Well, I'm happy to report that staff has kept their word and has given us prior notice of a dog's euthanasia and a week to find a way out of the shelter for that dog.
Sadly, in just two weeks, we've already had two dogs who have qualified.
The first was Derby, who did not make it, I'm afraid. (Staff has not followed up on him with us, but I am assuming that no news is not good news.) He attacked and really hurt another dog. He had just made it into the adoption program, so the volunteers had no information yet about him and unfortunately, the poor guy did not have any advocates.
The next is Arlo (the dog pictured), who is a favorite among the volunteers. Arlo jumped a 4-ft fence last week and "attacked" another dog. We haven't received any details on the attack (details have been requested, but nothing has been provided yet), except that neither dog was hurt. He has since acted nervous on two occasions, growled and snapped at a vet tech, and put on an "aggressive display", barking and lunging at a staff member who walked by his kennel.
Both staff and volunteers are in agreement that Arlo is stressed at the shelter and his behavior inside of the kennel is deteriorating. Outside of the kennel, he is a laid-back, friendly lab. Inside of his kennel, he is highly reactive.
However, volunteers think that he is just stressed at TLAC and will be a different dog outside. He is a perfect gentleman on trail walks on Town Lake. He walks perfectly on the leash and is friendly to all people and other dogs. We've put up flyers everywhere and have posted his story on Craigslist and, luckily, are receiving lots of interest.
Staff, on the other hand, has labeled him an "aggressive" dog and seem to be communicating that to all interested adopters.
I haven't personally spent much time with Arlo. Of course, volunteers spend far more time with the dogs than staff does, so I generally trust their opinions a little more than staff's.
We received an email from staff today and one of the points said:
The behavioral reality is that a dog who has used aggression in the past is very likely to use aggression in the future, and we are not sure what might trigger Arlo to use aggression, so his aggression MUST be taken seriously, and anyone interested in trying to live with him must understand that this will be on-going for him -it won't just "go away" once he's comfortable and loved in a home.
Professional Behaviorists agree that "working with" a dog that has shown aggressive behavior is not about stopping the dog from being aggressive, but about managing the dog so that it is unable to hurt anyone, and hopefully not given any additional opportunities to practice aggression or to see that it generally works to get the dog what it wants. This is an important distinction to consider.
I have a dog who loves to start fights with other dogs. We had to see an aggression specialist, Lee Mannix, at one point. He told us that she was not aggressive, but was a "school-yard bully". I'm going to try to summarize what he told us about her issues and aggression: The fights were loud and dramatic, which is usually just a dog putting on a good show, not being aggressive. True aggression, with the intent to hurt, usually happens very quickly and quietly.
So, we stopped taking her to dog parks and started exercising her...a lot. My husband takes her on 6-10 mile bike rides every day. He takes her to the green belt all the time (off-leash) and she never starts fights anymore. I think she had frustration of not being able to run (we thought we were great, taking her on 2 long walks every day, but she's a border collie mix and needs to stretch those legs). Once she got what she needed, she was fine.
So, I have to wonder, is Arlo truly aggresive, and his aggression will need to managed for the rest of his life? Or is he acting out at the shelter and will be different in a home environment?
I take dog aggression very, very seriously. It would be terrible for the public and TLAC's image to adopt out a dangerous dog. However, it doesn't seem like there's anyone at TLAC who has in-depth experience with aggresive dogs. I wonder how much of the decision is based upon how scary a dog seems to a given person on a given day, as opposed to an expert making that decision based on science.
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Well, here's what Nathan has to say about this:
Part of the problem stems from the fact that temperament testing is still in its infancy. Its development is in the gray area between laboratory analysis and clinical trials, and has a long,
long way to go before it gains the stamp of scientific legitimacy. But there are other reasons that temperament testing is so problematic.
One reason is that dogs are highly contextual, and we can’t recreate life experiences in all their complexity. We can put a doll in front of a dog, but not a cooing, arms outstretched, grinning from ear to ear, real little kid who
wants to run up to the dog and throw his arms around the pooch. If a dog reacts badly when we attempt to look at his teeth, we can’t always differentiate whether the dog is aggressive, or just in pain from lack of good dental care.
Stray dogs or dogs seized from cruelty situations who are underweight and have not eaten
steadily sometimes react badly when someone tries to take their food away (one of the tests to determine “food aggression”). Hunger is not
aggression, but again, we can’t always tell the difference.
Another part of the problem is the unnatural environment of the shelter from the dog’s perspective.
It would be difficult to design a more frustrating environment for a dog than a kennel. Most shelters are filled with strange smells,
dogs are placed alone in a barren kennel, there are lots of strangers, and the dog’s daily routine is completely changed. Since they can’t talk and tell you, “Leave me alone, I am scared and
don’t understand what is happening to me,” they communicate in the only way that biology allows – by backing up, barking, growling, and
when all else fails, snapping.
More at http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/pdf/Temperament%20Testing.pdf
(Does anyone else read this blog? If not, they should!)
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