Shelter Assessments
Over the past few weeks this article has popped up on social media multiple times. Many caring individuals question whether New Leash on Life- USA uses shelter assessments and how the assessments affect our selection. While the science is still unclear, we do know the assessments are not perfect. These types of tests take highly stressed dogs and push them to see if they will exhibit a negative reaction. The goal is to determine if a dog will be safe in a future adoptive home.
The assessment sounds like a great idea! We want to be sure the dogs we place in people’s homes are safe and loving family members. Unfortunately recent evidence shows there is potential for some dogs to display a negative reaction (especially to a food bowl test) even if they are perfectly safe in a home environment. We certainly don’t want to keep healthy, safe dogs out of homes.
So what does New Leash do? While we utilize a shelter assessment as part of our dog selection process, it is just one small factor in how we select dogs for the training program. We are fortunate to have excellent relationships with our rescue partners who get to see these dogs interact with staff and volunteers regularly. They have a better idea of their day-to-day behavior.
Our mission is to save at-risk dogs. This means some of the dogs we select are truly in a life-or-death situation. They may not respond well to a test—it’s hard to care about eating when you’re too weak to move. That’s why our expert team of staff and volunteers is committed to looking at each dog individually. We take all factors into consideration. We don’t use a single test that results in a pass/fail. We take a holistic approach when we test.
New Leash is dedicated to saving shelter dogs. Our selection process is a careful assessment of each dog’s behavior, need, and reactions. And just as we know one sentence doesn’t tell the whole story about the lives of the inmates, so one test doesn’t close the book on any dog. We are committed to helping people and dogs rewrite their story.
New Leash is getting ready to rescue more dogs because we have a new class starting soon! You can sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear the latest class theme and to get the names of our new pups! And follow us on Facebook and IG to get updates on their training and to celebrate their adoption into their forever homes!