Although you can't test the true behavior of puppies around people in confined, stressed environments like animal shelters, you can test their behaviors by handling them for a few minutes. A socialized puppy should be comfortable with human touch. If it isn t, it is probably the most aggressive puppy or the least trustful. Dogs may have floppy ears but they hear sounds four times better than humans and with eighteen muscles to move them around they could detect the source of the sound more accurately. Dogs with more natural looking ears could hear and detect sounds much better. Humans may have five million smell sensitive cells enough to make scent detection and scent identification efficient but dogs have 220 million cells in their nose cavities. Initially, the pup will jump, pull, nip, whine, and show fear when leashed. There are plenty of good reasons for this. But aside from its natural tendency to refuse restraints, the first experience with the leash must not have been pleasant. Check whether the leash is too heavy for the pup, and check if the collar is too tight. If rules are not provided and the dog is allowed to do as it wants, it starts thinking that it is the alpha male and will become dominant because contrary to our beliefs, it does not see people as people but as members of the pack where he is a part or where he should lead. Loyalty, sociability, protectiveness, gentleness with those that the dog is familiar with, fierceness to those it does not know and sometimes meanness when there is a perceived violation of territories are real to the dog that endears him to us but these traits are natural instincts practiced within the pack which by extension is given to humans. Adopting A Dog On The Spot Deciding Which Dog to Adopt Sometimes, even with thorough planning, it is still hard to resist puppies with oversized paws and cute, button-like eyes or attractive full-grown dogs, for that matter. This is a natural response commonly observed among would-be owners at rescue homes and animal shelters. And while the dog's breed helps in approximating the general behavior, temperament, and characteristics of the dog, it still comes down to the individual characteristics of your chosen dog. To find your perfect dog match, use the following information: Dog breed Dog breed is the prime consideration when picking a dog to adopt and is probably the best criteria to begin with when choosing a dog.