Rain Jordan of Expert Canine with Dahlia.

What’s better than adopting a dog?

A) Protecting and bonding with the dog

B) Sharing your life with the dog

C) Learn to ensure happy-ever-after together with the dog

D) All of the above

Buying dogs from retail stores was once common. We evolved beyond the doggy in the store window paradigm as we learned about the cruelty that frequently lurked behind it. These days, many dog lovers adopt their canine friends from shelters and charity rescue organizations; doing so can help a needy animal, after all. And we have literally millions of them.

About half of the pet dogs in the U.S. are surrendered before they reach the age of two, typically having been with their owners for less than a year. This is especially sad when you consider the lifespan of the average dog, and the reality that many dogs are surrendered multiple times during their lives.

One of the most common reasons people have, whether they declare it or not, for taking a dog to a shelter is behavioral. The ASPCA reports that “pet problems” is the top reason given for rehoming pets, and most of these are described by the surrendering owners as behavior problems.

Also per the ASPCA, 34% of surrendering owners, most commonly dog owners, reported that free or low cost training and behavior assistance might have helped them avoid the loss of their companions. Folks who’ve worked in sheltering or rescue, like I have, will tell you that by the time a person seeks out an organization to which to surrender a pet, it is almost always too late to convince that person to accept help to keep the pet. The owner has already given up — s/he has been without help, or with improper help, for too long. The frustration and fatigue have taken a serious toll on the relationship, with both the dog and human suffering.

Surrendered animals often are at the highest risk of euthanasia. Walk into a busy shelter intake area and read the signage; there may be posted notices alerting the public that surrendered pets can be euthanized at any time, even immediately. If there is no such posted notice, it is probably mentioned on the paperwork a surrendering owner is required to sign. Per the ASPCA, 20% of dogs entering U.S. shelters each year are euthanized. Some shelters are attempting to change this. From my perspective, the attempts so far are, unfortunately, not the solution. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but for the times we face, I do have a strong suggestion.

What’s better than adopting a dog is adopting a dog who comes with an adopter training and behavior literacy, aka TBL, package. In the years since I began pressing for implementation of my canine protection organization’s TBL program, the first and only one of its kind, microcosmic attempts at something resembling the spirit of TBL have been pushed out by a few others in the form of apps and quick conversations. But micro offerings do not provide the solid experience that is so important to outfitting each adopter with crucial praxis and muscle-memory. Apps and websites, videos and webinars, those are sprinkles of theory that are barely tasted if lucky.

Studies that outline the failure of procedures such as providing five minutes of counseling, written materials, and a food dispensing toy to prevent separation anxiety highlight a more serious failure: that of hoping to impart complex behavior and training literacy to adopters using cost-effective, but otherwise ineffective shortcuts. More recently, e-surveys, e-mailed tips, and even chatbots have been suggested as options for helping desperate adopters in need of much more substantial support. When it comes to important skills, emotional conditioning, and behavior modification for our canine companions, sprinkles will not suffice. Adopters and their beloved dogs deserve face to face, in person professional behavior and training expertise.

The best way to serve and protect both adopter and adoptee is to empower both, via the innovative human-to-human offering of R+ training and behavior skills, imparted to every adopter, as part of the adoption process. To save and protect lives, to keep companion canines in their homes and their adopters in adoration with them, we need to gift each adopter with immersion, not sprinkles. A dog’s happy-ever-after might very well depend on it.

Rain Jordan, CBCC-KA, KPA CTP, is a certified canine behavior and training professional. Visit her at www.expertcanine.com.