National Shelter Medicine Rounds – 5/10/22 – Janis Bradley on 50 years of data about behavioral incompatibilities and dog relinquishment to shelters – UW and UC Davis Shelter Medicine Programs

This upcoming Tuesday, May 10^th, from 3-4 pm CST, Janis Bradley, Director of Communications and Publications at National Canine Research Council and the recent keynote speaker at the Big Dog Master Class, will be presenting, “Irreconcilable differences? Maybe not! A new look at 50 years of data about behavioral incompatibilities and dog relinquishment to shelters.”

At the following rounds on May 24^th we will be discussing the topic further in breakout groups and as a large group. After rounds on May 10^th we will share a recording for those who cannot join us live so you can still join us for the discussion on May 24^th.

Description: An examination of 12 peer reviewed papers on pet relinquishment, 6 on dogs who were returned after being adopted, and 14 on the behaviors of dogs living in homes revealed no strong evidence supporting the prevailing belief that behavioral incompatibilities are a primary risk factor for owners surrendering their pets to shelters. Only 2 studies (one from the 1990’s and the other published in 2000) in the literature contained actual risk analyses of specific behaviors. Neither found strong evidence of behavioral risk factors. Dogs living in homes do not appear to be behaviorally different from dogs living in shelters. Moreover, the studies on dogs living in homes revealed no consensus regarding behaviors that owners considered problematic or how any of them affected their satisfaction with the relationship. When combined with the low validity levels and poor predictive ability of battery style behavior evaluations commonly administered in shelters, the relinquishment literature makes the use of such instruments highly questionable. What does this mean for adoption policies and placement procedures in shelters?

Presenter:

Janis Bradley, M.A.
Director of Communications & Publications

Janis holds a B.A. in Philosophy and a Masters in English. She first pursued a career as a college teacher, counselor, and administrator. Leaving academia, she then took up professionally her passion for the human-canine relationship. From 2000 through 2009, Janis trained more than 400 professional pet dog trainers.

Janis is the co-author of the articles: “No better than flipping a coin: Reconsidering canine behavior evaluations in animal shelters” , “Who is minding the bibliography? Daisy chaining, dropped leads, and other bad behavior using examples from the dog bite literature,” and “Defaming Rover: Error-Based Latent Rhetoric in the Medical Literature on Dog Bites”. She is also the author of Dogs Bite, But Balloons and Slippers are More Dangerous (James and Kenneth), the complete guide to research on dog bites; Dog Bites: Problems and Solutions (Animals and Society Institute); and The Relevance of Breed in Selecting a Companion Dog (National Canine Research Council Vision Series). All of this comes from an abiding interest in finding the very best information about the remarkable relationship between dogs and people. She lives in California with her rescued Greyhounds.

National Shelter Medicine Rounds is held on the same Zoom link for every session:

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97442637396

Meeting ID: 974 4263 7396

One tap mobile

+13017158592,,97442637396# US (Washington DC)

+13126266799,,97442637396# US (Chicago)

This group is made up of shelter veterinarians, shelter vet trainees, and upper level shelter leadership. If you know anyone that would like to be added to the national shelter medicine rounds email list to regularly receive scheduling updates moving forward, please have them email a request to be added to the email group to nationalsheltermedicinerounds@vetmed.wisc.edu.

Web Conference System Details:

If you have not used Zoom before I’d recommend you join at the zoom link in advance to give it a test run on your computer as you’ll likely need to do a quick download. For audio, you can use either your computer if you have microphone capabilities or you can dial in from your phone. Here is a link to test your audio in advance if you would like to: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362283-Testing-computer-or-device-audio  In order to see the visuals that may be shared you must join either through your computer or download the app if joining from a mobile device.