Shelter dogs nearly always misidentified; how to avoid breed bungles

Most dogs available for adoption at shelters are of the ‘great aussie mutt’ variety; mixed breeds of unknown parentage made up of a few, or sometimes lots of, different breeds. Shelter staff do their best to make a guess of the breeds that make up the dogs based on appearance and this ‘best guess’ is what is used to identify the dogs to the public.

Whether accurate or not, these breed labels have ramifications on the dog’s new life. Breed lables are often used to make predictions about the dog’s future behaviour and suitability for a particular family situations. Potential adopters use breed as a way to define what they are looking for, and ‘breed suitability tests’ are often used by adopters as part of their pre-adoption research.

But not everyone is so convinced breed is the key to great adoption matches. PetRescue doesn’t feature breed specific searching on the website, preferring visitors to replicate the experience of walking through a shelter ‘meeting’ individual dogs. PetRescue focuses on personality and matchmaking, rather than preconceived notions of breed, citing;

… nearly all rescue animals can be excellent companions and family members when appropriately matched to their new home. In this respect (often inaccurate) breed generalisations do little to serve individual animals and many lesser known breeds would actually be disadvantaged if we brought in the ability to search in this way.

When searching for your new pet try to look past the way the animal looks, the way that some breeds are portrayed in movies, even look past animals of a certain breed you’ve known in the past.

Every rescue pet is a unique individual, just as you are. The best match is one tailored to you by a knowledgeable rescue worker who knows that animals personality and is concerned for its well-being. Find a rescue group you trust and can build a rapport with and you’re on the way to finding your perfect furry friend.

However generally, breed identification makes up a significant portion of both a shelter’s daily operations and their animal promotions. But just how accurate are these breed ‘guesses’?

From January’s Journal of Veterinary Behavior, ‘The American Shelter Dog: Identification of dogs by personality’ a study of 20 mixed breed dogs, from 17 agencies were DNA tested for their breed make up. Sixteen of the dogs had been identified by the adoption agencies as a ‘type’ of dog (eg. terrier), and as having 1 or 2 specific breeds in their ancentry. The shelters got it right only 4 of the 16 times, and in 3 of these 4 cases, the breeds specified only made up a tiny fraction of the dog’s genetic make up.

In short – shelters, nearly always got it wrong.

So black dogs with floppy ears weren’t necessarily labradors; the shepherd mixes had no evidence of GSD and long haired black and white mixes, weren’t border collies. And unsuprisingly, the pit bulls mixes weren’t pit bulls at all.

This startling result has causes a bit of a revolution about how US shelters think of ‘breed’ in regards to dog placement;

The Center for Shelter Dogs now identifies dogs not by assumed breeds but rather by appearance and individual personalities. Instead of using inaccurate breed labels, dogs are profiled by personality based on their results from the MATCH-UP Behavior Evaluation, a standardized evaluation currently undergoing validation. This approach provides information about the dog’s personality traits as well as likely reactions in real-life situations. Staff are able to select appropriate behavioral and enrichment programs and owners learn about each dog in terms of their personality and unique needs. (ref)

Dr Amy Marder, Animal Rescue League of Boston and Director for the Center for Shelter Dogs, has proposed that dogs adopted from shelters in the U.S. simply be identified as “American Shelter Dogs”. This might solve a lot of problems, as well as promote pride and ownership of an “American Shelter Dog.” (ref)

If we needed another reason to stop judging breeds by looks, rather than behaviour this would be it. The idea that people who identify dog breeds for a living, only get the actual makeup of the dog correct a fraction of the time makes it clear that personality much more of a valid measurement, than breed.

Breed generalisations can lead to personality mismatches with new owners and set the new relationship up to fail if the dog doesn’t live up to expectations. Worse, dogs may be overlooked for being the ‘wrong’ breed, despite having fantastic personalities and lots to offer the right owner.

The future will see a lot more emphasis on ‘who this dog will suit’ rather than ‘what they are’. And the benefits to shelter dog kind and adoptive families will be enormous.

Further reading on the study topic can be found here on KC Dog Blog and Nathan Winograd’s blog here.