Haven offers temperament training classes

TESTING TEMPERAMENT: Capt. Lee Anne Smith, Redding Animal Regulation, holds a doll to see how dogs might respond to real babies. The process will help determine if a dog should be adopted to a family with infants and small toddlers.

It didn't take long for Capt. Lee Anne Smith of Haven Humane Society to answer the call to assist another animal group interested in evaluating the temperaments of the pets in their care.

Spay & Neuter Intermountain Pet and Pet Placement (SNIPPP), an animal group based in Burney, wanted to learn about the temperament program that Haven utilizes on all dogs taken in at the shelter, said Smith, who arranged for a half-day seminar in Haven's classroom.

Four representatives arrived at Haven to watch Smith work with three very different canines during the demonstration class that called on Chase, the Border Collie, Smith's canine partner on the job; Robo Rat, the red-eyed remote control rodent and other tools that assist in determining how, when and where a shelter pet can be successfully placed.

Ken Yarbrough, Jill Spencer, Terry Hunt and Amber Beck who all work in various capacities for SNIPPP took notes, asked questions and even gave input as each dog was evaluated.

Besides working as the supervisor of the City of Redding Animal Regulation, Smith performs the temperament tests on dogs at Haven Humane Society.

The panel from SNIPPP was amazed to learn that Smith could typically test 20 dogs in less than two hours on any given testing day.

"First of all you need a quiet area away from any distraction to conduct this very basic stuff," said Smith. "It goes faster if you have two people, one to conduct the test and one to document it."

She explained to the SNIPPP panel why Haven tests shelter animals.

"We can then determine the personality and judge an animal's suitability for placement in various scenarios," Smith said.

Dogs are generally tested after they have acclimated to their surroundings in the shelter for at lest two to three days.

"If for any reason we don't think they are ready for testing we allow another day or so to ensure an accurate test," she said.

The first phase in the testing process is the SCAN or determining if a dog is sexually mature or intact, cautious, how easily it is aroused (level of bouncing jumping), or ruling if there are no signs of friendliness (aggressiveness or fearfulness).

"We address a lot of areas starting with the condition the dog keeps the kennel it is in, whether or not it is clean or messy," she said.

Other areas of a dog's personality that are tested include barking, response to visitors, back and head petting, feet handling, teeth exam, safe hug, arousal and recovery and how they respond to the toys and tools used in the process.

Once the hands-on tests are completed, specific toys and props are brought to the fenced-in testing pen.

The first dog in to be tested was a young, male German Shorthair mix, full of life.

"This dog is bouncing off the walls with excitement," said Smith as she explained some basic information about the dog. Once the SCAN, the preliminary testing was completed, Smith asked the SNIPPP panel how the dog should be rated.

"Over stimulated," each of the four agreed.

"Yes, this dog is definitely over stimulated partly because of the breed and partly because he's only about 9 months old," Smith said.

When Smith clapped her hands and her voice went into a playful mode, the dog responded more eagerly to play and jump about. When she stopped and ignored it, he continued jumping about. This dog was slow to calm. But Smith said it wouldn't really go against him as he was a puppy and a little time, attention and training would take care of it.

When Robo Rat was set on the floor, red eyes glaring as it went into remote motion, the pup was wary of it, backing away, but then moving toward it. The dog went back and forth trying to figure Robo Rat out.

"He is timid, doesn't know what to think of this creature and reacted moderately," said Smith, adding, "Now he's decided it's a play thing."

The German Shorthair also had some ball drive. He was somewhat willing to go after the tennis ball Smith tossed on the floor.

When Chase came in to the pen, the puppy was interested, but took the back seat as the older canine in a subtle but confident manner, let him know who was in charge. The younger dog backed off with respect. He would be fine living with another dog, but with a proper introduction, Smith explained.

The group decided after all the testing on the dog that it should be rated for a family with children 8 years and older.

By now the SNIPPP group was with the program, realizing how important it is in the placement of adoptable pets.

Haven CEO Dr. Raymond John said while this session of temperament testing was considered simply helping another animal organization better understand the pets they wish to adopt, Haven hopes to offer organized seminars or workshops for a nominal fee to other animal groups sometime in the future.

The second dog was a 2-year-old male Malamute mix. This dog seemed to have a neutral but tolerant response to the antics Smith gave him. He handled the petting, picking up feet but was not real keen about having his teeth examined more than once.

He had a mild interest in "Robo Rat" and the fuzzy toy on a string that Smith also uses in the testing stages.

It was determined that this dog seemed to have a restless spirit and would probably not be good with small children, but would be carefully placed with experienced adults only.

The best of show if this were a personality contest, was the Terrier cross pup that appeared to have a hint of Border collie somewhere in the mix.

"This puppy is only a few months old," said Smith.

But it didn't take long to see what interested the pup. This playful canine quickly took to the ball.

She definitely has ball drive as she chased the tossed ball to the edge of the pen and brought it back to Smith.

"Wow, look at her. She's got ball drive for sure," she said. "This dog will be a great companion dog with an active family."

One of the panel members suggested the pup would probably make a great disc-chasing dog some day.

He even liked the "Robo Rat" once he got it figured out, but the toy on a string was the most entertaining to this dog.

However, when the food was presented to it, and Smith tried to take away, he displayed mild food aggression manners that seemed to disappear when the food item was removed. He settled back into a playful mode.

"This is an easy fix," said Smith. "He just needs a bit of work in this area and he'll be fine. It is a pretty mild issue."

The testing was then over and it was time to evaluate the pup. Smith and the panel agreed this pup would live an active life and would be best suited for an athletic family.

"This puppy test is an eye opener for me," said Jill Spencer. "I hadn't thought about food aggression in puppies."

Terry Hunt replied, "They learn their pecking order pretty quick."

The puppy handled well and she's very tolerant, Smith explained, even though she's a puppy. She will make a great family pet.