LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — Spring officially arrived in Lynchburg last Friday, and if you happen to be near the square on a Wednesday afternoon, you may notice it in a particular way: a loose parade of dogs and volunteers, making their rounds through town.

That’s Walk About Wednesdays, a new program launched by Friends of Animals Rescue & Adoption Center — and according to director Christy Eskew, the results have been immediate.

“The last two Wednesdays have been amazing,” Eskew said. “Every one of our dogs got out of the facility, and they are absolutely loving it.”

The program is simple in design. Volunteers who have completed a volunteer application come in each Wednesday to take the shelter’s dogs to the park and around the square — a couple of hours of leash time, fresh air, and human interaction. For dogs that spend the majority of their days in kennel housing, those hours matter more than they might seem.

Kennel life can be rough

Animal welfare researchers have documented for years what shelter staff tend to know firsthand: kennel life is hard on dogs, and the longer it continues, the harder it gets.

When confined in a shelter, dogs can suffer from chronic anxiety, social isolation, inadequate mental stimulation, and lack of exercise — all of which adversely affect their physical and emotional health, both in the short and long term. The stress isn’t just uncomfortable. It can suppress immune function and make animals more susceptible to illnesses like kennel cough and upper respiratory infection.

There’s also a practical consequence that compounds the problem. Stress-induced behavioral problems may be viewed as undesirable by potential adopters, increasing a dog’s length of stay — and as length of stay increases, so may the impacts of chronic stress, further exacerbating problem behaviors and potentially rendering a dog less adoptable. It’s a cycle that community programs like Walk About Wednesdays are designed specifically to interrupt.

Because of shelter stress, an animal’s true personality may not come through while they’re in the shelter. A jumpy, mouthy, or barky dog in-kennel could be a calm, quiet dog once they get comfortable in a different environment. Getting dogs out — onto a sidewalk, around a square, past people going about their day — gives them a chance to be themselves in a way a kennel simply doesn’t allow.

Exercise & Socialization

The Walk About Wednesday format checks several boxes at once. Physical exercise burns off the restless energy that builds in confined dogs. The route around the square provides what animal behaviorists call socialization — exposure to people, sounds, and environments that help dogs remain comfortable in the world they’ll eventually return to as someone’s pet. And the one-on-one time with a volunteer provides something that research consistently identifies as one of the most powerful stress-reducing tools available to shelters: human interaction is a key ingredient in moderating stress responses of shelter dogs.

For volunteers, the ask is modest. Fill out an application, let Eskew know by end of day Tuesday if you’re coming so she can ensure enough volunteers and enough dogs for everyone, and show up Wednesday ready to walk. Those who have already completed an application and walked with the program before don’t need to reapply.

Friends of Animals Rescue & Adoption Center serves Moore County’s stray and abandoned animals. Residents interested in volunteering with Walk About Wednesdays or learning more about the organization can reach out through their social media pages to find the volunteer application and upcoming schedule.

The dogs will be out there. Spring is as good a reason as any to join them. If you’d like more information, reach out to Friends of Animals at 931-434-7508. •

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