The Placement of Shelter Dogs

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, if shelters wish to decrease their rates of return, as well as doing everything possible to ensure that dogs are placed with loving, healthy families, they need to examine, as closely as possible, not only the surface-level attributes of the family, such as income level and home ownership, but also deeper issues, like habits and long-term goals. The author points out that dogs to be adopted must be healthy dogs and known not to be dangerous; on the other hand, families experiencing any level whatsoever of familial violence cannot be allowed to adopt a dog. The family system method of interviewing families to determine their suitability to adopt a dog includes questions in these categories: individual needs and behaviors, family connections, and changing family patterns.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Systemic Family Therapy
Shelter Policies and Procedures
Serious Human Considerations
A Possible Systemic Assessment Approach to the Adoption Process
Individual Needs and Behaviors
Family Connections
Changing Family Patterns
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"What do these two seemingly abstract descriptions of systemic family therapy have to do with the adoption of dogs from a shelter? First and foremost, they have led to a wide variety of assessment approaches that therapists use to understand how families interact. For example, the therapist who can assess the overall contributions to the family that each member of power (meaning, usually, the adults) makes to the greater good, then s/he can understand to what extent these members will most probably interact with and care for a future dog member of the family. The therapist who can assess how many hours each person spends at home, or how many chores each person generally takes upon him or herself, or how much money each person is expected to earn in a given year -- and, more importantly, how each person feels about these and many other things (i.e. do they feel resentment or contentment) -- is a person who can provide a shelter with a wealth of vital information."

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