Date of intake:: 5/9/2025

Spay/Neuter status:: Yes

Means of surrender (length of time in previous home):: Owner Surrender (Approx 2 days)

Previously lived with:: 2 Adults

Behavior toward strangers:: Mercury is tolerant and friendly

Behavior toward children:: Mercury is tolerant

Behavior toward dogs:: Mercury is tolerant

Behavior toward cats:: No experience

Resource guarding:: None reported

Bite history:: None reported

Housetrained:: No

Energy level/descriptors:: High

Other Notes:: Mercury has daily accidents. He is fearful of thunderstorms/construction sounds. He jumps up. He isn't bother when held/restrained, when disturbed while resting/sleeping, when taken off the furniture, nor when his paws are touched. Previous stay- 4/15/25: Owner Surrender Means of surrender (length of time in previous home): Owner Surrender Previously lived with: 2 adults, 2 children (21/16 Behavior toward strangers: Mercury will hard bark, can become friendly Behavior toward children: Mercury is friendly and outgoing Behavior toward dogs: No experience with familiar dogs, will avoid while on leash Behavior toward cats: No experience Resource guarding: None reported Bite history: None reported Housetrained: No Energy level/descriptors: High Mercury's previous owner states: On walks he shies away from dogs and new people. His previous owner describes him as: a sweet boy who loves to play catch. He knows sit and lay. Enjoys rolling around for pets. *Previous assessments can be given upon request*

Date of assessment:: 5/11/2025

Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: Hard Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: Lunges towards bird Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Highly social Call over: Approaches handler Sociability comments: Jumps up on handler, loose body Soft handling: Accepts contact Exuberant handling: Over aroused Comments: Head whipps attempts to mouth handler Arousal Jog comments: Follows handler exuberantly Knock Knock comments: Barks and vocalizes, approaches handler readily, jumps up Toy Toy comments: Grips firm and engages with the toy exuberantly

Summary:: 4/22/25: Mercury barks at the other dog at the gate while moving away.

Summary (6):: 6/19/25: It was reported that Mercury was intensely leash biting in the yard and was unable to be redirected using treats. 6/18/25: It was reported that Mercury was intensely leash biting and alligator rolling in the driveway. Treats were not used. 6/16/25: Mercury is at the front of the crate with a neutral body and slow wagging tail, he is easily leashed and walked out of the room. He pulls mildly out of the building. Mercury is taken to the street where he pulls mild to moderately. He ignores various stimuli like bikes and people. He has not been observed to leash bite. He is brought upstairs where he is returned to his crate. He enters the crate and begins relieving himself on the linen. Handler is able to remove the leash during this and the crate is closed. 6/10/25: Mercury is observed to jump up and bite the leash persistently. This behavior is able to be redirected when another handler tossed treats. 6/2/25: ACS reports that Mercury was intensely leash biting and was jumping up high towards the leash and the handlers face. 6/1/25: ACS report that a volunteer told them that Mercury was leash biting. 5/26/25: Mercury is observed to growl and hard bark as handler approaches crate. He retreats while whale eyeing. Handler does not interact further. 5/18/25: As handler approaches Mercury's kennel, he is lying at the front, neutral-bodied. As handler opens the kennel, Mercury would sit up and begin to play-bow as handler attempts to leash him. He then allows handler to easily leash him. He is then picked up and carried to the ground safely with no issue. Mercury then grabs a toy he found on the floor on the way out to the street, he would carry the toy in his mouth and then would drop it and begin to play with it in the driveway. He would continually toss the toy around and attempt to catch it each time. He would periodically attempt to give the toy to the handler, at which point he is then ignored and goes back to tossing it around. He would continue to play with this toy the entire time and wouldn't want to go out to the street, so handler decides to keep him in the driveway. He would stop playing when he saw other staff members walking by but would go back to playing with the toy afterwards. This would go on for a few minutes; he is then clipped, lifted, and returned back to his kennel safely, and the interaction is then ended.

Summary (7):: 5/11/25: Mercury is standing with a loose and wiggly body in his kennel as handler approaches. He begins to jump on the handler's shoulder and paw at them while being very wiggly as the handler attempts to pick him up. He is able to be placed down on the ground safely, and is taken outside for a walk. On the walk, he would pull and jump ahead of the handler. He would pull and lunge towards birds and jump up on the handler to demand for treats. He is then taken to the behavior room for his assessment. In the room, he would jump up on the handlers to receive pets and treats. When given a toy, he would shake it around and instantly dropped it due to being afraid of the assessment hand. Please see behavior assessment notes for more details. He is able to return back to his kennel with no issue. 4/23/25: Mercury is lying down in kennel, he is easily leashed and lifted out of kennel. He is placed on the ground and pulls hard out of the room. He bites the leash as the drag leash is attached. He sees dogs pass and barks at dogs he sees. Handler re-leashes him with treats and he continues to leash bite. He is brought back inside and lifted into the kennel. As the leash is removed he bites the leash and begins tugging it into kennel. He eventually drops it on his own and the leash is quickly removed. 04/17/25: Mercury is at the front of his kennel as handler approaches. He jumps up and paws at the leash when it is presented but handler is able to leash him. He is removed from kennel and walked to the behavior office for his assessment, while walking he turns around to mouth the leash. Once in the office he attempts to constantly jump on handlers and begins leash biting. He wriggles around when being collared and mouths handler when attempting to pet while also vocalizing. He is not redirected with treats or a squeaker. He is distracted with spray cheese when re-leashing and returns to kennel with handler.

Date of intake:: 5/9/2025

Summary:: Loose wiggly body with wagging tail

Date of initial:: 5/11/2025

Summary:: Standing at kennel door with relaxed body

ENERGY LEVEL:: Mercury is described as active and enthusiastic. They will need daily mental and physical activity to keep them 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. We recommend feeding with puzzle feeders and food-dispensing toys. And we recommend using force-free, reward-based training techniques for Mercury.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: Level 4

Recommendations:: No children (under 13)

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to low threshold for arousal and lack of basic manners we recommend a home with no children.

Potential challenges: : House soiling,Basic manners/poor impulse control,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,Anxiety,Leash-biting,Low threshold for arousal

Potential challenges comments:: House Soiling: Mercury's previous owner states that he is not house trained and will have daily accidents. We recommend positive reinforcement, reward-based training only. Accidents should never be punished as this will likely make the problem worse. Please see handout on House Soiling. Basic Manners:Mercury's previous owner states that he will jump up. During his stay in the care center the same behavior has been observed. It is recommended that default behaviors such as "Sit" and "Off" are reinforced to substitute any frustration and teach them to control their impulses instead of simply reacting; proper management is also advised. Force-free, reward-based training only is recommended. Please see handout on Basic Manners. Fearful Defensive: Mercury's previous owner states that he will hard bark towards strangers. Another previous owner states that he is fearful of loud noises. It is important to move slowly with Mercury, to build positive associations (treats/toys/praise), and to allow them to initiate interactions with new people. They should never be forced to greet or to interact if they are not comfortable and soliciting attention. Please see handout on Fearful and Defensive Aggression. Anxiety: During his previous stay Mercury was observed to whine and bark throughout his assessment. If Mercury displays anxious behavior in their future home, we recommend puzzle toys, long walks, and giving them other things to focus on to alleviate their anxiety. Positive reinforcement, force-free training should be used. Please see handout on Generalized Anxiety. Arousal/ Leash Biting: Mercury has been observed to quickly become over aroused and begin to jump up and bite the leash. Throughout his assessment Mercury was observed to bite the leash. This behavior was not able to be redirected easily. We recommend walking them with a toy to dissuade them from grabbing the leash. Positive reinforcement, force-free training is advised to teach them to focus on you rather than grabbing the leash. Please see handout on Leash Manners. Please see handout on Arousal.