The Meet Your Match™ Program is designed to increase the likelihood that dogs aged six months and older adopted from our shelter will be accepted into their new homes as welcome members of the family. 

Meet Your Match™ helps form lasting bonds by matching your expectations of pet ownership to a dog’s behavior. Matching the “canine-ality” of the dogs in the shelter with the type of dog you're looking for lays the foundation for the human-canine bond to develop, increasing the potential for a successful, permanent placement.

The Meet Your Match™ Adoption Program is comprised of various components.

The first part, the Canine-ality Assessment, helps us determine the individual needs of each dog.  A battery of five tests help us determine his or her general canine-ality including friendliness, playfulness, energy level, motivation and drive.

Each dog is then categorized as either easy, average or high maintenance. These categories are color-coded purple, orange and green, respectively.

Three descriptions within each color category represent different motivation types: socially motivated, internally motivated, or externally motivated.

The socially motivated dog is motivated by human contact and attention. This type of dog values human attention and will work for it. Descriptions for socially motivated dogs in each color category are Life of the Party (green), Goofball (orange), and Constant Companion (purple).

The internally motivated dog is often motivated by stimuli that are difficult or impossible to control. This type of dog is often independent, and is not necessarily motivated by social contact, tennis balls or even food.  Descriptions for internally motivated dogs in each category are Free Spirit (green), Wallflower (orange), and Couch Potato (purple).

The externally motivated dog is motivated by a variety of stimuli including human contact, food, and toys.  Descriptions for externally motivated dogs are Go-Getter (green), Busy Bee (orange) and Teacher’s Pet (purple).

The second part of the program, the Dog Adopter Survey, helps us envision how your new dog will fit into your home and family. 

The Dog Adopter Survey helps us determine what kind of canine-ality you are looking for in a dog. Eighteen questions help us match the dogs' behaviors to your expectations, experience, lifestyle and home environment. 

The results of the survey will match you with dogs from one of three categories: easy, average, or high maintenance.