Data and facts about how behaviours in the shelter and accompanying assessments affect rehoming success.
Jump to: Overview | Behaviour Assessments
Highlights
Overview
Behaviour Assessments
Jump to: Overview of Shelter Practices | Predictability of Behaviour Assessments | Monitoring Kennel Behaviours
Overview of Shelter Practices
External link:
Griffin KE, John E, Pike T and Mills DS (2022) What Will Happen to This Dog? A Qualitative Analysis of Rehoming Organisations’ Pre-adoption Dog Behaviour Screening Policies and Procedures. Front. Vet. Sci. 8:796596. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.796596. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.796596
Assessment Practices
- 97.26% of respondents conduct some form of pre-adoption assessment.
- 43.67% use assessment forms.
- 81.69% assess all dogs pre-adoption.
Prioritization of Characteristics
- 64.79% prioritize certain aspects of dog assessments.
- 28 of the 41 “most valued” characteristics can lead to a dog being deemed unadoptable.
- Aggression-related attributes are the most commonly valued and can lead to unadoptability.
- Other valued characteristics include behavior around dogs, people, and other factors.
Adoptability Criteria
- 69.01% use a pass/fail assessment system to determine adoptability.
Research Summary | Back to Top
Predictability of Behaviour Assessments
External link:
Clay, L., Paterson, M. B. A., Bennett, P., Perry, G., & Phillips, C. C. J. (2020). Do Behaviour Assessments in a Shelter Predict the Behaviour of Dogs Post-Adoption?. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 10(7), 1225. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10071225
Observations from formal behaviour assessment
- Test 3: Startle Response
- Recovery Times:
- 68% of dogs recovered within 5 seconds.
- 22% of dogs recovered within 6-10 seconds.
- 3% of dogs took over 10 seconds to recover.
- 7% of dogs did not exhibit a startle response.
- Recovery Times:
- Test 6: Resource Guarding
- Food Items:
- Wet food: High occurrence of levels 2-3 (68.2%), low occurrence of levels 4-6 (9.9%)
- Dry food: High occurrence of levels 2-3 (80%), low occurrence of levels 4-6 (7.43%)
- Bone: Low occurrence of levels 4-6 (9.9%)
- Pig’s ear: Low occurrence of levels 4-6 (7.43%)
Post-Adoption Behaviours
- Living Arrangements:
- 49% of dogs were kept both indoors and outdoors.
- 29% were primarily kept indoors.
- 23% were primarily kept outdoors.
- Interactions with Cats:
- 74% of participants did not have cats.
- 19% of dogs interacted playfully with cats.
- Less than 3% of dogs displayed other behaviors, such as avoidance or aggression.
| Situation | Moves towards in a Playful Manner | Moves, Leans or Looks Away | No Response | Moves or Leans away in a Manner that Concerns you | Moves towards in a Way that Concerns You |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attention | 91.87 | 0.82 | 3.25 | 0.82 | 3.25 |
| Children | 88.73 | 1.41 | 2.82 | 1.41 | 5.63 |
| Run and freeze | 91.89 | 1.00 | 4.50 | 1.00 | 2.70 |
| Unfamiliar visitors | 73.17 | 9.76 | 4.88 | 6.50 | 5.69 |
| Unfamiliar children | 85.58 | 3.85 | 5.77 | 1.92 | 2.88 |
| Existing dog | 84.62 | 5.13 | 0.00 | 2.56 | 7.69 |
| Unfamiliar dog | 60.16 | 6.50 | 11.38 | 2.44 | 7.32 |
| Concern about Behaviour around Food, Treats, Toys and Human Food | No | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| Dog food | 90.8 | 9.2 |
| Treats | 95.0 | 5.0 |
| Toys | 95.8 | 4.2 |
| Human food | 93.3 | 6.7 |
- Response to Startling Stimuli:
- 37% of participants did not answer this question.
- 25% of dogs exhibited a mild startle response.
- 9% of dogs ran and hid.
- 4% of dogs displayed a pronounced startle response.
- Recovery Time from Startling Stimuli:
- 45% of dogs recovered immediately.
- 29% recovered within a few seconds.
- 15% recovered within 5-10 seconds.
- 11% took longer than 10 seconds to recover or avoided the situation.
- Time Spent Alone:
- 55% of dogs were left alone for 5-12 hours.
- 36% of dogs were left alone for 1-4 hours.
- 9% of dogs were left alone for less than an hour.
- Behavior Changes When Owner Leaves:
- 72% of dogs did not exhibit any behavioral changes.
- 28% of dogs showed some behavioral changes.
- Concerning Behaviors:
- 80% of owners reported no concerning behaviors.
- 21% of owners reported at least one concerning behavior.
Research Summary | Back to Top
Monitoring Kennel Behaviours To Recognize Problems Early
External link:
Clay, L., Paterson, M., Bennett, P., Perry, G., & Phillips, C. (2019). Early Recognition of Behaviour Problems in Shelter Dogs by Monitoring them in their Kennels after Admission to a Shelter. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 9(11), 875. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9110875
In-kennel Behaviours
Initial Behaviors and Trends:
- Posture and Movement: Dogs frequently exhibited weight back, balanced body, and jumping up.
- Positional Preference: Dogs spent most time at the wire or front, and least time in bed/sleeping or at the wall..
- Emotional Display: Friendly behavior dominated (36%), followed by fear (25%), anxiety (13%), high arousal (15%), and aggression (7%).
- Emotional Frequency: High arousal was most frequent (33%), followed by friendliness (25%), anxiousness (24%), fear (16%), and aggression (2%). Friendliness and fear, though less frequent, were sustained longer.
Changes Over Time:
- Decreased Fear Behaviors: Tense posture, tucked tails, and alert ears decreased significantly.
- Increased Relaxed Behaviors: Stiff and slow tail movements, time spent at the front, wire, and sleeping increased significantly. There were reductions in tucked tail and stiff tail movement, and a corresponding increase in slow tail movement
- Reduced Arousal: Panting decreased significantly, while mouth-open/closed behaviors increased significantly.
Formal Assessment
| Display (% of time) | Frequency (% of occurrences) | |
|---|---|---|
| Friendly | 39% | 41% |
| High Arousal | 24% | 26% |
| Fear | 17% | 12% |
| Anxiousness | 17% | 19% |
| Aggression | 3% | 2% |
Factors Influencing Adoption
Time Spent in Behaviours:
- Positive Indicators: Barking, balanced or lowered posture, positioning by the wall in the kennel, balanced/lowered posture or pacing in the behavior assessment, balanced posture or jumping up in the time alone test.
- Negative Indicators: Tense body posture in the kennel, sitting/lying in the behavior assessment.
| K/B/T | Behaviour | Adopted (% of time) | Euthanased (% time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennel | Barking | 5.58 | 1.30 |
| Kennel | Balanced | 44.06 | 22.34 |
| Kennel | Lowered | 3.25 | 4.30 |
| Kennel | Tense | 1.50 | 6.49 |
| Kennel | Wall | 7.99 | 6.60 |
| Kennel | Sit/Lay | 21.51 | 24.93 |
| Behaviour Assessment | Balanced | 66.41 | 44.60 |
| Behaviour Assessment | Lowered | 7.97 | 16.04 |
| Behaviour Assessment | Pacing | 37.59 | 30.94 |
| Time Alone | Panting | 59.21 | 68.99 |
| Time Alone | Balanced | 78.67 | 44.66 |
| Time Alone | Jump up | 18.35 | 30.21 |
Frequency of Behaviours:
- Positive Indicators: Barking in the kennel assessment, balanced posture across all assessments.
- Negative Indicators: Panting in the kennel assessment, lowered head, scanning in the behavior assessment.
| K/B/T | Behaviour | Adopted (% Frequency) | Euthanased(% Frequency) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kennel | Barking | 19.32 | 8.50 |
| Kennel | Panting | 54.64 | 65.46 |
| Kennel | Balanced | 45.24 | 26.13 |
| Behaviour assessment | Balanced | 40.89 | 27.72 |
| Behaviour assessment | Lowered Head | 12.29 | 12.77 |
| Behaviour assessment | Scanning | 3.08 | 4.66 |
| Time alone | Balanced | 54.68 | 35.58 |
Research Summary | Back to Top