Pet Assessments for dogs

[ewright86]

My husband and I have just submitted our ROI form our adoption agency and we know that part of stage one means a pet assessment for our two dogs.

We have no concerns around our dogs and their behaviour towards children / people in general, but I am still nervous about someone coming the home to 'test' them particularly from what our SW said about what the assessment entails.

Has anyone had a pet assessment done as part of an adoption application that could provide a bit of insight as to what they involved and what they are like (for the owner and the dog).

[Ted27]

Sadly I don't have a dog, I did have a moggy assessment which was much less of an issue.
I just wanted to say that when the issue of dogs comes up people always focus on the behaviour of the dog.
Many people adopt with dogs, for most there are no issues and pets can be very therapeutic for adopted children.
However sometimes it's the behaviour of the child that is an issue. I know personally of one adopter whose child kicked a friends cat so hard it had to be put to sleep.
One thing social workers want to know that when push comes to shove, you would put the child first and rehome the pet if necessary. It's rare, but it does happen and its something you need to consider.

[MrsMarvellous]

We were really nervous about our dogs and the process as ours are two larger breed rescues and while well behaved they are definitely quirky and lots of people are scared of them.

Our social worker came and did a walk with us at the park, socially distanced, and observed the dogs on lead around kids, other dogs, cyclists etc.

Then they observed the dogs with us in the home. Typically, our dogs were on their absolute best ever behaviour both of these occasions, so we made sure to try and video them around the house in situations that we thought might warrant looking at (being noisy, playing with their toys, showing their quirky behaviours) - and showed her these videos.

On another visit we made sure to evidence in front of her that we could do things like hand feed the dogs, remove their food bowls, basic obedience commands, getting them to drop toys on command etc.

Our social worker was perfectly happy to sign our pets off based on all of this and said she considered them to be well trained - but I know that prior to the assessment when I was asking about it she had said that if she had had any concerns about their behaviour during this 'informal' assessment that a proper pet behaviourist may be required to do a formal written assessment and write up.

We made sure to have 'safe zones' set up around the house for the dogs to be able to get a break from any child that is placed and we've started training them using baby gates to ensure we can separate them without any excitement or anxiety as/when needed. Social worker was happy to see this.

[Runner31]

Our dogs were observed during each of our numerous home visits amd we also had to fill out a pet asseasment form and get a reference from our vet. I wouldn't say our dogs are easy dogs and definitely have their quirks but we have no concerns and neither so social work. A huge part was during one of the home visits my 6yr old nephew was there so they could see how they all interacted.

[lauraslops]

I'm very worried about this being an issue for us. We have a giant breed dog and he is a handful! He is reactive with other dogs and he doesn't really like adult strangers coming in the house. We have a four year old daughter who he has grown up with and he is always very good with children and adults he knows. But I do worry how well he will do with an assessment.
We are just coming to the end of stage one and the SW did meet him at our initial visit and see him interacting with our daughter but we have since changed SW's.

[Blondie1980s]

I have 2 dogs both are very Boisterous and sometimes a bit barky. However our assessment was passed no issues.
Our SW came to the house several times, prior to starting the adoptions process we took them for additional training ( puppy daycare practically ) We had to fill out a self assessment of each god, their character, how they are with children etc (we have lots of nieces and nephews and they have always been good with them we just had to give evidence of this )
Also the person that took our training class wrote a reference for us on them.
As long as you can show your dog is fine around the children Im thinking your ok, and as long as its not any banned breeds. Our self assessment had certain breeds it was wary about placing children with, )totally uncalled for in my eyes as its the owners not the breeds )

[Nel81]

Hi, I have two miniature schnauzers, a breed notorious for being vocal. My female rehome barks at dogs when we're out on walks, mainly because she wants to go up and say hello to them. She cries if she sees people when we first leave the house, again because she wants to say hello. My male, who I've had since a puppy, barks in the house quite a lot. He especially barks when people come into the house. Obviously, with sw visits I'm nervous/scared that they're going to say he's aggressive. He's not, he's just a noisy sod. I am working on this but if anybody has any tips I would be grateful. TIA

[Blondie1980s]

@Nel81 hi there , here's a few things that might work for you or not lol.
Before you know SW is coming take them for a king walk ( wear them out so they don't have the energy to be so badly or jumpy)

Get a mat by the door ( basically give them a quiet place ) practice by every now and then telling them go to bed or go be quiet and getting them to sit and settle down quietly on the mat. Once they do that get a friend or family member practice coming to the door. Each time keep putting them on the Matt until someone can come inside snd get settled before allowing the dogs to come meet them.

Hope this might help and good luck !