Date of intake:: 8/31/2026

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

Date of assessment:: 9/4/2026

Summary:: 09/4/26: Due to Divinity's fearfulness and avoidant behavior, a handling assessment will not be condcuted at this time.

Summary:: Due to entering the facility as a stray, there is no prior dog-to-dog history recorded. 9/2/26: Divinity is introduced to a novel intact male and sits by a handler, not approaching the fence. She then begins hard staring the other dog while guttural growling for an extended period of time. She is redirected and exits the yard without issue.

Summary (5):: 9/9/26: Divinity is at the front of her kennel with a neutral body, barking and heavy panting; as the handler is about to leash her, she squeezes her head in attempts to push out the kennel. The handler pushes the kennel door so Divinity doesn't push out and leashes her; they present a handful of treats, but she shows no interest, as she is barking in the other kennels direction. The handler brings Divinity out with a shortened leash and walks her out slowly. Divinity fixates and pulls hard towards each kennel she passes, switching between walking on all her legs or just her hind. Once she gets to the two kennels by the exit, she stops walking and fully throws herself towards the kennels; as the handler pulls her away and shortens the leash, they nearly trip over Divinity as she attempts to throw herself again. The handler muscles her out the room and pulls her away. As they are downstairs, Divinity relieves herself before stepping outside; however, once they're in the driveway, she pulls back to the building with significant leash pressure. The handler is able to walk Divinity across the road, even as she stops walking to pull back again. The handler stops walking Divinity to pet her; she allows pets in an appeasing manner, as she lowers herself and slightly shows her belly. However, Divinity begins to pull hard towards the shelter again; she pulls hard enough to make herself pass out. Once she is able to stand on her own, the handler walks her back inside. As they are in front of the room, Divinity frantically moves around to go back inside, but the handler brings her into a new kennel on the other side of the room

Summary (6):: 9/8/26: Divinity is at the front of the kennel panting with a strained expression. She has a soft body and wagging tail. Divinity begins to demand bark as she is easily leashed and taken out of the kennel. Divinity pulls hard out of the kennel, she is leaning forward with a tense face staring at the passing kennels. When approaching the front of the room. Divinity stops and ducks behind the handler. She pulls very hard towards the kennels and handler has to muscle her out of the room. Divinity then shakes off and approaches the handler in a social manner. She has a loose and wiggly body and sits at their feet taking treats offered to her. Divinity is taken downstairs towards the street where she will alternate between pulling very hard to walking with a slack leash. Divinity relieves herself and is taken back towards the shelter. On the way back, Divinity pulls very hard. While waiting to cross the street, Divinity is leaning forward before suddenly collapsing on her side. Handler loosens the leash tension and pets her to wake her up. She continues pulling and is taken back upstairs. Upon entry to the kennel room, Divinity begins to pull towards the passing kennels with a tense face, she is then returned to her kennel without further issue. 9/7/26: It is reported that Divinity is becoming very kennel reactive; she pulls very hard and would fixate towards the kennels. She has to be muscled away for both entering and exiting the kennel room. 9/5/26: Divinity is observed to bark and pull towards another dog while in the driveway. 9/4/26: Divinity gave low wags upon approach and was leashed without issue, pulling hard to go outside. She relieved herself once outside and walked slowly towards the yards. She stopped walking once at the yard entrance, but with some baby talk and crouching down, she crawled towards the handler with fast low wags. Once in the yard, Divinity crawled and displayed her belly, lip licking with rapid tucked wags. The handler gave her a gentle head pet, Divinity crawled closer and burrowed into the handler's arms. She was receptive to gentle play, doing mini very controlled zoomies in the handlers legs with an open mouth. She remained handler oriented and sought out affection but continued to do appeasing behaviors and flinch often. She had no interest in treats or a tennis ball. She pulled hard going back inside and entered kennel without issue.

Summary (7):: 9/3/26: Divinity was lying down in the middle of her kennel and gave low wags when approached, lip licked and stood up continuing low wags when she was spoken to in a baby voice. She didn't take a treat through the bars but ate it once dropped in kennel. She was leashed without issue and pulled hard to get outside. She relieved herself outside and continued to pull hard. Another dog was reactive to her from inside a yard and she hard stared them, tensed, and flagged her tail. She began growling but was easily redirected vocally and led to a yard. She approached the handler with a lowered body and fast low wags. The handler spoke to her in a soft voice and she displayed her belly, lip licking, and nudging towards the handler. She would flinch and lower her head with hand movements near her. The handler gave her gentle head scratches and would consent check, Divinity would nudge closer but still show very fearful appeasing behaviors. The handler went to sit on a bench and she came over and put her front paws on their lap and attempted to lick their face. She would lean in closer with short spurts of petting. She pulled hard while walking back inside, the same dog lunged at her hard barking and Divinity gave a couple alarm barks but was easily vocally led inside and returned to kennel without issue. 09/03/26: Divinity is at the front of her kennel laying down as handler approaches, her ears are pinned back and she looks up at handler who makes minimal eye contact and unlocks the kennel door. She is leashed slowly and without issue and stands slowly on her own before exiting kennel with handler and walking to the street. Outside she frequently stops to sniff spots on the street and relieves herself shortly after reaching the street. Divinity does not accept treats from handler and walks with a low posture and ears back. When seeing people passing Divinity begins to display displacement behavior and will freeze and begin sniffing the floor or surrounding areas, when people pass her she is tense but does not escalate. She walks with handler slowly, stopping often to sniff and walks back to the care centers. Upon returning her leash is clipped and she is returned to kennel without issue.

Date of intake:: 8/31/2026

Summary:: Friendly, touch-sensitive

Date of initial:: 8/31/2026

Summary:: Hard staring and low growling at staff.

ENERGY LEVEL:: We have no history on Divinity 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 addition to physical exercise, to positively direct their energy and enthusiasm.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

Recommendations:: No children (under 13),Recommend no dog parks,Place with a New Hope partner

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Divinity's fearfulness, we reccomend she is placed in an adult-only home at this time. Recommend No Dog Parks: Due to the concerning behaviors that Divinity has shown during playgroup (see DOG-DOG SUMMARY), we feel that she should not visit dog parks. The Behavior Department recommends that she be socialized in a more controlled setting until her behavior towards other dogs can be further addressed. Reward-based, force-free training can be utilized to help Divinity associate dogs with things she enjoys, like toys or treats. Place with a New Hope partner: Divinity came into the care center as a stray; due to this, her behavioral history in a home environment is unknown. Divinity has not acclimated well to the kennel environment and has allowed only minimal handling since intake. Divinity has shown to allow petting from familiar handlers but remains fearful of environmental triggers. 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: : Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Anxiety

Potential challenges comments:: Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: During Divinity medical exam, she was noted to Hard staring and low-growling at staff, and during intake she is noted to baulk during her walks. In care she will display a tense body. Continued support should focus on low-stress handling, allowing her time to acclimate, and building positive associations with people and new experiences. Please see the handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Anxiety: Divinity is noted to displace sniff and become avoidant of handlers. Providing predictable routines, low-pressure interactions, and opportunities to engage at her own pace will help support her emotional well-being and increase her confidence over time. Please see the handout on generalized anxiety.