Long-term follow-up of adaptiveness of laboratory beagles adopted as home pets

Some dogs used for laboratory investigations can be adopted by a family whenever euthanasia is not required. Whether these dogs are able to adapt themselves as pets has to be investigated. Our laboratory has set up an adoption program for adults Beagle bitches, once neutered for experimental purposes. This study was designed to evaluate the behavior of the animals after their adoption. Over a 9-year period (2002 to 2010), 191 bitches have been adopted. A total of 105 families were then contacted by telephone and asked to answer a questionnaire. The questionnaire included in formation about the family, its environment, and questions to evaluate how the dogs adapt to their new environment. Two consistent phases were observed following adoption. First, dogs went through an initial acute phase of stress that included anorexia, resistance to urinate or defecate outside, and reluctance to walk on leash. The second phase shows dog's adaptation. The dogs became clean, were eager to be walked and became friendly with family members and other animals. As the time of the survey, 92% of those dogs were reported as clean, 84% were cuddly, 89% were demonstrative and 84% were fully adapted to their new environment, all though still easily fright-ened (84%). Yet, most adopting families expressed satisfaction (8,8/10).Looking back to the behavior of dogs in the laboratory yielded a pretty good indication of their future adaptiveness. This adoption program can be regarded as successful and the rehabilitation of laboratory dogs turned out to be a desirable alternative to euthanasia.