Behavioral dogs are the ones most likely to be destroyed at county shelters. Some of these animals are listed as being unpredictable, fearful or aggression toward other dogs. These labels are assigned by the county staff often based on owner surrender information which is often exaggerated to avoid judgement and to justify their actions, or based on shelter staff observations or comments but we know that it takes a trained professional to avoid misreading important cues and behavior. We know there are many factors that come into play, staff does not have time to complete full assessments, many are not trained in dog behavior to be able to make that assessment and sometimes what a previous owner may say which when surrendering an animal, we just don’t know how much of the information is credible, adding to that, the fact that the facility is just in itself an environment that is scary and stressful and can sometimes bring out the worst in the best of animals. Given these dogs lives are on a fast approaching countdown, we want to make sure that these animals get an independent professional opinion so that people and rescues may see beyond the labels and look more at the potential.