{"id":51422,"date":"2025-01-08T11:21:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T15:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=51422"},"modified":"2025-01-08T11:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T15:21:28","slug":"dartmouth-spca-starting-operation-hit-snooze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=51422","title":{"rendered":"Dartmouth SPCA starting Operation Hit Snooze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Pilot program begins at largest SPCA shelter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

in N.S.<\/em><\/strong> before it rolls out province-wide<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DARTMOUTH:<\/strong> What do you listen to when you need a rest? Do you play ambient noise? ASMR? A podcast? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer for the dogs at the Nova Scotia SPCA is a rotation of classical music, reggae music, and audiobooks \u2013 a bonus if the protagonist is a dog.\u00a0
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This week the Nova Scotia SPCA<\/a> launched a pilot program in the Dartmouth shelter called Operation Hit Snooze<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 11 a.m. until noon each day, the lights in the dog rooms will be dimmed, while music or an audiobook plays, giving the dogs space for a rest. No interruptions for walks, meeting potential adopters, or playtime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A dog is having a nap. (N.S. SPCA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s an important step in reducing the length of stay in shelter. \u00a0
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\u201cResearch has shown that shelter dogs who get rest during the day become better suited to their environment,” said Sandra Flemming, Chief of Capital Planning & Senior Operations Advisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The day rest (nap time) helps the dogs display signs of calmer behaviour, making meeting potential adopters a more positive experience for all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well-rested dogs are more alert and responsive, their immune system gets a boost, and like humans, helps their mood regulation, said Dr. Mike Ackerley, DVM Tartan Tails Vet Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sleep benefits dogs in many ways including physical health by allowing muscles time to recover from activity, mental rest, helping to consolidate memories and refresh cognitive functions,\u201d Dr. Ackerley said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ackerley says that on average dogs should sleep 12-14 hours a day, but that will depend on factors such as age, breed, and overall health. Puppies and senior dogs often reach 18 hours a day. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shelters are workplaces with staff, volunteers, adopters, and many other animals. After a busy morning, this designated rest time will mean they are refreshed and ready to meet their future family. T<\/p>\n\n\n\n

he Dartmouth staff are monitoring how the dogs react to their nap time, with a plan to make any changes before rolling it out to all the other shelters in the province. \u00a0
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The Nova Scotia SPCA appreciates potential adopters’ excitement about meeting a dog and everyone’s patience in respecting this downtime during open hours. \u00a0
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As part of this pilot, another enrichment activity to improve the lives of animals in our care will be music played before and after nap time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nova Scotians can donate to help make Operation Hit Snooze<\/em> successful and rolled out to all locations, at www.novascotiaspca.ca\/hitsnooze\/<\/a>. Supporters will receive a playlist so they can nap along with our SPCA dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[adrotate banner=”169″] [adrotate banner=”126″] Pilot program begins at largest SPCA shelter in N.S. before it rolls out province-wide DARTMOUTH: What do you listen to when you need a rest? Do you play ambient noise? ASMR? A podcast? The answer for the dogs at the Nova Scotia SPCA is a rotation of classical music, reggae music, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[7576,50,121,48,1260,7577],"class_list":["post-51422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-doggie-nap-times","tag-halifax","tag-hrm","tag-n-s","tag-n-s-spca","tag-operation-hit-snooze"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}