Date of intake:: 9/22/2026

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Stray; history unknown

Date of assessment:: 9/26/2026

Summary:: 9/26: Toffee remains highly fearful and avoidant of interaction and handling. Due to his defensive escalations, a handling assessment is not being conducted at this time. 9/23-9/25: handling assessment unable to be conducted due to lack of vaccines/medical exam.

Summary:: Due to entering the facility as a stray, there is no prior dog-dog history recorded. 09/27/26 Toffee is introduced to a novel female and multiple novel males while off leash. When the novel males approach to sniff, Toffee becomes increasingly tense, will whale eye, lip curl, grumble, and lightly snap in their direction. The males are guided away and Toffee will remain in his spot for a couple of minutes before walking over to the far side of the room and lying down. Toffee stays there for several minutes before walking across the room to stand next to a handler. He becomes slightly tense when a male approaches him to sniff but the male quickly disengages and walks away.

Summary (7):: 09/30/26 (Trainer Note): Toffee is laying down in his kennel with a neutral body as handler approaches. He is leashed using a large loop and removed from kennel without issue. He is taken to the yard and put on a drag leash. He briefly sniffs around before sitting down in the middle of the pen. Handler approaches and her remains seated, uninterested in treats. Handler is able to pet him along his back, and on the sides of his neck. He heavily leans in when handler scratches his collar area. Toffee is returned to kennel without issue. 9/28: Toffee is reported to have bitten ACS's hand as they were trying to leash him. 9/27: Toffee was reported to have snapped at an ACS due to them trying to lift his kuranda bed that he was laying on to use as a step out of the kennel to help him exit/avoid falling. 09/26/26: Toffee is laying down, curled up on his bed with a neutral body as handler approaches. He remains laying down as the door is opened, briefly trembling. He is able to be leashed and with mild leash pressure he hops out of his kennel. He walks slowly to the canine behavior room. He tolerates petting but does not solicit. He walks around the room, intermittently trembling, often sitting down or laying down in one spot. He struggles to hop up into his kennel and handler is able to left his bottom end while holding a short leash. 9/25/26: Toffee is laying down on his bed with a tense body as handler approaches. He remains laying down as the handler unlocks the door. He is comfortable eating treats that the handler tosses inside and is then able to be leashed. After he finishes the treats, he still remains laying down and refuses to stand. When the handler tosses more treats closer to the front, he then slowly stands up but does to come out of the kennel. He is able to slowly come out when the handler applies slight leash pressure and he is then taken outside for a walk. On the walk, he has a neutral body frame as he explores around and stops at trees to sniff. He has no reactions to dogs or people nearby. When reaching back to his kennel, the handler grabs a bed for him to step up on due to him struggling leap into the kennel on his own.

Date of intake:: 9/22/2026

Summary:: tolerant handled minimally due to stiff body

Date of initial:: 9/25/2026

Summary:: nervous but warms up, able to do all exam when going slow

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 how uncomfortable Toffee is currently with touch and novel stimuli, we feel that an adult-only home would be most beneficial at this time. Recommend No Dog Parks: Due to the concerning behaviors that Toffee has shown during playgroup (see DOG-DOG SUMMARY), we feel that he should not visit dog parks. The Behavior Department recommends that he be socialized in a more controlled setting until his behavior towards other dogs can be further addressed. Reward-based, force-free training can be utilized to help Toffee associate dogs with things enjoys like toys or treats. Place with a New Hope partner: Toffee 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: : Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Bite history (human)

Potential challenges comments:: Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Toffee 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 Toffee, 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 she is not comfortable and is soliciting attention. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. Bite History (human): Toffee has escalated to biting a staff member when they were attempting to leash him for a walk. The bite did not break the skin.