Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs

Most animal shelters conduct behavioral evaluations before making dogs available for adoption. However, little information exists on whether behaviors displayed during these assessments predict a dog’s length of stay at the shelter. We reviewed nearly 5 years of records from 975 dogs released for ad...

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Autores principales:	Betty McGuire, Jordan Chan, Kennedy Jean-Baptiste, Philippa Kok, Emma Rosenbaum
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	dog animal shelter behavioral evaluation length of stay adoption Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c2021-11-25T16:20:12ZResults of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs10.3390/ani111132722076-2615https://doaj.org/article/be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3272https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615Most animal shelters conduct behavioral evaluations before making dogs available for adoption. However, little information exists on whether behaviors displayed during these assessments predict a dog’s length of stay at the shelter. We reviewed nearly 5 years of records from 975 dogs released for adoption at a New York shelter to see whether behaviors shown during their evaluation predicted length of stay. For most tests and subtests, the prevalence of concerning and especially dangerous behaviors was low. Nevertheless, dogs’ scores on some tests or subtests—food guarding and meeting another dog—predicted length of stay at the shelter. Dogs evaluated as showing dangerous behavior had longer lengths of stay than dogs evaluated as showing either concerning behavior or no concerning behavior; the latter two groups did not differ from one another in length of stay. The most likely explanation for the relationships found between behavior during the evaluation and length of stay at the shelter is that dogs with challenging behaviors had smaller pools of potential adopters. Understanding the relationships between performance on behavioral evaluations and length of stay may inform shelter management of canine populations and also help identify dogs requiring special adoption efforts to avoid long shelter stays.Betty McGuireJordan ChanKennedy Jean-BaptistePhilippa KokEmma RosenbaumMDPI AGarticledoganimal shelterbehavioral evaluationlength of stayadoptionVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ZoologyQL1-991ENAnimals, Vol 11, Iss 3272, p 3272 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	dog animal shelter behavioral evaluation length of stay adoption Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	dog animal shelter behavioral evaluation length of stay adoption Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Betty McGuire Jordan Chan Kennedy Jean-Baptiste Philippa Kok Emma Rosenbaum Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
description	Most animal shelters conduct behavioral evaluations before making dogs available for adoption. However, little information exists on whether behaviors displayed during these assessments predict a dog’s length of stay at the shelter. We reviewed nearly 5 years of records from 975 dogs released for adoption at a New York shelter to see whether behaviors shown during their evaluation predicted length of stay. For most tests and subtests, the prevalence of concerning and especially dangerous behaviors was low. Nevertheless, dogs’ scores on some tests or subtests—food guarding and meeting another dog—predicted length of stay at the shelter. Dogs evaluated as showing dangerous behavior had longer lengths of stay than dogs evaluated as showing either concerning behavior or no concerning behavior; the latter two groups did not differ from one another in length of stay. The most likely explanation for the relationships found between behavior during the evaluation and length of stay at the shelter is that dogs with challenging behaviors had smaller pools of potential adopters. Understanding the relationships between performance on behavioral evaluations and length of stay may inform shelter management of canine populations and also help identify dogs requiring special adoption efforts to avoid long shelter stays.
format	article
author	Betty McGuire Jordan Chan Kennedy Jean-Baptiste Philippa Kok Emma Rosenbaum
author_facet	Betty McGuire Jordan Chan Kennedy Jean-Baptiste Philippa Kok Emma Rosenbaum
author_sort	Betty McGuire
title	Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
title_short	Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
title_full	Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
title_fullStr	Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
title_full_unstemmed	Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs
title_sort	results of behavioral evaluations predict length of stay for shelter dogs
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c
work_keys_str_mv	AT bettymcguire resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT jordanchan resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT kennedyjeanbaptiste resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT philippakok resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT emmarosenbaum resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs
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Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs

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