State of the art and aim of the study - The return to the shelter of adopted dogs is a frequent occurrence, mainly due to behavioural disorders. Aim of this research was to evaluate whether behavioural advice to the owner at the moment of adoption could be useful in preventing behavioural disorders and decrease the return rate of dogs to the shelter. Material and methods - The study involved 50 shelter dogs (25 subjects in the experimental group and 25 in the control group) and their adoptive families. Before the adoption only the families of the experimental group received standardised behavioural advice from a Veterinary Specialist in Behavioural Medicine. All dog behaviours were monitored through a followup questionnaire for 6 months after adoption. Results and discussion - Six dogs were returned to the shelter; two were part of the experimental group (one was brought back because of destructive behaviour, the other because of family matters) and four dogs belonged to the control group (two subjects were returned because of aggressiveness toward the owners, one dog because of family management problems and the other due to family matters). The owners of both groups reported cases of aggressiveness and inappropriate elimination; these behaviours decreased during the follow-up period. Our preliminary results did not show any significant statistical differences between the two groups of dogs, probably because of the low number of subjects in this pilot study. Increasing the sample size could clarify the importance of correct owner education before dog adoption.