Thinking of getting a dog?

Did you know that you can find a wonderful family dog at the animal shelter? Whether you are looking for a puppy or older dog, large or small, mixed breed or purebred, the shelter has them all. What’s more, and what’s perhaps more important, is that shelters have available to them a method for evaluating dogs’ temperaments called Assess-a-Pet™.

Assess-a-Pet™ is the most tried and true method for matching potential adopters with a canine companion. Most people prefer to have a dog that will be less likely to be aggressive towards them, their friends, children and other pets. Assess-a-Pet™ can help flesh out aggression in shelter dogs. It also can tell you so much more. It can help match you with just the right dog by revealing:

• The dog's intensity and arousal in chasing small animals or moving objects;

• The amount of daily aerobic exercise the dog needs;

• The amount of daily mental stimulation and physical affection the dog needs;

• The dog's confidence/shyness levels in new situations and with unfamiliar people; and,

• The amount of leadership, structure and guidance the dog will require to keep his own pushy or insecure tendencies in check.

Assess-a-Pet™ involves humane interactions with a shelter dog to evaluate his or her responses and thresholds to normal, everyday circumstances, such as: how tense he may get when petted, nudged or approached while eating; how tense he may get when petted, nudged or approached while chewing on a rawhide or pig's ear; how tolerant the dog is of having his body handled, of being hugged, and then being hugged for a period of time longer than he may want; how tolerant the dog is of being restrained, of being made to do something he doesn't want to do, or being held back from doing something he really wants to do. It evaluates a dog’s predatory excitement levels, how stimulated she gets by running, squealing things; how roughly she plays, how sensitively she handles her body, and whether she is brutal or gentle and respectful of her own size and the size of humans. A very important part of Assess-a-Pet™ is its ability to get a sense for how affectionate, loving, congenial and social the dog is. This is incredibly important, since the more social she is with people, the more tolerant of any of the above average discomforts she will be.

If you have children, or have friends or neighbors with children…

Assess-a-Pet™ aims to identify shelter dogs who have very high thresholds for all types of aggression. Dogs who are going to live with young children need to have long fuses. It is not sufficient that a dog be merely tolerant of young children; ideally a dog who will live with children will adore them. The reason for this is because all children, even very well-behaved and well-supervised children, will eventually do something to the dog that is invasive, past the point of what may be considered fair or tolerable. Assess-a-Pet™ is a way to be more sure your child does not get bitten or hurt at that moment of invasive interaction. Children who have positive, loving relationships with pets at a young age are more likely to become adults who are responsible, respectful, humane and caring.

While Assess-a-Pet™ can lower the risk of new adopters encountering aggression, it by no means guarantees against it. The shelter must follow up with you, the owner, to find out, in the home environment, whether the dog is settling in well or heading for an aggressive episode.

If your shelter or local breed rescue group does not yet use Assess-a-Pet™, there is a booklet you can use to guide you through your visit to the animal shelter. It will help you assess some of the above tendencies in the shelter dogs with whom you visit. It is called A Guide to Choosing Your Next Dog from the Shelter, it is available at the Shelter Shop (Great Dog Productions) for about $10.

So you’ve adopted a shelter dog!

For free behavior and training advice, check the publications under the forms link, and call Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption, at (845) 687-7619.

Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your new dog:

• Changing the name of your new dog

Sometimes adopting a dog means adopting a dog with a name you don't particularly like. Actually, it's easy for your newly adopted dog to learn a new name, even a name completely dissimilar to his previous name. A dog or puppy of any age can learn a brand new name within a few days. Here's how:

• decide on any new name you wish for your newly adopted pet

• for the first few days, carry a pocketful of treats

• every once in a while, and also specifically when you do want your dog's attention, call out his new name and then immediately smile, praise heartily, and feed a treat

• even if he doesn't turn to look at you when you call out the name, do the above anyway, and soon he will know that hearing that word means great things are coming, and he will respond as if that word is his own!

• Housetraining

The keys to training your dog to eliminate outside (where you want her to) are:
1) to prevent accidents and
2) to reward success.
Adult dogs have better bladder and bowel control, and can 'hold it' for a longer period of time than puppies. The rule of thumb with puppies is: take their age in months, add one, and that's the number of hours the puppy can 'hold it' during the day. For example, a 4 month-old puppy can be expected to be clean for up to 5 hours during the day.

• Feed your dog on a schedule. Then she'll eliminate on a schedule, too.

• Keep her diet simple and consistent. Avoid table scraps and canned foods; a high quality dry kibble produces the least waste.

• Choose an area, about ten square feet, outside, where you wish your dog to potty.

• Take your dog on leash to the area, pace back and forth (movement promotes your dog’s need “to go”) and chant an encouraging phrase ("do your business, do your business …").

• Do this for maximum 3 minutes:

  • if she eliminates, huge praise and play

  • if she doesn't eliminate, keep her on leash, go back indoors, keep your dog on leash with you or confined in a crate.

  Try again in an hour.

  Eventually your dog will eliminate appropriately and you will give huge praise and play.

  After each success, allow 15 minutes of freedom in house, before placing dog back on lead or back into crate.

  After each 3 consecutive days of success, increase freedom by 15 minutes.

  If there is an accident; decrease freedom by 15 minutes for 3 days

  Do not punish accidents! Ignore them, take your dog out more frequently to prevent them, and REWARD SUCCESS!

• For parents…what to watch out for:

Consult a trainer or behaviorist or call the free behavior helpline at Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption, (845) 687-7619 if you observe any of the following behaviors in your dog:

• Watch out if your dog uses his mouth in play or to move or control the child. Any dog over 5 months of age should not be using his mouth to play, and is probably not playing, but actually trying to control or dominate humans with his teeth, no matter how gentle your dog appears to be.

• Watch out if your dog cuts in between you and your child during hugging or engaging in any affectionate interactions. This can indicate jealousy, or rank aggression, or guarding of you, the owner.

• "Let sleeping dogs lie" is a saying created by someone who really knew dogs. Teach and never allow your children, (or visiting children), to startle, awaken or hug a sleeping dog. Also, dogs by nature are grouchier and testier at night, or in the evenings, and if your dog drops off into a heavy sleep in the evenings, put her away in another private room, or encourage her into a crate, so that you can prevent the possibility of a child startling or waking the dog.

• Watch for any growling, whether in play or not. Dogs never growl for any other reason except to warn us of biting. So often owners have commented that their dog growled all the time, and were shocked when it finally bit someone, having believed that the growling meant the dog would never bite. Growling is never a vocalization a dog makes just to "talk." Dogs don't "talk" by growling. They growl to let us know that they need help, as they are warning us they may bite.

• Watch for combinations of events. For example, your dog may be fine if approached by your child while chewing on a rawhide, and, on separate occasions, may be fine when approached and hugged while resting on your couch. But your dog may growl or even bite when approached and hugged by your child at times he is laying on the couch chewing a bone. Another example: your dog may be fine being hugged by your child in general, and your dog may be fine when held by the collar and restrained from chasing the family or cat or bolting out the front door. But your dog may growl, snap or bite when hugged while being restrained, feeling keyed up or feeling frustrated.