Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32708444›Full record

ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2020

Do Behaviour Assessments in a Shelter Predict the Behaviour of Dogs Post-Adoption?

Liam Clay, Mandy B A Paterson, Pauleen Bennett, Gaille Perry, Clive C J Phillips

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Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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  16. Results of Behavioral Evaluations Predict Length of Stay for Shelter Dogs.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Liam ClayCentre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8744-0097
Mandy B A PatersonCentre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-4564-9877
Pauleen BennettSchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria 3552, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-5864-4464
Gaille PerryDelta Society, Summer Hill, Sydney, New South Wales 2130, Australia.
Clive C J PhillipsCentre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland 4343, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-1926-6357

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In shelters it is usual to conduct standardised behaviour assessments on admitted dogs. The information gathered from the assessment is used to identify dogs that are suitable for adoption and assist in matching the dog with suitable adopters. These assessments are also used to guide behaviour modification programs for dogs that display some unwanted behaviours. For some dogs, the results may indicate that they are unsuitable either for re-training or for adoption. In these circumstances the dogs may be euthanised. We investigated the predictive value of a standardised behaviour assessment protocol currently used in an Australian shelter for dog behaviour post-adoption. A total of 123 dogs, aged 1-10 years and housed in an animal care shelter, were assessed before they were adopted. The new owners of the dogs took part in a post-adoption survey conducted 1 month after adoption, which explored the behaviour of their dog after adoption. Ordinal regression analyses identified that friendly/social, fear and anxiousness identified in the shelter assessment significantly predicted corresponding behaviours post-adoption. However, behaviour problems, such as aggression, food guarding and separation-related behaviours, were not reliably predicted by the standardised behaviour assessment. The results suggest that further research is required to improve the predictability of behaviour assessment protocols for more specific behaviour problems, including different categories of aggression and separation-related problems. We recommend that dog behaviour assessments in shelters are used only in conjunction with other monitoring tools to assess behaviour over the whole shelter stay, thus facilitating increased safety/welfare standards for dogs, shelters and the wider community.

Indexed as

animal shelterscaninesdog behaviour assessmentdog behaviour predictiondog behaviour problemsdog post-adoption behaviour

Identifiers

PMID32708444
PMCPMC7401658

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.