Date of Intake: 12/6/2017

Basic Information:: Champ is a 1 year old male gray and white large mixed breed dog. Champ lived with previous owner for about 6 months and was surrendered because owner did not have the time to care for him.

Previously lived with:: Champ previously lived with 2 adults

How is this dog around strangers?: Champ is aggressive towards strangers. Champ will growl and become tense when around new people.

How is this dog around children?: Champ has previously interacted with children aged 2 years and older. Champ will approach children and sniff them and will allow to be petted. Champ can be somewhat rough during play as he tends to push all his weight onto them.

How is this dog around other dogs?: Champ has interacted with small dogs and large dogs. With small dogs, Champ will chase after them and can be pushy. With large dogs, Champ is playful but can sometimes be pushy.

How is this dog around cats?: Champ has interacted with one cat before. Champ would chase after her and then when given the chance, would sniff her intensely.

Resource guarding:: Champ is not bothered when his food bowl is moved or touched while he is eating. Champ is also not bothered when a toy, treat, or object is taken away from his mouth.

Bite history:: Champ has never bitten another animal or human.

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Champ has a high energy level

Other Notes:: Champ is not bothered when being pushed or pulled off furniture. He is also not bothered when being held or restrained, when being bathed, when his paws are touched, or when an unfamiliar approaches him or his owner in the yard.

Has this dog ever had any medical issues?: Yes

Medical Notes: Champ has a scab on the tip of his tail that he sometimes chews on when he is anxious.

For a New Family to Know: Champ is an affectionate, playful, confident and sometimes anxious dog. When at home, Champ will follow you around. Champ enjoyed playing with stuffed toys and running around in the yard. Champ was kept mainly indoors but had access to a yard. Champ was fed both wet and dry food once a day and is house trained. When left alone in the yard, Champ is sometimes well behaved but sometimes will dig up the yard. Champ has been crate trained but will whine after being inside for a few hours. Champ knows basic commands such as sit, stay, come and give paw. When he was taken out for walks, Champ would pull hard on the leash. He was never walked off the leash.

Date of intake:: 12/6/2017

Spay/Neuter status:: No

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (In home for 6 months)

Previously lived with:: Adults

Behavior toward strangers:: Becomes tense and growls at them

Behavior toward children:: Allows them to pet him and plays rough

Behavior toward dogs:: Playful and pushy

Behavior toward cats:: Intensely sniffed the cat he interacted with and chased her

Resource guarding:: None reported

Bite history:: None reported

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Champ is described as affectionate, playful, confident, and sometimes anxious with a high level of activity.

Date of assessment:: 12/10/2017

Look:: 1. Dog leans forward or jumps up to lick the Assessor’s face with tail wagging, ears back and eyes averted.

Sensitivity:: 1. Dog leans into the Assessor, eyes soft or squinty, soft and loose body, open mouth.

Tag:: 1. Dog assumes play position and joins the game. Or dog indicates play with huffing, soft ‘popping’ of the body, etc. Dog might jump on Assessor once play begins.

Paw squeeze 1:: 2. Dog quickly pulls back.

Paw squeeze 2:: 2. Dog quickly pull back.

Flank squeeze 1:: Item not conducted

Flank squeeze 2:: Item not conducted

Toy:: 2. Dog takes toy away, keeps a firm hold. His/her body is between you and the toy, and is loose and wiggly. No growling or stiffness.

Summary:: Champ quickly approached the assessor in the assessment room with a soft body. He jumped up on the assessor several times in a social manner. During tag, he became over aroused, jumping up and hard mouthing the assessor’s arm. Champ allowed all handling.

Summary (1):: 12/7: When introduced off leash to the female greeter dog, Champ is polite when greeting and engages in bouncy play when solicited.

Summary (2):: 12/8: Champ greets female dogs politely and engages in brief bouts of play. He offers correction for the dog jumping on him.

Date of intake:: 12/6/2017

Summary:: Upon intake, Champ had a tense body and would growl if someone approached him.

Date of initial:: 12/7/2017

Summary:: Champ was tense but allowed handling.

ENERGY LEVEL:: His previous owner describes Champ as a high-energy dog. In the care center, he has been active and enthusiastic. He may have a low threshold for arousal and needs guidance to learn how to appropriately channel that energy when he becomes overstimulated. He will need daily mental and physical stimulation and exercise, and a force-free, positive reinforcement-based training class may help him to learn impulse control and to train desirable behaviors that can be rewarded.

IN SHELTER OBSERVATIONS:: Champ was observed to become tense and growl upon intake. This was also observed on a separate day when approached while on leash in the care center, unable to be readily distracted. Champ was also observed to growl at a handler during playgroup when corrected.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: NEW HOPE ONLY

Behavior Asilomar: TM – Treatable-Manageable

Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Place with a New Hope partner

Recommendations comments:: No children: Due to the high level of jumping and mouthing seen at the care center, we recommend an adult only home. Place with a New Hope partner: Based on his history of becoming tense and growling at strangers, combined with the observations of extreme discomfort and arousal seen in the care center (See In Shelter Observations), we recommend placement with a rescue group who can further assess his behavior in a stable home environment.

Potential challenges: : Basic manners/poor impulse control,Social hyperarousal,Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Strength/leash pulling

Potential challenges comments:: Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Champ’s previous owner reported that he will become tense and growl at new people. He also displayed this behavior at intake. Guidance from a professional trainer/behaviorist is recommended to assess behavior after decompression in a new home environment. Force-free, reward based training is advised when introducing or exposing Champ to new and unfamiliar situations. Basic manners/poor impulse control: It is recommended that default behaviors such as “Leave it”, “Sit/Stay”, “Down” are reinforced to substitute any frustration and teach him to control his impulses instead of simply reacting; proper management is also advised. Force-free, reward based training only is recommended. Social hyperarousal: champ quickly becomes over aroused in the presence of excitement, jumping up and mouthing. Positive reinforcement, force-free training should be used to teach Champ to remain calm when people and other exciting things are around. He should be reward with treats when calm. If he escalates to jumping or mouthing, people should immediately walk away from and separate themselves from champ. Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition: Champ has shown some mouthiness in the care center. He has applied hard pressure when mouthing, this is a behavior that should be extinguished through training alternate behaviors and lack of reward (ex. walking away whenever Champ’s teeth make contact with skin). Strength/leash pulling: Champ is a very large, strong dog with the capability to pull over an average adopter. His adopter must be prepared and able to handle a dog of this size and strength. It is recommended that he be walked on a front clip harness or head halter, which help diminish his strength through leverage, and that he be trained using positive reinforcement, reward based training to not pull on leash.