Behavior Assessment


Presenting… SQUID! 16

So, every Tuesday I go to the Humane Society of Washington County to do behavior assessments for adoption dogs, and every week I manage to resist some wonderful faces and personalities. We even play an “if” game at the end of assessments… Teasing ourselves a little we ask each other, “If you had to adopt one of the dogs we assessed today, which one would it be?” I’m pretty safe playing this game – we have five dogs in the family, with no intentions of adding another permanent canine resident. Five is our limit. However, that doesn’t preclude an occasional […]


Behavior Modification Academy 8-10 4

Confession time… I’m waaaaaay behind in getting a blog done, and now I have a dilemma – there have been so many things happen that I’ve wanted to blog about, like the Humane Society of Washington County donation jar getting stolen from the table at Martinsburg Bike Night, and the subsequent exciting chase, capture of one suspect, and ultimate recovery of the jar with over $250 in it. (It was the father of the two juveniles who actually went out and found the jar!). Or my observations from the Humane Society vaccination clinic and flea-less market that drew a long […]


Maggie Faith Follow-Up 9

Okey Doke – I promised you a follow-up on the Westie pup left abandoned in our driveway, so here it is. Never let it be said I don’t keep my promises… Maggie spent the week while we were on our biker vacation happily making friends at the Humane Society of Washington County. They assessed her at the end of her stray holding time, and found that she was friendly, outgoing, resilient (as in nothing rattles her) and very quick to use her mouth. They weren’t sure if she was using it aggressively or not, so were not willing to make […]


ASSESSING THE SITUATION 6

Every Tuesday morning 9:30am finds me doing assessments of prospective adoption dogs at the Humane Society of Washington County (www.hswcmd.org) in Hagerstown, Maryland, where my husband Paul is the Executive Director. I am committed to this volunteer time because I firmly believe that shelters have a responsibility to make every effort possible to place the most appropriate canine companions in the best homes available for them. Assessments give us information that can help make the best placements. The history of shelter behavior assessments goes back only about 15 years, and is fraught with controversy. Sue Sternberg, who founded Rondout Valley […]