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@jenwalker

The dog was an 8 year old yellow lab mix (best guess), surrendered by family when the elderly family member passed away. She was in chronic pain from some ailment. They waited 10 days before doing the assessment to giver her time to adjust and allow the pain meds to kick in. They had a decent size training room that was used for assessments. I am torn about assessments in general. I know they can provide info, but what good is that info if they are under artificial circumstances with possibly inaccurate results. I think we can be “fooled” into thinking a dog is “dangerous” just as much as we can be “fooled” that the dog is a “good family dog”. Additionally, I am not a fan of forcing a dog into a situation that can possibly cause them to bite and expect them not to.

I have a 12 year young whom I adopted at 9 years young from the euthanasia list after he was returned for “barking, growling and lunging” twice at the grandparents. His shelter behavior did not cast a clue that he was capable of that. However, I knew he did not deserve that fate and pleaded for another chance for him explaining well, dog behavior. I offered to adopt him myself as a “dangerous dog”. Today, he is a dog that has learned to make better choices and is more comfortable being a dog. He is actually a very polite dog when you “speak” dog to him! Sometimes we just need to find the unicorn home for shelter dogs.

Congrats on your work and dedication to animals! What an awesome picture and opportunity! Did you publish any studies?

I am fascinated by all animal life and behavior! I can sit and watch/observe animals and get mesmerized! I have only studied and graduated from UW in Applied Animal Behavior and CATCH. I do read peer-review research and articles etc. I enjoy going to conferences and seminars, too! I am amazed and captivated with the work ethologist and like fields do!