You’ve heard us say all dogs are individuals. You’ve heard us say looks don’t equal behavior. You may be on board with that, which is great, we love that, but you’re unsure of how to get your shelter staff and volunteers to accept the science that breed isn’t indicative of a dog’s personality.

We’ve got the best tool for that and it’s in a handy dandy infographic! *All of the images in this post are outtakes from the infographic.

Odds are, you’ve seen this infographic before. Maybe you even have a poster hanging in your shelter, but guess what!? We’re giving away giant 70×27 banner-sized posters to the first 150 shelters who fire off an email to info@animalfarmfoundation.org! Put “free infographic banner” in your subject line to make sure we don’t miss your email! Don’t forget to include your mailing address.

Here’s how you can use this as an education tool for your shelter staff and volunteers.

For one, we drop some science in the infographic, like the above information about how even dogs of the same breed all behave differently. And there’s also this gem:

It’s not easy to step away from convention. Habits are difficult to break. Asking “what breed is this dog?” comes naturally to all of us. It’s really weird to hear someone say “breeds don’t matter when picking the dog that’s right for your home.” People need solid reasons to break habits and make big changes, especially when they’re dealing with lives – both human and animals.

Science helps with that. Of course, science can be overwhelming. Our infographic breaks that down into bite-sized talking points upon which you can create deeper conversations with your staff – and even potential adopters.

The fact that there’s no way to know which part of a dog’s breed may influence their behavior is powerful. Even if a dog is purebred, you still don’t know what breed traits it possesses, there are too many factors at play.

The only thing you do know for sure is the behavior you observe from the dog – and that’s what really matters.

You’re in the business of placing great pets in great homes. You can’t do that if your descriptions of dogs are based entirely on guesswork. That doesn’t make for good adoption matches. What does is sound knowledge. The only thing that gives you that is observable behavior, not breed labels.

Want to convey this message to your shelter staff? Then don’t forget to email info@animalfarmfoundation.org and put “free infographic banner” in the subject line to score the 72×27 infographic freebie! Make sure to include your mailing address in your email!