For some dogs, finding a home isn’t so easy

VIRGINIA BEACH

Gino was at the shelter for five days before staff members realized the dog’s barking and urinating problems might go a little deeper than suspected. A snap at a shelter employee’s arm during feeding raised additional worries.

Barbara Gipson was familiar with the problems. As shelter manager for the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she evaluates thousands of dogs and cats at the SPCA shelter every year. Sometimes, they arrive with medical issues, such as heartworms. Others bring social baggage, often showing aggression or timidity.

The goal is to figure out which ones are adoptable and which must be euthanized.

“The safety of the community is always first,” Gipson said. “There’s nothing worse than a child having a scar on their face for the rest of their life because I wanted to hurry up and get a dog out of here.”

Such points, animal advocates say, have been made more clear in recent months following the seizure of 50 pit bulls and other dogs from Michael Vick’s property in Surry County. Most of the fighting dogs went to eight rescue groups, including Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, which hopes to rehabilitate the animals for adoption.

But each dog is “an individual,” said Michelle Besmehn, the Utah group’s dog care manager, who declined to talk about the specific issues with Vick’s former dogs.

“It really is about their history and individual personalities and genetics ,” she said. “Some dogs come around with a little bit of work, and for others, it takes a long time.”

Many shelters don’t have the space or resources to offer the training some animals need. Since its building expanded four years ago, the Beach SPCA has focused on a more structured program for evaluating the temperament of its animals. The assessment was used last month when the shelter took in 12 of Vick’s other dogs, including nine beagles.

As of last week, all but three of the Beach dogs had been adopted. A fourth – a Rottweiler – was moved to another rescue group because of aggression problems.

Though staff members would like all the animals to go to loving homes, it just isn’t possible, said Sharon Adams, executive director of the Beach SPCA. Last year, the group accepted nearly 5,000 animals and euthanized about 1,100 for medical or behavior problems.

Determining whether a dog or cat with a behavior problem is adoptable isn’t always easy, Adams said. “Clearly, this is a snapshot in time of the animal’s behavior and not a predictor .”

Such was the case with the 65-pound Gino, an “all-American mix” with a deep red coat and tiger stripes. A family had expressed interest in the 1-year-old, but after the biting episode, Gino’s adoptability remained questionable.

Gipson reviewed his file last week. The former owners who had turned him over had recently moved into a new house without a fenced-in backyard. At his prior home, Gino had spent most of his time outdoors. Inside, he urinated and defecated where he wasn’t supposed to, and he barked a lot.

At the shelter, staff also noticed the dog hovering over and growling around his food. Gipson decided a temperament test was due. The 15-minute test includes brief exercises to evaluate a dog’s behavior.

Gipson brought Gino into the shelter’s kitchen and immediately noticed socialization issues. The dog sniffed the vending machines and lounge furniture in a hunkered-down position, his back legs slightly bent and his tail hanging low.

“This worries me,” she said, “that he’s so fearful.”

Other exercises proved more promising. Gino lovingly leaned into Gipson’s body for back rubs and didn’t yelp or bite when his legs and tail were tugged. He nibbled on a stuffed teddy bear and didn’t try to shake off a peek at his teeth.

“A dominant dog would never let me in his mouth,” Gipson said.

Then, the food bowl test. Gipson dropped a clump of canned Mighty Dog into a dish and placed it in front of Gino, who eagerly gobbled it up. Using a mock hand – a stick with a fake hand duct-taped to the end – Gipson pulled the bowl away. Gino ignored the interference. During a second attempt, Gipson tapped at Gino’s side, hoping he’d lift his head from the bowl. He didn’t.

The reaction and later growling and aggressive incidents in his kennel raised further worries. At the least, the dog could not go to a home with any young children, Gipson said.

Ultimately, matching animals with the right owners is crucial to a successful relationship, Adams and Gipson agreed.

“Many issues are workable but you have to be someone who will put forth the effort, do the research and take it seriously,” Gipson said.

Susan E. White, (757) 222-5114, susan.white@pilotonline.com