shelters. Staff and volunteers work tirelessly to stave it off in shelter dogs in hopes that someone will adopt the dogs before they decline mentally and become difficult to adopt. Kennel stress can lead to distressing behaviors such as excessive vocalizing, drooling, licking at the kennel walls, spinning, and jumping in circles, and walking through their feces. JAS designed the Dog Enrichment Program to prevent these behaviors from occurring by providing multiple forms of mental stimulation, making their shelter dogs more adoptable by reducing their stress and normalizing their behavior. The new agility equipment provides one more activity for the dogs to do.
DOG-ON-IT Parks, an Everett, Washington company, makes equipment from recycled plastic and stainless steel that will not rust, built specifically to endure outdoors. We are fortunate to have an industry leader in dog park equipment in our own backyard. Not only did DOG-ON-IT Parks guide us in making our purchases, but the company also offered a discount because of our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and our mission to support an animal shelter. We thank them for their generosity.
In addition to purchasing agility equipment, FoJAS made other purchases to spruce up the off-leash area, which sits at the back of the shelter property next to a wooded dog walking trail. Thanks to that same grant donated by the Nisqually Tribe, FoJAS erected a pergola, and purchased an outdoor supply cabinet, picnic table, ball buckets, and a pet waste station. Since having a nicer play yard for the dogs makes volunteers feel better, we assume it must make the dogs happier, too.
Shelter volunteers use both the off-leash area and the trail regularly to exercise dogs, get them out of their kennels, have fun playing, and, most importantly, show them love. From your first day volunteering at the shelter, you realize that you must accept that you cannot rescue all the animals that need rescuing. What you can do, however, is give every one of them patience, kindness, and love.
Shelter dogs return that love ten-fold. Teaching dogs to run through a tunnel and jump over jumps, all with a big happy grin on their faces, warms your heart and puts a smile on your face. That, alone, is worth all the work we do as volunteers and as members of FoJAS.
