Stop The Suffering...we can't do it without you
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Stop The Suffering...we can't do it without you
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Avoiding Placement Errors
The physical aspects of home screening have improved a great deal thanks to the internet as more rescuers work together to do home visits for each other, but frankly, the mental aspects have not. For example, an adopter may have the means and facilities to care for a dog, but are they really suited to own -this- breed and -this- particular dog? If there are medical or behavioral issues, will they be able to handle them? In the hurry to get dogs placed quickly in order to save others, those questions aren't always answered until after the placement is made. As one volunteer told me, "we get the dog in a home first and work the bugs out later". This philosophy will produce some successful adoptions through the luck of the draw but it runs a much higher risk of failure than placements that are well-planned and requires a substantially greater investment of the rescuer's time in post-adoption counseling.
The most common placement mistakes I see are:
To accurately match dogs with adopters, you need to do two things: you must get to know the dog well and you must find out what the adopter wants in a dog. Getting to know the dog involves keeping it in foster care long enough to get to know it! I'm amazed how many dogs are placed in adoptive homes within a day or two of being retrieved from the shelters, barely long enough to get them spayed or neutered, much less find out what they're like. Almost every dog is on its best behavior during its first two weeks in a new situation. It doesn't know what to expect or what the rules are so it does its best to stay out of trouble while it figures everything out. Many negative behaviors don't appear until this honeymoon period is over and the dog is more settled. Placing the dog before you really know what you have can set up the adopter for some unpleasant surprises. Without getting to know the dog, it's impossible to match it correctly with a new owner. You need to find out as much as you can about the dog's personality, activity level, ability to learn and how it will behave in the common situations it will encounter as a family pet. These aspects can't be fully discovered in a couple days' time or within a rudimentary "temperament test" given at the shelter. You must live with the dog for a few weeks to know what you're trying to place. Once you know the dog, you can create a profile of the type of owner you think is best suited for it. Finding out what a prospective adopter wants in a dog
isn't as hard as it might sound. It involves asking some well-aimed questions
and listening carefully to the answers. During interviews, rescuers often talk
more than they listen but listening is what brings out what you need to know. When I'm interviewing an adopter, I want to know what their previous dog was like because that's usually the dog their current perception is based on. Was it quiet, noisy, active, mellow, good with children, etc.? What did they like most about the dog and what would they have changed if they could? What kinds of activities did they do with the dog? What do they hope to do with this one? Most of the time, you don't actually have to ask all these questions directly. Just ask them to tell you something about their last dogs (or the one they have now) and encourage them through the conversation. Most people will talk about their past pets indefinitely if you show you're interested and all of this information is extremely useful to you. It tells you what priority their pets have in their lives, how they're cared for, what behavior they're used to, and what they expect from their new dog. Most of this information can't be gained through an adoption application. In my opinion, applications are meant to determine basic physical facts: who the person is, where they live, who else is in the household, get references, etc., facts that will help you do some preliminary screening. The application can tell you who might have the physical means to care for a dog but it will be your personal conversations with the prospective adopter that tell you whether that person will fit well, physically and emotionally, with the dog you have available. Be honest about the dog and honest with the adopter. Many people can live happily with an imperfect dog but they need to know what the imperfections are so they can make an informed decision. Some beleaguered rescuers leave out important information for fear it will discourage the adoption. It's far better to be upfront and possibly lose the adopter now than to have them find out later that you didn't tell him everything they needed to know. Not only are they likely to return the dog, they'll feel that you deliberately misled them. Worse, they may be leery to try again with another rescue, turning instead to a purchased puppy that they believe they can mold into what they're looking for. Don't force square pegs into round holes. No match is going to be a perfect fit but it should be close. If the dog will not work for this family, be willing to wait for another. If the dog has a problem that makes it a bad fit for most families, work to fix the problem before putting the dog up for adoption. Experienced volunteers know that rescue is about more than saving lives. That's just the easiest part. The most important aspect of rescue is putting that dog into the right home where it will be loved and cared for for the rest of its life. That's the hardest part and the most satisfying. There are no shortcuts to making a good match but the results are well worth the effort.
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For
a placement to be successful, a deep bond between dog and adopter needs to
develop quickly. This bond must be strong enough to carry the person through
after the thrill wears off and encourage them to overcome problems as they
arise. The creation of the bond is a complicated thing and it begins with the
meeting of expectations. The adopter has a vision of what his new companion will
be like and he expects the dog to fit into it. If the dog doesn't meet these
expectations, the resulting disappointment will prevent formation of the bond.
If the dog hasn't been carefully matched to the family during the pre-adoption
process, the chances increase that dog won't meet their expectations and the
bond will not develop properly. Without it, the dog is more likely to be
returned especially when unanticipated problems appear.
