Behaviour Corner

by Dog Behaviourist Jodie Harris

Years ago public opinion was, for the majority, very positive towards rescue and rehoming centres such as ours. However, in recent years we’ve noticed a distinct change in attitude towards the industry as a whole. We now often see negative comments, mostly on social media and the internet, from people saying how hard it is to adopt animals and feeling frustrated and disappointed that they weren’t able to adopt the animal they had set their heart on, despite not matching the homing criteria for the animal in question.

Over the years we have grown, changed and adapted to the world around us. Twenty years ago the world was a very different place. When a family wanted a dog they checked the adverts in the local paper or went to a rescue centre. It was common place to take home a dog on the same day from a rehoming centre without much consideration for behaviour, temperament or circumstances.

These days we have the world at our finger tips with dogs and puppies easy to find online on various platforms. A quick search of one such site brings up 20 puppies and 1 adult dog available in Plymouth alone! Many families and hopeful dog owners will choose to take to these sites rather than come to us to find their new companion because it’s easier. No hoops, no complications and a quick hand over of their new best friend to live happily ever after. Or so they think. The sad reality is that many of these dogs later end up on our waiting list to come in, often due to a poor match of personalities, differing experience, behaviour problems or lack of knowledge and research before making the commitment.

Today we have 106 dogs on our waiting list and more than half of them have some kind of behavioural problem (that we know about). These issues include aggression towards other dogs, aggression towards cats, dogs that have already bitten, dogs that aren’t good with the children in the home, dogs that are reactive to strangers and dogs that guard resources, and more commonly rescue dogs that have been brought in from abroad by other ‘rescue’ organisations. Many of these dogs were initially bought on the internet but sadly they ended up in unsuitable homes which is disappointing for the owners as well as detrimental to the dog. Covid has only served to make the situation worse with many people choosing to buy puppies that could then not be socialised properly.

At Gables, as well as rehoming animals from the general public we also work closely with other rescue organisations to help dogs that have suffered abuse, trauma and neglect. This can often mean taking in large numbers of dogs that are scared of people and other animals. Many of our dogs have come to us after being taken to the vets for euthanasia, meaning we really are their last chance at survival. When you consider these facts it should be a little clearer as to why many of the dogs we have available for adoption have specific rehoming needs.

Animal welfare is the forefront of what we do. When a dog comes into our care they receive a full behavioural assessment, which is where we will establish what needs the dog has and what sort of home would be most suitable. This includes whether the dog is safe to be around children, if they are suitable to live with other animals and what experience an adopter will require. We carefully match our dogs to their new owners to ensure a successful adoption, which is why we have a less than 1% return rate. Public protection and safety is a large part of what we have to take into account when rehoming animals, especially with more and more high profile cases arising involving dogs harming people and children in the media. We will never be prepared to take an unnecessary risk when rehoming our dogs – especially with children. We focus on quality over quantity and we want to ensure that both the animals and the humans are set up for success.

As a non-euthanasia charity we support dogs that have complex needs and we aim to rehabilitate them before finding forever homes. In most cases rehabilitation can only go so far and even with ongoing support these dogs require people who have very specific credentials to be an appropriate match for the dog in question. However this approach comes at a cost, both financially to us and emotionally to the general public who want to adopt ‘the perfect dog’.