Date of intake:: 9/30/2026

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

Previously lived with:: Adults, 1 child age 14, 1 cat, 1 small dog, 1 medium dog, 1 rabbit

Behavior toward strangers:: Alert barks

Behavior toward children:: Friendly, outgoing, tolerant

Behavior toward dogs:: Friendly and tolerant, playful with familiar dogs and unfamilar dogs when off-leash

Behavior toward cats:: Tolerant, playful, friendly, outgoing

Resource guarding:: Previous owners report that Duke considers toys items of value and will growl and hard bark.

Bite history:: Duke has a reported bite history from Dec 2022. The bite was a bite and release to a person's hand and did not break skin. The bite occurred when Duke was new to the home. The previous owners adult brother, who was unfamiliar to Duke, attempted to play with him, at which point Duke became anxious, resulting in the bite.

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Duke previous owners describe him as a high energy dog.

Other Notes:: Duke is anxious when left alone. His previous owners report that he is not bothered when he is held or restrained, disturbed while sleeping/resting, when his collar is grabbed, or when he is startled. He growls and barks when his paws are touched. Duke allows his family to bathe and brush him.

Date of assessment:: 10/8/2026

Summary:: 10/08/26: Duke immediately runs to the office door when brought to the behavior office for his reassessment. The hadnler walks him around the office and collects high-value treats to offer him - chicken breast, spray cheese, and sliced cheese. He briefly sniffs them before trying to bolt. Due to his behavior, he is unable to be collared and a handling assessment cannot be conducted. 10/02/26: Upon entering the behavior office, Duke is tense with a tucked tail. He paces between both office doors and is wary of handlers approaching him. He will whale eye and lip lick when approached. Duke does not take high-value treats (sliced cheese, chicken breast) and continues to seek exit. Due to his bite history, concerns in the previous home, and his avoidance behaviors in care, attempts to conduct a handling assessment are ended.

Summary:: Duke arrived as an owner surrender, but is noted to be friendly and tolerant, playful with familiar dogs and unfamiliar dogs when off-leash. 10/13/26 Duke is introduced to a novel female while on a loose leash (does not tolerate collaring). Upon entering the yard, he immediately seeks exit and will not approach the gate at all. After several attempts to coax him forward, Duke still actively seeks exit and is returned to kennel. 10/2/26: Duke greets a novel female dog through a barrier. Duke initially displays significant fearful body language, including a tucked tail, whining, and repeatedly seeking an exit. Despite his fear, Duke chooses to approach the novel female and begins slowly wagging his tail and licking through the fence. The novel female remains neutral bodied and eventually walks away, while Duke continues displaying a wagging tail and remains interested at the barrier.

Summary (7):: 10/13/26 (playgroup): Duke is at the front of his kennel with a crouched posture and will slowly back away as the leash is placed on his neck but is able to be leashed. He will exit his kennel slowly and will walk ahead of the kennel sometimes hesitating to take another step. He steps into the elevator with no issue and will walk at a moderate pace pulling mildly with his tail still tucked and back rounded. He is brought into a yard and hesitates to enter. The handler uses mild leash pressure to bring him into the yard. another handler attempts to coax him over to them to attempt collaring him but he continues to seek exit. The handler will then squat down next to him in an attempt to coax him but he still attempts to seek exit. They will then enter the play group yard to attempt collaring at the gate but he will just pull hard towards the door anytime he is brought to the center of the yard. He is returned to kennel and secured safely. (see dog to dog for additional details) 10/11/26 (Trainer Note): Duke is laying down on his kuranda bed with a neutral body as handler approaches. He slowly comes to the front and is leashed using a treat as a lure. He mildly pulls as she is walked to the community room for a training session. He is tense bodied in the room, avoidant of handler, pacing, and seeking exit. Handler is able to use the leash to guide him away from the doors and tosses treats onto a snuffle mat which he engages with. He is highly food motivated but does not approach handler at first. Handler plays "treat & retreat" and he readily participates, with each trial stepping closer to handler. He is returned to his kennel without issue. 09/30/26(BA Note): Duke is sitting in the back of his kennel and will allow the handler to place the leash on him but will flinch when the leash makes contact. He will then walk out of his kennel and follow the handler to the assessment room. Once inside, Duke will continuously pace back and forth, seek an exit, refuse treats, and avoid the handlers. Due to these observed behaviors, Duke will be designated New Hope Only and brought back to his kennel safely without any issues. For more information, see Behavioral Assessment.

Date of intake:: 9/30/2026

Summary:: Shy but friendly, not collared due to fear

Date of initial:: 9/30/2026

Summary:: Nervous, tail tucked, shaking, snapped when attempting to examine mouth, urinated on restraint

ENERGY LEVEL:: Duke is described as a high energy dog by his previous owners. He will need daily mental and physical activity to keep him engaged and exercised. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct his energy.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Duke's fearful behavior and potential for defensive escalation, we recommend an adult only home at this time. Place with a New Hope partner: Duke has not acclimated well to the kennel environment and has allowed only minimal handling since intake. Due to all noted concerns both in the care center and home environment, we recommend placement with a New Hope partner who can provide any necessary behavior modification (force-free, positive reinforcement-based) and re-evaluate behavior in a stable home environment before placement into a permanent home.

Potential challenges: : Resource guarding,Handling/touch sensitivity,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Separation anxiety,Bite history (human)

Potential challenges comments:: Fearful/potential for defensive aggression | Bite history (human): Duke has shown highly fearful behavior while in the care center. During his medical examination, he was tense and tail tucked, and attempted to bite when staff tried to examine his mouth. He also urinated during medical restraint. During his handling assessment, he was avoidant of handlers and consistently sought exit from the room. In his previous home, when Duke was still new to the home, he bit an unfamiliar person when the person attempted to play with him; the bite did not break skin. Duke gives clear warnings when he is uncomfortable and does seem to choose to avoid or retreat when given the opportunity, but if prevented from moving away there is a potential to escalate to higher-level warning behaviors and possible fear-based aggression. It is important to move slowly with Duke, to build positive associations (treats/toys/praise), and to allow him to initiate interactions with new people. He should never be forced to greet or to interact if he is not comfortable and soliciting attention. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Handling/touch sensitivity: While in the care center Duke has shown highly fearful and defensive behavior around medical handling, particularly when attempting to examine his mouth. Duke's previous owners also report that he would growl or bark when attempting to touch his paws. It is important to avoid touching these areas at this time and to be cautious when touching him in other areas as we do not know where he may have other sensitivities. Positive reinforcement, reward based training should be used to pair touch with good things such as food rewards in order to teach him to be more comfortable with this. Please see handout on Handling/touch sensitivity. Resource guarding: Duke is reported by his previous owners to consider toys items of value, and may bark and growl when engaged with them. For this reason, we advise against ever removing items from Duke's possession without safely trading for an item or greater or equal value. Please see handout on Resource Guarding. Separation anxiety: Duke's previous owners report that he barks a lot when left alone. We recommend that potential adopters feel comfortable with separation anxiety behaviors and prepared to manage and positively modify them should they appear in a future home environment. Please see handout on Separation Anxiety.