Do you ever see posts for various rescue or shelter dogs with description that says "needs socialized," "takes a little while to warm up," "shy with kids," "need to be the only dog in the house," "needs to learn some manners," and wonder what that means? These phrases are coded language that remind me of real estate ads. Think about a house or an apartment that's advertised as one of these things- cozy, quaint, lovingly maintained, handyman special. We can translate those onc

Sometimes people will ask me if I can join them to assess a dog or a puppy before they adopt. I am happy to do that but it's important to realize that "temperament test" is a bit of a misnomer. There is no 15 minute test that tells us everything we need to know about a puppy or a dog from now through forever. They are affected by genetics, environment, and training methods. It's more accurate to call these evaluations "behavior assessments" because they give us a snapshot of