Dating 101 -- almost

Monmouth County SPCA program matches pets with perspective "parents"

Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/6/05
BY CHERYL MILLER, CORRESPONDENT


Are you looking for love in all the wrong places? Then you might want to start looking at the Monmouth County SPCA.

In an attempt to reach those people seeking pets that don't go to shelters, the SPCA recently introduced "Meet Your Match" -- a dog adoption program that helps people find the right dog for themselves, and their families. By procuring "canine-alities" of its adoptable pets, and personality and lifestyle surveys of its prospective adoptive parents, the program then hooks up those considered to be most compatible.

"It's like a dating service!" says Charlene Gomes, Monmouth Beach, who volunteers for the program. "We help find the right match."

And while not exactly speed dating, the process takes no longer than the week that new strays are required to stay at the shelter.

The program, originally created by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, determines a dog's general disposition by administering five tests to assess its friendliness, playfulness, energy level and motivation or drive.

They are:

Greeting Test. Assesses how the dog greets its evaluator. "Are they fearful? Do they jump on you?"

Left Alone Test. The dog is judged on how it spends its time unsupervised for four minutes: "Does the dog go after the garbage?"

Play Test. Determines whether it prefers to play with a toy or a human.

Food Motivation Test. Assesses how quickly it learns commands.

Manners Test. Its overall behavior and social awareness is judged.

Depending on the results, the dog is then categorized as either High, Average or Easy Maintenance; categories that are color coded to green, orange and purple, respectively, says Denise Burger, the program's adoption counselor manager.

The categories are further broken down according to specific personality types: High Maintenance types can be Go Getters, Life of the Party or Free Spirits, while Easy Maintenance types can range from Couch Potatoes to Teacher's Pet. Each pet in the program has his color coded biography posted on its cage, Burger, a Freehold resident, adds.

"We're giving people a lot more information than they get in a pet store," says Laurie Garrison, a volunteer board member from Oceanport, "and setting up people with the right expectations."

And the program is not just focused on animals, but on people, too.

"Every single person who comes in here to adopt has to fill out a survey," says Burger, "even if they just want to adopt a guinea pig."

Once they fill out their surveys, they are told which type of dog they'd best be suited for. Currently the program only involves dogs, although the shelter plans on doing it for cats in 2006, she says.

Then it's up to Cupid, who was definitely around when Phillip Palazzolo met Mickey.

Fresh off the streets as a stray, Mickey, a 2-year-old Shelty/shepherd mix, was very timid, often quivering with her tail between her legs, Palazzolo recalls. But the Freehold resident couldn't take his eyes off her, and went back to the shelter to see her every day.

She was tested and categorized as a Wallflower, a "shy yet charming canine searching for patient owner with relaxed lifestyle," according to the program literature, and required average maintenance.

"We didn't want to put her with children," says Burger. "She needed a stable environment."

Palazzolo fit the bill -- a widower, he lived with his adult nephew and hadn't had a dog for 10 years.

The two of them were able to leave the shelter together seven days after she first arrived.

But not all matches are that easy, says Kim Ruane of Oceanport, who put the program in place.

"Some people pick out a dog based on its hair color," says Ruane, who admits she did just that with her first dog, a terrier mix. "I love her, but she's not all I wanted in a dog." And while opposites might attract, "we want to steer people away from dogs that aren't right for their lifestyles," she adds.

This is part of the reason so many people return animals to the shelter, and why it implemented the program to begin with. "We want to -- decrease the number of animals that might not be an appropriate match," says Ursula Goetz, executive director of the SPCA.

And, because the SPCA is a no-kill facility, "our animals stay too long, and it's very stressful for them," says Garrison.

Take Sweetums and Junebug. Together since they were 3 months old, they first came to the shelter four years ago. They were adopted to a home together, and lived there for three years, but returned to the shelter in August because their owners were moving, Ruane says.

"They were one of the first ones we profiled," Ruane says of the 7-year-old beagle and mini pinscher-mix who are compatible in every way, including their color -- they are both categorized as orange, or Average Maintenance.

Since initiating the program in February, the staff has placed 75 dogs in the program (only dogs who pass a temperament test are eligible) and found adoptive homes for 50 of them.

And they only can hope the figure continues to grow.

"Only 20 percent of pets are acquired from our shelters," says Garrison. "We're trying to reach the 80 percent that doesn't think to come to shelters."

And they're confident that when they do come, they'll finally find what they're looking for. "We want people to walk out of here with their new best friends," says Garrison.

The shelter is located at 260 Wall St., Eatontown, (732) 542-0040.

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