Date of intake:: 10/27/2025

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner surrender ( 10 months)

Previously lived with:: 2 adults, 3 children(3,6,8 y/o)

Behavior toward strangers:: tolerant around strangers and prefers contact on his own terms.

Behavior toward children:: friendly, outgoing, and playful around children. He has previously lived with three children, ages

Behavior toward dogs:: He avoids other dogs.

Behavior toward cats:: No experience.

Resource guarding:: He values food and toys. He protects these items by hovering with a tense body.

Bite history:: No known reported bite history.

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Christmas is noted in the prior home to have a medium energy level.

Other Notes:: He uses the bathroom outside and inside on weewee pads. He is reported to be mouthy/take treats roughly. He is reported to pull hard on leash, and have destructive tendencies. While on walks he lunges towards strangers that approach, and small animals. He is not bothered when held/restrained, when woken from sleep, when startled, when pushed off furniture, or when his collar is grabbed. He barks/growls when his feet are touched. He is a social, affectionate, playful, dog. He spends most of his time where people are, in the kitchen, and in the living room. He allowed his previous family to bathe him, brush him, and trim his nails. In his previous home he would go on two walks a day. He has never been crate trained. He loves going on car rides. He knows, "sit", "stay", and "down". He is good with kids. He loves to play with any toys.

Date of assessment:: 11/8/2025

Summary:: 11/8/25 Leash Walking Strength and pulling: MIld Reactivity to humans: N/a Reactivity to dogs: N/a Leash walking comments: Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Pacing in room, allows petting, heavy open mouth panting, blushed face Call over: Comes when coaxed- flinches from fast movement, Anxious Sociability comments: Handling Soft handling: Tolarent- heavy open mouth panting, lip licks, turn head Exuberant handling: Tolarent- heavy open mouth panting, lip licks, turn head Handling comments: Arousal Jog: Follow- hewadwhip heavy open mouth panting, fixate on handler leg Arousal comments: Knock: No repsonse Knock Comments: Toy: Fearful of dummy hand Toy comments: 10/29/25: Chrismas is taken to the behavior office for a handling assessment. He is avoidant of collaring and becomes conflicted seeking attetion from the handlers, but will quickly pull away and seek exit. He begins to scratch at the exit door. Christmas is not interested in the treats offered to him. Due to this, a handling assessment will not be conducted at this time. 10/28/25: A handling assessment is not conducted at this time due to Christmas getting a medical exam. ***12/26/24: Please inquire about prior handling assessment and prior stay for more details.***

Summary:: Returned 10/27/25' According to Christmas's previous owner(s), He avoids other dogs. Familiar/unfamiliar are not specified as well as on/off leash. 11/02/25 Christmas is introduced at the gate to a novel female dog while on leash at the care center. Christmas will approach the gate with a stiff body and hard face. The female dog reacts to Christmas by hard barking excessively and he walks away and shakes off. Christmas returns displaying hackles, maintaining a stiff body before being returned to kennel. This concludes the interaction. Due to Christmas entering the facility as a stray, there is no prior dog-to-dog history recorded. 12/29/24 Christmas is introduced to a novel female dog while off leash at the care center. Christmas will greet the novel female dog at the gate, scenting her with a stiff body. Christmas appears nervous, displaying paw raises at the gate and immediately displacing, scenting the ground creating distance from the gate. Christmas returns to the gate, scenting the novel female dog again, this time more tense with his hackles raised and a high stiff tail. Christmas will display whale eyes before creating distance again, this time maintaining his distance from the gate. Christmas is returned to kennel, concluding the interaction.

Summary (6):: 11/9/25: (Assessment) Christmas is at the front of the kennel as the handler approaches. As they get closer and start unlocking the door, Christmas begins to jump on the door and vocalize. He is leashed with ease and will come out of the kennel quickly and press his nose into the handler's leg as he sniffs them. They continue walking to the behavior office. In the office he will loosen up once he is on a drag leash and free to roam around. (see assessment for more details) Once the assessment is over, Christmas is lured through the leash loop with a treat, unclipped from his leash with ease and returned to his kennel where he is secured safely with no issue.

Summary (7):: 11/08/25 (observation): Christmas is observed to hard bark and lunge at kennel door when handler walks by to pass out enrichment. 11/05/25 (Trainer Note): Christmas is at the front of his kennel with a neutral body as the handler approaches. He is easily leashed and pulls moderately to the canine training room. Christmas enters the room with a slightly tense body and avoids the handler. He sniffs around the room and allows the handler to gently touch his hind end, but flinches. He is returned to kennel without issue. 11/2/25: Christmas is at the back of the kennel when the handler approaches. He will come up to the front and stand on the door with his front paws. His pupils are dilated and as he is standing at the door. The handler then leashes him with ease and he comes out of the kennel quickly and jumps up at the handler's chest with a hard face but is stopped with the leash. He will then walk out to the yard, pulling moderately. Once in the yard, the handler clips his collar. He goes up to the fence to greet a playmate. (See Dog-Dog for more details) After the greet, he is switched from his drag leash to a slip leash and returned to his kennel with no issue. 10/29 (assessment): Christmas barks once when he sees a handler approach. He begins jumping on the door and initially ignores offered treats, but when the handler lures all four feet to the ground. He then begins to eat the treats as he is leashed. Once brought to the office, he greets a second handler with a soft body but becomes avoidant when trying to collar, refusing treats, sliced cheese, sausages, spray cheese, and ham. Christmas backs away with whale eyes, running between both office doors seeking exit. Out of concern for his stress levels, he is returned to his kennel and an assessment is not conducted. As the handler is opening the door to the room where his kennel is, Christmas jumps on the door and begins digging at it. He then runs back into his kennel. - 10/28/25(BA Note): Christmas is lying down in the back of his kennel and will jump up and charge the front, displaying hackles, a tense body, hard barking, growling, and jumping up on his hind legs. Once leashed, he is escorted toward the assessment room but begins limping and then lies down to lick his front right paw, where redness is visible on the paw pad. Due to medical concern, assessment is discontinued. Christmas is returned to his kennel safely. For more information, see medical notes.

Date of intake:: 10/27/2025

Summary:: initially bark at staff when they entered the room. When taken to the office he was social, loose

Date of initial:: 10/27/2025

Summary:: amenable to gentle handling

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): We recommend Christmas be placed in an adult-only home at this time. No cats: We reccomend Christmas is placed in a home with small animals due to him in the prior home to lunge at small animals. Place with a New Hope partner: Christmas came into the care center as an owner surrender due to his destructive behavior in the home. When left alone he will chew furniture. In the care center Christmas is a fearful, conflicted dog who shows signs of anxiety and discomfort with handling. He seeks attention intermittently but quickly withdraws. He is avoidant of touch and attempts to flee when uncomfortable, suggesting that he would benefit from placement with a New Hope partner experienced in working with fearful dogs. A slow, patient approach with trust-building, desensitization, and counterconditioning will help him acclimate and develop confidence in a stable environment.

Potential challenges: : Resource guarding,Destructive behavior,Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition,Handling/touch sensitivity,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Anxiety,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration,Strength/leash pulling,Kennel presence

Potential challenges comments:: Resource guarding: Chrismas is noted in the prior home values food and toys. He protects these items by hovering with a tense body.Training should focus on building trust through trade-up exercises, teaching cues like “drop it,” and managing access to high-value items. Gradual desensitization and positive reinforcement will help reduce guarding behavior. Please see the handout on Resource guarding. Destructive behavior: Chrismas was noted to engage in destructive behaviors in his previous home, which may stem from boredom, anxiety, or lack of structure. Providing consistent enrichment, exercise, and mental stimulation, along with crate training and supervision, will help redirect destructive tendencies. Please see the handout on Destructive behavior. Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition:He is reported to be mouthy/take treats roughly. Training should include hand-feeding exercises to teach gentle treat-taking and redirecting mouthy behavior to appropriate toys. Please see the handout on Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition. Handling/touch sensitivity:Chrismas barks and growls when his feet are touched, suggesting discomfort or fear. Training should focus on desensitization to paw handling using positive reinforcement and cooperative care techniques to build trust and tolerance. Please see the handout on Handling/touch sensitivity. Anxiety/Fearful/potential for Defensive Aggression- In care, Christmas displays fearful behavior but warms up with a slow approach. During his medical exam, he was noted to be friendly with a relaxed body and wagging tail, though he did show his teeth during treatment.To help Christmas overcome his anxiety, fearfulness, and potential for defensive aggression, a structured training plan focusing on gradual desensitization and positive reinforcement is essential.Please see the handout on generalized anxiety and Fear/potential for Defensive Aggression. On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: While on walks he lunges towards strangers that approach, and small animals. Training should include counter-conditioning to stimuli, reinforcing calm behavior at a distance, and structured walking routines to reduce overstimulation. Please see the handout on On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration. Strength/leash pulling: He is noted to pull hard on the leash.Training should focus on loose-leash walking techniques, such as stop-and-go or direction changes, and using appropriate walking tools like a front-clip harness to improve control.Please see the handout on Strength/leash pulling. Kennel presence: Chrismas is noted to growl and bark hard in front of his kennel when the handler approaches.