Canine Behavior Evaluation at Animal Shelters

Sam Roberge
Dr. Jessica Colpoys and Dr. Bridget Thomas, Faculty Mentors

Canine behavior evaluations are widely used in order to gain insight into the minds of misunderstood dogs at animal shelters. However, the use of these evaluations is inconsistent as there is no standardized behavioral assessment and experts argue the effectiveness of formal assessments at predicting behavior outside of a shelter environment. Smaller shelters with limited resources may not perform any behavior evaluation at all. In this study, a survey was emailed to approximately 50 shelters asking for general information about the shelter, as well as admission, adoption, and behavior evaluation protocols in order to determine what methods different animal shelters use to assess canine behavior. This study aims to find a method of evaluating canine behavior that is feasible for any shelter to perform regardless of varying resources. Results of the survey will be analyzed and presented at the student research conference.

Keywords: Animal Shelter, Canine Behavior, Behavior Evaluation

Topic(s):Interdisciplinary Studies
Agricultural Science

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA