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In addition to basic physical needs (such as proper nutrition and shelter), certain behavioral needs are also fundamentally important for cat and dog wellness. First and foremost, they require freedom from fear and distress, as well as the freedom to express normal behavior. Most cats and dogs do not thrive in isolation; indeed, they are social animals, and thus the opportunity for social interactions represents a basic behavioral need. They also require the ability to create different functional areas in their living environments for elimination, resting, and eating. They require consistent routines or daily patterns of care, including consistent periods of light and darkness. Other important behavioral needs include the ability to find a hiding place, to sleep without being disturbed, and to be free of chronic harassment from humans, other animals, or environmental stressors. Cats and dogs also require mental stimulation and the ability to play and exercise at will. Finally, cats need to scratch, and dogs need to chew. For cats, scratching is a normal behavior that conditions the claws, serves as a visual and scent marker, and is a means of stretching. For dogs, chewing is a normal behavior that conditions the teeth, serves as a method of investigating their environment, and can be a healthy coping strategy because it provides a ready outlet to express a normal behavior.

Most animals experience at least some degree of fear and stress at the time of admission to a shelter. The “four F's” are often used to describe common types of behaviors associated with these emotional states: they include fight, flight, fret/fidget, and freeze behaviors. When fearful and stressed, some animals will display “fight” behaviors, such as struggling, growling, snarling, hissing, biting, or lunging, in an attempt to drive away a perceived threat. Others may display “flight behaviors” such as cowering, looking away, or moving away to escape, hide, or otherwise avoid contact. Still others will display “fret or fidget” behaviors: for example, they might move restlessly, nervously lick their lips, pace or shift about. And, some will display “freeze” behaviors: they may appear tense or frozen in a helpless state. Many stressed and fearful animals display a mixture of these fight, flight, fret/fidget, and freeze behaviors.

Manifestations of normal and abnormal behavior can indicate how successfully an animal is coping with its environment. In animal shelters, behavioral expressions of fear, anxiety, stress and/or frustration commonly manifest via inhibited or withdrawal, defensive, disruptive, and/or stereotypic behavior (Hubrecht 1993; Overall 1997). Inhibited or withdrawal behavior refers to activity depression or the absence of normal behaviors (such as grooming, eating, sleeping, eliminating, stretching, greeting people, etc.). Defensive behavior involves characteristic postural and/or vocal responses (e.g. barking, growling, lunging, hissing, swatting). Disruptive behavior involves the destruction of cage contents and/or the creation of a hiding place. Repetitive pacing, pawing, jumping and spinning are examples of stereotypic behaviors. Behavioral signs of stress and related negative emotional states may manifest as active communication signals or passive behaviors. Active signals may be subtle or obvious and include vocalization (growling, hissing), visual cues (facial expression, posturing of the body, ears, and tail), scent marking (urine, feces, various glands of the skin), and overt aggression among others. Passive signs include the inability to rest or sleep, feigned sleep, poor appetite, constant hiding, the absence of grooming, activity depression (decreased play and exploratory behavior) and social withdrawal (Griffin 2006; Rochlitz et al. 1998; Wemelsfelder 2005). High‐density housing exacerbates these signs.

When cats and dogs are well adjusted and their housing and husbandry meet their behavioral needs, they display a wide variety of normal behaviors. Indeed, the best measures of emotional wellbeing and health in shelter cats and dogs are regular displays of species typical behaviors – in other words, cats should be “acting like cats” and dogs should be “acting like dogs”: sleeping comfortably, but not all the time; exploring and playing at will; eating and eliminating normally; scratching or chewing; stretching and grooming; relaxing; seeking and receiving social contact – behaviors that, when displayed regularly and appropriately, indicate positive emotional states and good health.

Proper housing and enrichment, including social companionship, physical exercise, mental stimulation, and positive training, combined with a positive emotional environment are essential components of a comprehensive behavioral wellness program (see Table 2.2). Understanding the importance of minimizing stress and other negative emotional states and recognizing and responding to them are keys to maintaining proper behavioral welfare. Active daily monitoring by staff who are trained to recognize indicators of stress, fear, anxiety, and frustration is required to detect and respond to the needs of animals that are displaying these indicators. Some indicators that an animal needs additional attention include persistent hiding, agonistic behavior with conspecifics, activity withdrawal, or other markers as previously described. Staff should record their findings daily to ensure timely and appropriate steps are taken to decrease stress and enhance the animal's ability to cope in the shelter environment. Though subjective, staff should also attempt to estimate the severity of stress and note trends: What is the animal's emotional state? Is the animal acclimating to the environment? Assessment of the incidence and prevalence of stress and other negative emotional states among the population serves to measure the effects of the shelter's animal care protocols and establish important baselines to help measure the impact of changes in housing and stress reduction programs. In order to help shelters succeed at reducing stress and bolstering the emotional health of shelter animals, the Fear Free Shelter Program (https://fearfreeshelters.com) offers no‐cost, high‐quality, online course training and resources for shelter staff and volunteers on recognizing signs of fear, anxiety, stress and frustration in shelter animals and creating a positive emotional environment, including recommendations for Fear Free handling, housing, behavioral care, monitoring, and more.