Date of intake:: 12/14/2017

Spay/Neuter status:: Yes

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner surrender

Previously lived with:: 1 Adult and a toddler

Behavior toward strangers:: Very friendly

Behavior toward children:: playful and tolerant

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Homeboy displays a very high activity level in the care center.

Date of assessment:: 12/16/2017

Summary:: Homeboy is difficult to remove from the kennel, biting at the leash and towards the handler’s hand. He has also allowed minimal handling from his caretakers. Out of concern for his stress levels and his response to restraint, we feel Homeboy is not a great candidate for a handling assessment at this time. Please see his owner surrender profile for a full summary of his behavior in his previous home.

Summary (1):: According to Homeboy’s previous owner, Homeboy did not socialize with other dogs while in their care. 12/15: When off leash at the Care Center, Homeboy enters the yard highly aroused and anxious. He jumps up onto the gate several times while whining. Once introduced to the novel female, he briefly sniffs her then paces the pens. After several minutes he attempts to engage in play-increasing his arousal and anxiety. He grabs at the greeter dog and the handlers in the pen. He displays low bite inhibition, and his session is ended immediately.

Date of intake:: 12/14/2017

Summary:: Very energetic and allowed all handling.

Date of initial:: 12/14/2017

Summary:: Hyperactive

ENERGY LEVEL:: Homeboy displays a very high activity level in the care center.

IN SHELTER OBSERVATIONS:: When approaching Homeboy’s kennel, he was sitting in front of the door. When a handler attempted to remove him from his kennel, he immediately became fixated on the rope, and began jumping towards it. A second handler attempted to distract Homeboy with a rope toy, but he did not show any interest in the toy. When the first handler went to remove him from the kennel, he immediately began to bite at the rope. When the handler moved the rope away from him, Homeboy jumped up towards the rope and snapped at her hand.The second handler made a second attempt to remove Homeboy. She was able to rope him, but he started to bite at the rope, when leaving the room. He continued this all the way to the pens. Once outside in the pens, Homeboy did briefly release the rope and sat down between the two handlers and allowed for one to collar him for Playgroup. The other handler was even able to pet him on his head, to which he leaned into.

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 Homeboy social hyper aroused and novel stimuli, we feel that an adult-only home would be most beneficial at this time. New hope partner: Due to the warning and distance-increasing behaviors shown in the care center, as well as Homeboy leash reactivity and biting towards the rope, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide force free behavior modification to address the biting and underlying anxiety.

Potential challenges: : Social hyperarousal

Potential challenges comments:: Social hyperarousal: Homeboy has displayed low threshold for arousal, rapidly escalating and quickly biting the rope (When removing him from his kennel and outside in playgroup) Immediate intervention and consultation with a qualified veterinary behaviorist/professional trainer is strongly recommended to aid in addressing this issue to prevent further behavioral concerns that may appear in the future if not treated right away. We recommend only force-free, reward based training when introducing or exposing Tetris to new and unfamiliar situations.