Kit Berry runs a charity for rehoming German Shepherd Dogs and had a young male German Shepherd in her care that was the subject of legal proceedings. The dog had allegedly bitten a cyclist on a towpath and had been removed from his owner. His owner had now been banned from owning dogs for eighteen months and the local police force contacted R.A.I.N. for their help and advice.

Kit is a remarkable 82 year old lady, who effectively found space in one of her local kennels for the dog. She then embarked on a four month challenge to keep the dog from an almost certain fate and to stop a destruction order from being passed. This involved her and her colleagues (all unpaid volunteers) collecting statements and temperament tests on the dog from an array of qualified people. Clearly the dog could not be re-homed whilst the case was in court and so the charity covered the cost of the boarding whilst trying to influence the decision about the dogs’ future.

Behaviour Practitioners and trainers were hired to test the dog and to provide statements for the police and that is how I became involved. Kit telephoned me three weeks ago and explained that she needed a temperament assessment to be conducted on the dog and filmed for evidence and a written expert statement for the police.

I booked Kit in for the following week to bring the dog to the centre for his temperament once over. One never knows what to expect when people arrive although in Kit’s immense experience she had opinionated that she thought the dog was of a good nature and therefore their was hope – I was optimistic that I would be able to agree with her.  Kit arrived with ‘Charger’ a large male German shepherd and in company with Sarah Conniford, one of the charities volunteers. They had collected the dog early that same morning from the kennel that had been Charger's home for the past few months. When they got him out of the car, you could see in an instant that Charger had not been obedience trained as he bounded over to see me. Clearly happy to be out of the kennels and in the company of some new people. Charger had bonded instantly with Sarah and one would have thought that she had owned the dog for years observing their relationship and fun atmosphere they created.   

Charger was a big bundle of fluff and excitement as he boisterously threw his bulk about the place investigating the consultation room shedding hair all about the place as only a GSD can!

We deal with a regular number of court/dog cases and we have in place a strict procedural assessment system that is rigorously implemented. What you state now in writing can and often is tested in a court in the near future. Your evidence will be tested by some of the sharpest legal minds hence the centre has developed such specialised work.

I began to gather the background of the dog and the alleged offence before we embarked on the tests. It was all rather sketchy, but he had apparently been owned by a gentleman since puppy-hood and had been removed by the police after the alleged bite.

Having set the cameras in place, Colin Tennant and I conducted the tests, trying to replicate the circumstances of the incident and other tests using people that we had at the Canine & Feline Behaviour Centre. To all our relief, Charger passed the tests with flying colours. No aggression was observed and his temperament was normal, although it was evident that he had not received the full compliment of socialisation with people in many different circumstances and his temperament with other dogs was superb.

The tests were logged in written form the film tape secured on file, the written statement was compiled and Charger set off back to the kennels. I heard from Kit the following week informing me that all charges against Charger had been dropped and that he was living with Sarah, her two children aged three and ten along with Sarah’s three other German Shepherd’s and any other dogs that she may be fostering at the time. Sarah has decided that she will probably now keep him as a part of her family. He has been renamed Ice, has had a bath, a groom and lots of walks and his obedience training is well underway.

Ross McCarthy

Click here to watch some of Ice's temperament tests