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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-11-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3272 |
| _version_ | 1827677617552097280 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:46:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:46:27Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-be58d2f572374534b9ae8326acdb6c7c2023-11-22T22:08:06ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-11-011111327210.3390/ani11113272Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter DogsBetty McGuire0Jordan Chan1Kennedy Jean-Baptiste2Philippa Kok3Emma Rosenbaum4Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USAMost 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3272doganimal shelterbehavioral evaluationlength of stayadoption |
| spellingShingle | Betty McGuire Jordan Chan Kennedy Jean-Baptiste Philippa Kok Emma Rosenbaum Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs Animals dog animal shelter behavioral evaluation length of stay adoption |
| title | 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_short | Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs |
| title_sort | results of behavioral evaluations predict length of stay for shelter dogs |
| topic | dog animal shelter behavioral evaluation length of stay adoption |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3272 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bettymcguire resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT jordanchan resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT kennedyjeanbaptiste resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT philippakok resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs AT emmarosenbaum resultsofbehavioralevaluationspredictlengthofstayforshelterdogs |