Dogs Essay -- Shelter Dogs

The results of the study scaled the dogs on five dimensions of behavior temperament playfulness, quirk/fearfulness, chase-proneness, sociableness, and aggressiveness (De Palma et al., 2005). Dogs living in render shelters were assessed as demonstrating a low degree of playfulness, showing distraction by the environment when being enticed to play. The sheltered dogs overly scored low on curiosity but, high on fearful behavior. The cortisol levels for the sheltered dogs were significantly higher than the cortisol levels of canines living in households, indicative of focus and anxiety associated with shelter lifestyle. Shelter dogs showed a low proportion of chase-proneness supported by demonstrations of low physical activity and excitability. Shelter dogs were assessed as exhibiting low levels of sociability toward conspecies but, a high sociability when concerning humans (De Palma et al., 2005). This trend was also demonstrated when observing levels of aggressiveness the dogs see med more antagonistic toward conspecies than humans. It should be noted that shelter dogs displayed lofty bouts of hostile behavior and results were supported by little data.It is interesting to find a set of shared characteristics existing in canines living in rescue shelters. Such findings lead one to speculate if the shelter environment may be partly responsible for inducing behavior characteristics? After all, dogs living in shelters are subjected to a variety of stressors including isolation from attachment figures, loss of control, intense noise, and a multitude of other distressing stimuli (Tuber, Miller, Caris, Halter, Linden & Hennessy, 1999). A dog countenance such a harsh environment is likely to acquire abnormal social behavior, retarded ... ...able the rescue staff and volunteers to be proficiently skilled in executing canine behavioral therapies. As a result, shelters would be able to help community members eradicate problem behaviors and improve the bond with thei r pets. This would allow shelters to make out a first resource, not just a final solution.Part TwoReview of Personal ExperiencesSince as far back as I can remember, I have always loved dogs As a young girl, I would often beg my parents to let me adopt one, but they refused. My sire was not keen on dogs and had a low tolerance for their typical behaviors. I was determined to get a dog, despite my parents denial. Whenever I would encounter a dog unaccompanied by its owner, I would take it home with me. When I was confronted by my parents, I would cry and make up some elaborate base as to why we had to rescue that dog.