Date of intake:: 1/4/2025

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

Date of assessment:: 1/15/2025

Summary:: 1/15/25: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: Hard pulls Reactivity to humans: Inconlusive- didn't walk pass people Reactivity to dogs: Inconclusive- didn't walk pass dogs Leash walking comments: Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): tense body, high tail, short lip, fixates on scents but does refocus with treats Call over: approaches with heavy coaxing Sociability comments: Handling Soft handling: stiffens, slowly turns head to hard stare at assessor Exuberant handling: did not conduct Handling comments: Arousal Jog: follows, fixates on handler's legs, pupils wide, mouth slightly open Arousal comments: Knock: square, forward-leaning, tense body Knock Comments: Toy: attempts to grab fake hand upon seeing it while stiffening body, body blocks, grips, moves away Toy comments: *** 01/07/2025: Louie Lou is taken to the behavior office for a handling assessment. Louie Lou takes treats from handlers roughly, when the handler goes and pets him he displays a stiff body and high tail. Louie Lou hears staff in the hallway and grows tense and displays a high tail, he doesn't settle and displays a tense body. He is taken back to his kennel and given time to decompress.***

Summary:: Due to Louie Lou entering the facility as a stray, there is no prior dog-to-dog history recorded. 1/6/25 Louie Lou is introduced to a novel male dog while off leash at the care center. Loue will approach the gate with a loose, wiggly frame. He scents the novel male dog at the gate and will immediately mark in their direction, displaying a high flagging tail. The novel male dog walks away while Louie remains self-present, pacing back and forth, attempting to solicit the novel male dog's attention. Louie will then explore the pen, maintaining his distance from the gate. Due to the weariness of the novel male dog during the introduction, and although he warmed up, a face-to-face greet wasn't conducted. Louie Lou is returned to kennel, concluding the interaction. 1/5/25 Louie Lou is introduced to a novel female dog while off leash at the care center. Louie Lou will approach the gate, scenting the novel female dog at the gate, displaying a relaxed, neutral frame. Louie will toe-tap and stand on his tiptoes attempting to appear larger, showing signs of sexual motivation. Louie will mark in her direction, the spread his scent afterwards. Louie will offer bounces as well as play bows but makes the novel female dog uncomfortable. Louie is returned to kennel, concluding the interaction.

Summary (7):: 01/22/25 Louie Lou is in front of his kennel door with a wagging tail. Louie is leashed with ease as he remains neutral. Louie displays a neutral, still frame while pulling on lead. Louie will mark in many different areas along the course of the walk. He maintains a neutral frame all throughout the walk, exploring in dirt patches and exploring in snow. Louie is returned to the facility, entering the building and his kennel with no issue. 01/16/24: Louie Lou approaches the kennel door with a soft and wiggly frame. Louie Lou is easily leashed and escorted to the BA room for his assessment.(Please refer to his behavior assessment summary for more details.) When transitioning from a drag leash to a slip lead, Louie Lou grows stiff and slowly turns his head towards the handler. Louie Lou repeats this when being clipped while being escorted to his kennel. Louie Lou is returned back to his kennel, unleashed safely and securely. 1/7/25: Louie Lou is loose and wiggly at the front of his kennel as the handler approaches. He is easily leashed and walked to the behavior room for an assessment. Louie Lou is licking spray cheese and left in the room with 2 handlers as handler 1 leaves the room for a task. When handler 1 returns, it is reported that Louie Lou became stiff, would lip lick, had a high tail and tense body while they were gone. Louie Lou did not shake off and became more tense with noise and movement, so no assessment is conducted. Handler 1 is able to easily leash and return Louie Lou to his kennel ad he goes with a loose body. He is reluctant to go back into his kennel but does so when treats are tossed. 01/05/25: Louie Lou is at the front of his kennel, jumping up and pawing at the glass upon the handler’s arrival. He is leashed with ease and escorted to the play yard to meet a playmate. Louie Lou allows the handlers to collar and leash him while taking treats from the secondary handler’s hand. Once in the play yard, Louie Lou shows very little interest in his playmate, preferring to focus on his surroundings. After the session, Louie Lou is safely returned to his kennel without any issues.

Date of intake:: 1/4/2025

Summary:: slightly fearful when taken out of crate but warmed up with food and walked easily into kennel.

Date of initial:: 1/4/2025

Summary:: hines and presses body to gate for attention, when left hard barks to regain attention, easily leash

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Louie Lou's resource guarding and response to touch and novel stimuli, we recommend a home with only adults at this time. Place with a New Hope Partner: Louie Lou 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,Handling/touch sensitivity,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Strength/leash pulling

Potential challenges comments:: Resource guarding: While he gave an appropriate warning of his discomfort (stiff, body block, takes away toy), Louie Lou did show possible potential to guard items he considers valuable. His response was appropriate and we cannot be certain if this behavior will be seen in a future home environment, for this reason, we advise against ever removing items from Louie Lou's possession without safely trading for an item or greater or equal value. Guidance from a professional trainer/behaviorist is highly recommended to aid in safely managing/modifying this behavior in a new home environment. Please see handout on Resource Guarding. Handling/touch sensitivity | Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Louie Lou was noted to become stiff and hard stare when touched during the handling portion of his assessment. Based on his body language and social cues, there is concern for potential escalation if not respected. It is important to always go slow and give Louie Lou the option to walk away from any social interaction. He should never be forced to approach anything that he is uncomfortable with or to submit to petting, handling, or interaction. It should always be his choice to approach a new person or thing. Louie Lou may do best in an initially calm and quiet home environment and should be given time to acclimate to his new surroundings. It is important to move slowly with him, to build positive associations (treats/toys/praise), and to allow Louie 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 Handling/touch sensitivity & Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Strength/leash pulling: Louie Lou is a large, strong dog with the capability to pull over an average adopter. His adopter must be prepared and able to handle a dog of this size and strength. It is recommended that he be walked on a front clip harness or head halter, which help diminish his strength through leverage, and that he be trained using positive reinforcement, reward-based training to not pull on leash.