Date of intake:: 12/4/2024

Spay/Neuter status:: No

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Stray, no prior history

Date of assessment:: 12/7/2024

Summary:: There were two attempts to conduct a handling assessment on Bruno. The first time, Bruno was highly fearful, hiding behind one of the handlers, displaying tense posture and whale eyes. He did not greet the other handler. On his second attempt, he was taken to the behavior room and began to hard stare at the assessor and helper. He lip lick while displaying a tense body. He became avoided of handling and didn't respond with coaxing. Bruno began to whine and pace in the room. Due to these behaviors, Bruno is not a good candidate for a handling assessment at this time.

Summary (5):: 12/16/24: Bruno is standing at the front of kennel with a loose and wiggly body as handler approaches. He is easily leashed and he leaps out of kennel, running out of the room to be brought out onto the street. He remains very loose and wiggly with handler, occasionally approaching, leaning in to handlers legs, and soliciting pets. He occasionally will get the zoomies and run to the end of the leash and come back. He is very treat motivated and will walk along side handler for treats. He takes them very softly as well. He relieves himself and bounces around his walk. He pulls very hard back towards the care centers, handler has to hold him back from sprinting. He is secured in his kennel without issue. 12/14/24: Bruno is standing at the front of the kennel with a loose and wiggly body as handler approaches. When handler goes to unlock the door and open it to leash Bruno kept jumping and standing upright on the door. Handler used treats to get him down and leashed. He is taken to the yard, where his is exuberant handler plays the "up, down" game which bruno is receptive to however, he did get frustrated and one point and grunted so handler stopped playing the game. Handler also placed him on a drag leash and he was running around the yard, tried to engage in fetch with toys however he will just run after the toy and come back to the handler. He is easily leashed and taken back to kennel with ease. 12/11/24: Bruno is standing at the back of his kennel with neutral body and rapidly wagging tail. Handler offers a treat through the bars. He comes forward and takes the treat but then backs up. A treat is offered again, he comes forward, takes the treat, retreats and then stretches. A treat is offered again through the loop and he is leashed this way. Once out, he is walked to the driveway where is tail is low. He turns his head frequently to handler. Treats are tossed on the ground and he eats then. He is easily spooked, jumping on handler anxiously when there are alot of noises and people passing. He pulls handler back to his kennel and jumps in readily.

Summary (6):: 12/07/24: Bruno is standing at the front of his kennel and growls upon the handler’s arrival. Despite this, he walks to the front and is leashed with ease before being taken outside for a short walk prior to his assessment. During the walk, Bruno displays a downward tail and walks calmly alongside the handler on a short leash without pulling. However, he puts on the brakes and refuses to walk past the care center, showing a preference to return inside. The handler escorts Bruno back inside and brings him to the BT room for assessment. While in the room, Bruno remains tense and hard-stares at the primary handler. He is eventually returned to his kennel safely with no issues. 12/7/24: Bruno is sitting in the back of his kennel as handler approaches. He begins chuffing and vocalizing in a low guttural tone and lowering his head, ears and body. He is offered treats but does not accept them, he hard stares at handler for a while so handler steps back and brings more high value treats for Bruno. He begins to accept chicken tossed to him, and approaches handler accepting chicken by hand. After a bit of giving treats to Bruno, handler leashes him while distracted with treats and brings him out to the yard. While out in the yard Bruno will walk close to handlers side and looks up at them frequently. He does not pull during his walk and uses the bathroom outside. He briefly baulks at the back of the yard and due to Bruno not responding to treats or a squeaker, handler walks the opposite direction with him which encourages him to walk again. After walking around for a while, Bruno begins shaking and starts to whine, he also begins walking more frantically and his movements become quicker and more sporadic. Handler decides to end the interaction and brings Bruno back to kennel where he is returned without issue.

Summary (7):: 12/6/24- Bruno is at the back of his kennel with a tense body, when handler opened the door he slowly came to the front with his head low. He was easily leashed and taken for a street walk. He was aloof with handler, he took treats with slight pressure. He walked on a loose leash, handler and Bruno crossed the street. Bruno was hesitant to walk, handler lowered their body and offered treats. He walked forward and took them. He would stop walking again and handler held out more treats from a little further distance. Bruno didn't follow and was vigilant looking around. Handler held the treat closer and he came closer to eat it. After a few more tries to have him walk further, he stopped accepting treats. Handler crossed the street when going, paused. Handler waited for people to pass, Bruno got closer to handler and lip licked as MOP past him. Once it was clear handler used treats to slowly lure Bruno back in the driveway. He slowly made his way back into the building and taken for assessments. Once in the room, he leaned into handler's legs, shaking and avoiding the assessor. Assessor moved away and handler sat on the couch, Bruno put his front paws and upper body on handler's lap/ body while maintaining eye contact with other handler. He started to huff at them, handler stood up and undid drag leash. Assessor left room to give Bruno space, when handler was exiting room with Bruno he passed them in the hallway and side eyed them. He walked on his own accord without treats and was easily returned to kennel without issues. 12/6/24: Bruno is standing at the back of his kennel, body pressed against the transfer door, tense, ears back. He will not come forward for treats or higher value items. Handler uses a long hook to reach back and place the leash over his head. He allows for this to happen. Once the leash is secured and the door is wide open, Bruno comes forward and steps out of the kennel on his own. He walks next to handler with a tense body and tightly tucked tail. He will turn his face towards handler and look back at second handler frequently throughout the interaction. He is not interested in treats. He returns to kennel without issue.

Date of intake:: 12/4/2024

Summary:: Allowed handling, growled when food was approached

Date of initial:: 12/4/2024

Summary:: hard starting, fearful, tense, growling

ENERGY LEVEL:: We have no history on Bruno so we cannot be certain of their behavior in a home environment. However, they will need daily mental and physical activity to stay engaged and exercised. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct their energy and enthusiasm.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Bruno fearfulness, he should go to a home with older children. Place with a New Hope partner: Bruno has not acclimated well to the kennel environment and has allowed only minimal handling since intake. 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,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression

Potential challenges comments:: Resource guarding: Bruno when approached by staff while he was eating, began to growl. Bruno should be taught trade up games to help manage his food guarding. See handout on Resource Guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Bruno has been fearful in care, and has escalated to growling at medical staff. He did not allowed handlers to conduct a handling assessment. Bruno should never be forced to greet or interact if he is not comfortable and soliciting attention. He would do best in an initially calm and quiet home environment and should be given time to acclimate to his new surroundings. See handouts on Decompression Period and Fearful and Defensive Aggression