Pet Selection and Matching

Veterinary clinics should provide counselling to help potential pet owners select a pet that best suits their household. The preselection consultation should also provide prospective owners with behavioural, health and nutritional guidance to get started on the right track. Setting up a preselection consultation requires the education of veterinary surgeons or staff. A questionnaire provides the consultant with background information on the owner, the family, their schedule, their home and other pets. A pet selection handout can also be provided to help prospective pet owners find books, web links or pet shows, so that they can make initial decisions as to species and breed. A clinic library can serve as a resource for both staff and clients. Clients interested in a purebred dog or cat should narrow their selection to four or five breeds.

Family

What is the reason the family has decided to obtain a pet? What breeds are they considering? Determine space, ages, schedule, limitations or special considerations (allergies, disabilities), and expectations for expense, grooming, time and exercise to determine which breeds best match the home, family and lifestyle.

Breed

Although individual variability is high, there are considerable differences between breeds. Consider physical factors (e.g., coat, size); family factors; breed behaviour and function (e.g., herding, guarding, predation, energy requirements); and breed tendencies to health and behaviour problems.

Age

Obtaining a puppy or kitten is advantageous if the owner has the time and knowledge to provide for healthy social development. Puppies less than 3 months and kittens less than 9 weeks are within their primary socialisation period, which provides both an opportunity and need for further socialisation. This is also an age at which substrate preferences for elimination and training can begin. Young pets may also be a better mix for a family with existing pets. Potential owners that do not have the time to meet the needs of a puppy or kitten may do better with an adult pet. In one study it was found that young cats do not initially make the best companions, while adult cats are less problematic. Gender made no difference although males played more easily.

Sex

The differences between males and females in size and behaviour should be considered. Intact males may be more likely to show aggression; however, neutering is unlikely to reduce aggression. Males may be less interested in greeting unfamiliar men. In some breeds, male/female differences may be more marked e.g., prey drive, defence.

Source

Pets obtained from shelters and pet stores are more likely to have respiratory and intestinal diseases than those from private owners, and early handling and socialisation may be lacking. Visiting a breeder provides an opportunity to observe the environment in which the pet was raised and to evaluate the health and behaviour of the parents. On the other hand, shelter and breed rescue groups provide immediate access to a variety of pets in dire need of a new home. However, the cost of ongoing care will be similar.

Temperament Testing

There is no evidence that tests of young puppies can accurately predict adult behaviour except perhaps when excessive fear is evident. This is not surprising since problems such as resistance to handling, possessive and protective aggression, vocalisation, reactivity and many forms of fear do not emerge until the pet matures. On the other hand, with increasing maturity the effects of early handling, socialisation, learning and maturation will already have had an impact, and testing may have increased predictability for response to handling and novel situations, fearfulness, possessiveness and propensity to separation anxiety. Further research is therefore needed to determine at what point temperament sufficiently stabilises for testing to become accurate.

Since the sensitive period for kittens wanes by 9 weeks of age, assessment of kitten temperament may be more accurate than for puppies. Cats are:

 Sociable, confident, trusting and easy going

 Active and aggressive, or

 Timid, nervous, shy and unfriendly

Therefore, cats that are fearful or aggressive when petted or handled should probably be avoided. Testing of adult cats may be somewhat predictive of temperament in the home. In one study cats were assessed by approach, calling, lifting, sitting on a lap, petting, moving a toy, grabbing, dropping a heavy object and response to strangers. These cats could be divided into three groups with the most positive scores being predictive of a positive result in the new home.

While a variety of testing protocols have been developed to assess temperament, suitability for work or tasks, suitability as therapy or assistance dogs and for aggression, very few tests have been developed for pet adoption and validation is questionable. In a review of 51 studies, the most frequent traits examined were responsiveness to training, reactivity, fearfulness, sociability, aggression and, to a lesser extent, submissiveness and activity. While some studies may have validity for the population in which they were studied (e.g., working dogs, guide dogs), generalisation to other populations (e.g., pet dogs) may not be accurate. The test should focus on fearfulness or reactivity and sociability or trainability. Dogs may be exposed to:

 Unfamiliar humans; however, dolls, dummies and a model of a human hand have all been used for both practicality and safety

 Unfamiliar dogs using pictures, mirrors or stuffed dogs, which may not represent an actual dog

 Environmental stimuli (noises, visual, odours)

However, at present there is no standardised or validated testing for fear.

Shelter Pet Adoption and Assessment

Problem behaviour is the most common reason for relinquishment. Dogs left in shelters for more than 45 days had significantly greater destructiveness, barking, fearfulness on walks, noise fears, toy possessiveness, attention seeking, fear aggression to unfamiliar people, play biting, tail chasing, pica, food possessiveness and house-soiling than dogs adopted from a home environment. On the other hand, kittens admitted to shelters prior to 2 weeks of age were friendlier and had fewer behaviour problems after adoption if they were exposed to frequent handling along with exposure to friendly cats and dogs and unfamiliar adults and children. Training dogs while in the shelter has been shown to increase adoptability and improve sociability with other dogs.

A number of shelter dog assessment tests are used in the United States including SAFER test (Emily Weiss), Assess-a-pet (Sue Sternberg), ADOPT (Mary Burch), as well as tests under evaluation by Dr Amy Marder. One study found that tests of shelter dogs are not 100% effective but can usually identify aggression, excitability, timidity, obedience and separation anxiety. However, this test was extensive (26 tests), took 1 hour and was carried out by a single observer. Problems inherent in shelter temperament testing include the stress of sheltering, duration of sheltering, age and health of the individual, the unknown predictive value of a passed or failed test, potential risks to the tester and inter-tester reliability. One recent study found that 40.9% of dogs that were adopted after passing the Assess-a-pet test exhibited lunging, growling, snapping, or biting when assessed 13 months after adoption and that predatory, territorial and intraspecific aggression could not be predicted by these tests. On the other hand it appears that dogs that repeatedly exhibit aggression when touched or approached in a non-threatening manner, or display aggression to other dogs, possessive aggression or fearfulness, are predictive for the development of these problems in the new home, especially if breed, size and presence of children are also considered.

Since the problems present at the time of relinquishment are predictive of what is likely to be seen in the new home, screening at the time of relinquishment provides the greatest insight of potential rehoming problems. Unfortunately, many owners fail to report problems, such as owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed aggression, dog aggression, fears and separation-related behaviours, unless confidentiality can be assured. In one British study, by combining intake history, shelter dog assessment, matching, and pre- and post-adoption advice, a 94% adoption success rate was achieved with only about 1% of dogs being culled.

Aggression Testing

Tests for aggression have been developed to determine whether muzzle orders are indicated or whether dangerous dogs should be destroyed. Since some aggression would be expected on provocation testing, scoring is based on actual biting rather than threats. Recently a standardised temperament test has been used to evaluate dog breeds that were legislated as dangerous in Lower Saxony. The test includes an examination, learning and frustration test, 21 situations of human contact, 14 situations of environment contact, dog-to-dog contact and obedience. In 95% of cases no indication of inappropriate or excessive aggression was identified and there was no significant difference when compared to a control group of Golden Retrievers.

Good Citizenship/ Temperament Testing

Tests such as the American Kennel Club Good Citizenship Test (AKC GCT) and American Temperament Test Society (ATTS) can be used to assess temperament of family pets. Specific tests can be added to assess therapy dogs (Therapy Dogs International (TDI), International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) and Delta Society).

Resources

Selection Questionnaire and Handouts

 http://lifelearn.com

 Landsberg GM, Hunthausen W, Ackermann L. Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat (2nd edn). Edinburgh: WB Saunders, 2003.

 AVMA Pamphlets (http://avma.org)

Temperament Tests

 ATTS: http://atts.org/index.html

 TDI: http://tdi-dog.org

 Delta: http://deltasociety.org

Shelter Tests

 Assess-a-pet: http://suesternberg.com

 SAFER: http://americanhumane.org

 ADOPT: http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/adopt_assess.htm#current

References

1.  Christensen E, Scarlett J, et al. Aggressive behaviour in adopted dogs that passed a temperament test. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2007; 106: 95-95.

2.  Diederich C, Giffroy J-M. Behavioural testing in dogs: a review of methodology in search for standardization. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2006; 97: 51-72

3.  Jones AC, Gosling SD. Temperament and personality in dogs (Canis familiaris): a review and evaluation of past research. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2005; 95: 1-53.