Date of intake:: 6/30/2025

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Stray(Unknown History)

Date of assessment:: 7/3/2025

Summary:: During the end of the assessment, she displayed a high flagged tail, hackles based of tail, spinning in circles and begins to leash bite. Leash Walking Strength and pulling: loose Reactivity to humans: N/a Reactivity to dogs: N/a Leash walking comments: moves away from leashing Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Social-seeks attention, neutral body Call over: Readily approaches- soft body, treats are tossed Sociability comments: head whips away with leashing, Handling Soft handling: Allowed- headwhips, distracted Exuberant handling: Allowed- headwhips, distracted Handling comments: Arousal Jog: Follow- heavy panting Arousal comments: Knock: No response Knock Comments: Toy: No response Toy comments:

Summary:: Due to Squirrel Girl entering the facility as a stray, there is no prior dog-to-dog history recorded. 07/03/25: While off leash at the Care Center, Squirrel Girl is introduced to a novel female dog. At the gate, Squirrel Girl approaches approaches with a loose trot, high curved tail, and mild tail wags. The novel female approaches with a loose and wiggly body. Both dogs will scent one another at the gate. The novel female's arousal and demanding behavior increase—she begins pawing at the gate and eventually barks. Squirrel Girl, appearing conflicted, walks away from the gate and does not return. Both dogs are then separated, concluding the interaction. 07/02/25: While off leash at the Care Center, Squirrel Girl is introduced to a novel male dog. At the gate, Squirrel Girl approaches while displacement scenting, while the novel male approaches with a soft body posture and a wagging tail. The two dogs engage in mutual scenting at the gate. Squirrel Girl presents with a high, curved tail and forward ears before beginning to pace the yard. The novel male remains loose, walking away from the gate before returning to check in with his handler. Squirrel Girl continues pacing and also checks in with her handler, eventually displaying sexually motivated behavior by presenting her hindquarters against the gate. The dogs are then separated, concluding the interaction.

Summary (7):: 07/22/25 (Trainer Note): Squirrel Girl begins to spin in kennel as the handler approaches. She is easily leashed and pulls moderately to the canine training room. She allows the handler to attach a drag leash and moves around the room, sniffing intently. She occasionally makes a wide circle before resuming sniffing. Squirrel Girl approaches the handler and takes treats with a soft body. She displays minimal interest in the slow feeder, occasionally taking a few pieces before returning her attention to the handler. Handler works with her on trying to take some deep breaths and she intermittently participates. She is returned to kennel without issue. 7/10: As a handler collecting music speakers and doing novel scents, Squirrel Girl was seen spinning in a slow circle while whining in her kennel. Her kennel was smeared in feces from her spreading it due to her circling. 7/3/25: Squirrel Girl is laying down on her bed as handler approaches. She comes forward to the front and is able to be leashed with ease. She is then taken to the behavior room for her assessment. In the room, she would pace around with whimpering, and would spin around in circles. She was uncomfortable being clipped to her collar and when being petted. Please see behavior assessment notes for more details. She is able to return back to her kennel with no issues. 7/3/25: Squirrel Girl is siting on her bed as handler approaches her kennel. She comes forward to the door with a loose body and is able to be leashed with ease. She pulls ahead on the way to the yard for play group. In the yard, she greets the other dog at the gate with a neutral body and disengages. Please see dog to dog notes for more details. She is able to return back to her kennel with no issues. 7/2/25: Squirrel Girl was leashed with ease and upon exiting kennel room stopped in the hall to lick the her front paw pads. There was a small amount of blood on the floor where she had walked. Spanky walked to the yard for a gate greet (see dog-dog summary.) Sparky was returned to kennel with ease.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): We recommend Squirrel Girl is placed in an adult-only home at this time. Place with a New Hope partner: Squirrel Girl came into the care center as a stray; due to this, her behavioral history in a home environment is unknown. In the care center Squirrel Girl has shown arousal behavior and presented with a high-flagged tail, hackles raised, and began spinning in circles and leash biting during her handling assessment. Squirrel Girl has also demonstrated handling sensitivities, including head whipping and signs of discomfort with touch, which may be related to an underlying skin condition. She would benefit from placement with a New Hope partner who can provide a calm, structured environment, ongoing medical care for her skin, and support for her behavioral needs, including decompression, enrichment, and force-free training to address touch sensitivity and impulse control.

Potential challenges: : Basic manners/poor impulse control,Handling/touch sensitivity,Anxiety,Leash-biting,Low threshold for arousal

Potential challenges comments:: Basic manners/poor impulse control: Squirrel Girl jumps up non-stop, indicating a need for training to improve her impulse control and basic manners. Consistent training to teach her to sit or stay when greeting people, using positive reinforcement and redirection, will help manage this behavior. Please see the handout on Basic manners/poor impulse control. Anxiety: Squirrel Girl began to display heavy panting,pacing, spinning in circles during her assessment. Managing her anxiety will require creating a calm environment, providing enrichment activities, and using stress-reducing techniques like puzzle toys and regular exercise. Please see handout on generalized anxiety. Handling/touch sensitivity/Leash-biting/Low threshold for arousal: During the end of the assessment, she displayed a high-flagged tail, hackles based of tail, spinning in circles and begins to leash bite.Squirrel Girl is noted to head whip and become uncomfortable touch; this can be possible due to her skin condition.