Revisiting a Previously Validated Temperament Test in Shelter Dogs Including an Examination of the Use of Fake Model Dogs to Assess Conspecific Sociability

摘要

Globally, many unwanted dogs enter rescue shelters. Shelter staff often avail of behavioural tests as an early screening tool to identify areas of concern to minimise the welfare risk associated with long-term kennelling and failed adoptions. A number of requirements need to be verified in order for a test to become a useful assessment tool, including how reliable and accurate the measurements are. For these tools to be widely used, they need to be feasible and reproducible. We refined a previously validated temperament test for shelter dogs’ assessment, developed in Italy, and applied it to two populations of shelter dogs in the UK. The test measured dog behaviour in the kennel, sociability towards people and other dogs, docility to leash, playfulness, cognitive skills, and reactivity. The test proved easy to replicate, with key outcomes that are consistent with existing research on this topic. Furthermore, an additional experiment provided support for the use of fake dogs instead of real ones to assess sociability to dogs. However, we also highlight the importance of interpreting these data with caution, and advocate the use of behavioural tests as a partial screening tool to be used in conjunction with more extensive behavioural and welfare monitoring.