Why do we useTemperament Tests

When a new dog arrives at a shelter the usual procedure is to temperament test the dog by an "expert". These tests consist of a series of routine and prejudiced trials that will be the deciding factor of whether or not the dog is to be euthanized. This test involves touching and probing the dog in uncomfortable areas that provoke and agitate many dogs ( paws, tail, and ears), taking food away in the midst of being eaten, and the reaction to intense sounds are some of the criteria that is used. I believe that these tests are breed biased and set the dog up to fail before given a chance to prove that he/she could one day be adoptable. For example, I was in the shelter and the person in charge of testing labeled a dog that was forty pounds under normal weight as food aggressive. The dog was found chained to a tree and you could count her ribs from fifty feet away. The dog was given a bowl of food and as the dog was eating it the "expert" swiped it away, and the dog growled and snapped. The "expert" advised that this dog should be put to sleep immediately. If you were on the streets starving to death, not knowing where and when your next meal would come from, wouldn't you fight for it? I would say there is something wrong with the dog if she didn't snap. Well, that was three weeks ago and I have been working very closely with this dog and now she is on her way to becoming adopted. Dogs are mammals just like us and even though we perceive the world through different eyes we still have many similarities. A five minute test should never be the definitive determination of the destruction of an innocent life.

Feel-Good Training and Rehabilitation

All of my training methods revolve around one cardinal principle, the power of pleasure. We are all mammals and we all gravitate towards what makes us feel good. You have never repeated a behavior in your life that did not get you a desired outcome, neither will your dog. A dog that has had an abusive past quickly learns that everytime someone approaches it gets kicked. As a defense mechanism the dog growls and lunges, the pleasurable result is that the approaching person backs off. The dog will generalize this behavior to all environments and circumstances to create distance and decrease the chances of getting physically abused. Another example is that dogs come into our enviornment not knowing if sit or jumping is appropriate. Since it is easy to ignore a good dog, most dogs do not recieve attention when they are calm and sitting. However, when a dog jumps we yell, we push, we make eye contact, and even treat. Bad attention and good attention is better than no attention at all. Jumping feels better than sitting, the dog is gravitating towards the behavior that gets the reward. Dog Training and Rehabilitation is not about punishment, its about empowering the dog to make a concious decision based on making a choice of what feels good.