Behavioral assessment of shelter dogs is critical for matching dogs to appropriate homes and preventing returns, but current methods have significant validity limitations that affect both welfare and adoption outcomes.
The behavioral assessment of shelter dogs is a welfare challenge on multiple levels. The shelter environment itself is profoundly stressful, suppressing normal behavior and potentially revealing or creating welfare-compromising behavioral states. Standard tests administered in this stressful context have limited ability to predict how a dog will behave in a home environment. Poor assessment leads to mismatched adoptions and returns that are traumatic for both dog and owner. Better assessment requires recognizing test limitations, gathering behavioral history, and using extended foster periods to observe dogs in more natural environments.