An Evaluation of a Behaviour Assessment to Determine the Suitability of Shelter Dogs for Rehoming

Abstract

We evaluated a scheme for assessing shelter dog behaviour, which used 28 tests and rated responses from 0 (positive response) to 5 (fear, tonic immobility, or escape attempts). The assessment was evaluated for 236 dogs, and was repeated by a different assessor for 39 dogs approximately 80 days after rehoming to determine relevance of individual test components. A new owner survey evaluated satisfaction with the dog. A total of 130 of 236 dogs passed (score ≤ 70), 24 scored 71–80 (referred for behavioural modification), and 82 (score > 80) failed. Scores were mainly unaffected by dog type and environmental variables, but decreased if dog faeces from a previous test was present in the arena during a test. Shelter tests only correlated with repeat tests if there was no direct contact with assessors. Adopters were satisfied with their dogs, despite reporting some behaviour problems. The shelter assessment was therefore robust against most outside influences but did not predict responses to people well.

Behavior of laboratory dogs before and after rehoming in private homes

“…In addition, dogs' behaviors may differ when a behavior test is repeated because of learning (Diederich and Giffroy, 2006). Furthermore, as shown by Poulsen et al (2010), Kis et al (2014) and Mornement et al (2014Mornement et al ( , 2015, behavior tests have only poor predictive validity when conducted with shelter dogs. Such low correlations are explicable, because adopted shelter dogs experience a new life situation with various influences of new conditions and owners.…”

A quick assessment tool for human‐directed aggression in pet dogs

“…Over the last decade, a number of tests have been developed to assess dog temperament, including aggressive behavior (Diederich & Giffroy, ; Mornement, Coleman, Toukhsati, & Bennett, ). Most of these behavioral tests have come from the applied field and are particularly concerned with the selection of shelter dogs for reintroduction to society (Ledger & Baxter, ; Poulsen, Lisle, & Phillips, ; van der Borg, Netto, & Planta, ), dogs for service work (Weiss & Greenberg, ), or for sport or breeding purposes (Netto & Planta, ; Wilsson & Sundgren, ). Recently, these topics have received more comprehensive attention from both the applied field (Jones & Gosling, ; Overall, Hamilton, & Chang, ; Taylor & Mills, ) and those studying human temperament and behavioral disorders (Gosling, ; Overall, ).…”

Methods of Assessment of the Welfare of Shelter Cats: A Review

“…In addition, evaluation tools have been developed to assess the behaviour of dogs in terms of its prediction in the home environment of the new owner. The tests are mainly aimed at detecting aggression [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. The tools have been criticised because some authors [ 46 , 47 ] consider them to be scientifically insufficiently validated to decide on the future of the animal (often, based on testing, the shelter decides to move the animal to another facility or euthanise it because of unacceptable behaviour or low adoption potential).…”