Date of intake:: 6/10/2025

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

Previously lived with:: 4 adults, children ages 5 and up

Behavior toward strangers:: Alert barks, Friendly & Outgoing, Playful. Will sniff you and then will be relaxed.

Behavior toward children:: Friendly & Outgoing, Playful

Behavior toward dogs:: Familiar dogs: Shy/Contact on their terms, Tolerant, Friendly & Outgoing , Playful Unfamiliar dogs -

Behavior toward cats:: No experience

Resource guarding:: Autumn is reported to have a tense body and hovers over treats

Bite history:: No bite history

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Autumn is noted in the prior home to have a high energy level.

Other Notes:: Goes potty on: Wee-wee pads, Designated area in home Accident frequency: Never Behavior concerns: Pulls hard on leash, Anxious when left alone Reacts to on walks: "Moving objects (bikes, skateboards, cars, etc.) ", Children, Strangers that approach you/family members, Strangers that approach the home/yard, Small dogs , Cats, "Small animals (squirrels, birds, rats, etc.)", Large dogs Reaction type: Other Additional info: Curious and friendly How this dog reacts when... - Held/restrained: Isn't bothered - Disturbed while resting/sleeping: Isn't bothered - Startled: Fearful - Pushed/pulled off furniture: Unknown/Have not attempted - Paws are touched: Fearful - Collar grabbed/touched: Isn't bothered will snap when her feet are touched and doesn't allow nail trimming.

Date of assessment:: 7/17/2025

Summary:: 7/17/25: Autumn is being taken to the behavior office for a reassessment. Once in the office, she displays high hackles down her back and begins to heavily pant and pace in the room. Autumn has shown difficulty settling and begins to jump and mouth the handlers, she finds a plush toy begins to play with it still displaying high hackles throughout her reassement. When the handler goes to toss treats to trade out for the toy she begins to growl and display a tense body. The assessor was able to distract her with high-value treats, which she began to take, then lost interest and mouth the handler's hand with hard pressure. Due to this and not being able to conduct a reassessment Autumn will be bumped back to New Hope Only. 6/18/25: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: mild Reactivity to humans: N/A Reactivity to dogs: N/A Leash walking comments: noted need coaxing when going back into the kennel Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Anxious- jumps on handler, hard to settle Call over: Readily approaches- takes treats, heavy panting Sociability comments: Handling Soft handling: Allowed- looks back, heavy panting Exuberant handling: Allowed- looks back, anxious, Handling comments: Arousal Jog: Follow- pulls toward exit, jumps, heavy panting Arousal comments: Knock: Approaches- panitng, jumps on helper Knock Comments: Toy: grips, walks away, body block Toy comments: 06/13/25: Autumn is taking to the behavior office for a handling assessment, she is displaying fearful behavior, pacing back and forth while seeking an exit. She approaches the handler with a tucked tail and trembling body, appearing conflicted; she shows interest in engaging but repeatedly backs away. She began fearful of the helpers movement when they rose from their chair. Autumn displays a low body and her face begins to growl tense. Due to her escalating discomfort, the assessor escorts Autumn back to her kennel to avoid further stress. A handling assessment will not be conducted at this time. 06/12/25: Autumn is taking to the behavior office for a handling assessment, in the office she begins exit seeking behavior and was unable to settle in place. Her tail became less tucked over time and takes treats and allows petting. With sudden moves she begins to pace again. Fue to hear dearfulness she is given an extra day to decompress. 6/11/25: Due to not receiving vaccines, a handling assessment is not conducted at this time.

Summary:: According to Autumn’s previous owner(s), she has interacted with a variety of dogs and is often described as tolerant, friendly, outgoing, and playful. However, she can also be shy and prefers physical contact on her own terms. With unfamiliar dogs on leash: Autumn may initially be shy and prefers contact on her own terms, but she is generally friendly, outgoing, and tolerant. With unfamiliar dogs off leash: Autumn tends to be shy, prefers to initiate contact on her terms, and may initially hide before gradually warming up. 07/29/25 Autumn is introduced face-to-face to a novel male dog while on leash at the care center. Autumn waits as the novel male dog is escorted into the room where she awaits him with a loose frame. As the novel male dog enters the room, he appears nervous, maintaining his distance as Autumn becomes stiff in frame. Autumn, from a distance, begins hard barking and lunging on leash. The novel male dog, with a tucked tail, seeks attention from the handler, and he is returned to kennel to decompress, concluding the interaction. 06/12/25: While off-leash at the Care Center, Autumn is introduced to a greeter male dog. As she approaches the gate, she is panting with a tucked tail. While the greeter male remains loose and offers play bows, Autumn appears hesitant, pacing back and forth along the gate line. She displays signs of stress, including yawning, ears pinned back, and a raised paw. When she moves away from the gate, her tail begins to untuck. The dogs are then separated, concluding the interaction.

Summary (4):: 07/29/25: Autumn is standing in front of her kennel door when the handler approaches. She is easily leashed and taken out for a (Dog-Dog). Please refer to the behavior assessment for more details on Dog-Dog. After she is easily leashed and taken back to her kennel without any issue. 7/26/25: Autumn is at the front of her kennel with visible salvia/paw marks on her kennel glass on her hind legs. Autumn begins to loosen her body and lick the handlers hands as she is being clipped and pulls hard out of kennel, hopping on her hind legs at times. Autumn on the walk does stare at other dogs for a bit while passing, but can be refocused with coaxing and begins to jump on the handler and accept petting along her chin and head. Autumn is anxious, panting heavily and hypervigilant of many sounds on her walk, constantly looking around and behind her. Autumn will explore her surroundings, relieve herself and pull hard back to the care center after a bit. Autumn is placed back into kennel with no issue. 7/17/25: Autumn is jumping at her kennel door as handler approaches. She backs away as the handler tries to clip their leash to her collar. She is able to come forward to the front, and begins to jump and tries to push open the door. Once the handler is able to clip her leash, she pulls on the way to the behavior room for an assessment. In the room, she would pace around with heavy panting and her hackles were raised. She would jump on the handlers and would flinch at sudden sounds and when she was being clipped to a drag lead. She was able to find a squeaky plush toy and would run around with it and would growl at the handlers when they were close by. Due to her anxiousness and not being able to settle, her assessment is not conducted. She then pulls frantically back to her kennel and jumps at the door as the handler locks it and walks away.

Summary (5):: 7/13/25: Autumn is at the front of the kennel, backing away from an ACS staff member not wanting to be leashed. Autumn is coaxed by a behavior staff member helping, and is clipped to her collar and is pet along her chin and neck. Autumn is passed back to the ACS and on her walk she pulls hard, but remains social, jumping on staff in a social manner. Autumn continues to pull and is brought back to her kennel, and coaxed with treats by the staff member to unclip her leash with no issue. 7/8/25: Though Autumn’s been having a difficult time adjusting to a shelter environment, she’s still shown plenty of her sweet personality – especially when I take her to the play-yard. She’ll sometimes do zoomies with her toy; then when she sees me sitting down on the bench, she’ll run up to solicit head pets and cheek and neck rubs, which seem to be very soothing to her. She'll calmly stand there, leaning in, while languidly watching the traffic and people going by. She likes to chase tennis balls and carry them on the way back from her walks. When I leash her, she runs to the back of her crate and even when she's at the front, will bob her head around, making her a bit difficult to leash. (I've seen her do this with staff too). But I've been holding a stuffed toy right in front of the door while leashing, which she focuses her attention on, and then it's easy-breezy. (I'm going to try using a tennis ball next time...I think that'll work even better). She'll usually carry the toy as we walk through the shelter. As I'm returning her to her crate, I'll toss in a few treats because she moves her head back and forth and tries to run to the back as she's being unleashed...treats make it easy. I like Autumn a lot...she's a really nice dog. 07/08/25: Autumn is standing at the front of her crate as handler approaches. Once their lead is in sight, Autumn will back away, dodging leashing but will come forward whenever handler is resetting their lead. She is avoidant of being lured through the lead with treats and will quickly grab the treat and retreat to the back of crate again. Handler drops a handful of treats at the front of her kennel and places the lead over her head while she is eating. Autumn readily exits kennel and jumps up onto handler excitedly. She walks to the Live Room where she is clipped to a drag lead and free to explore the space. Autumn spends her time engaging with a licky mat and puzzle feeder offered to her. Handler engages in two-ball toss with Autumn for several minutes. After her session, she is returned to crate safely.

Summary (6):: 7/7 (late entry): Autumn is seen hard barking and running to the back of her crate when staff attempt to leash her. She begins teeth with attempts to lasso her. A handler offers her a sausage and while she is eating she is leashed. 7/6 (late entry): ACS staff had difficulty removing Autumn from her crate due to her retreating to the back of her crate and hard barking. She would dodge their attempts to lasso her and not take their treats. A handler sees the ACS struggling, so they offer Autumn turkey chisps, and she approaches to sniff the new treats, and the ACS is then able to leash her while she is distracted with the handler. 07/01/25 Autumn is in the back of her crate, reluctant to exit. Autumn will duck and dodge the lead, so the handler clips her collar instead, leashing her with the loop of the lead once she is out of her crate. They proceed outside for a walk. Autumn will pull intensely on leash while panting heavily. Autumn will pull in different directions, exploring dirt/grassy patches. She takes treats gently throughout the walk when administered. Autumn is returned to the facility where she will enter the building as well as her kennel quickly. 06/18/25 (for assessment): Autumn approached crate door and was leashed with ease. Autumn pulled handler on lead going into assessment. When in behavior room Autumn explored the room with high energy, vibrating body. Autumn was panting, with flush face, showing signs of anxiety. Autumn was tolerant to touching but did not solicit more petting. Autumn was moderately treat motivated. Upon completing assessment Autumn was easy to re-leash, and re-entered crate safely. 6/17/25: Autumn approached handler at front of crate, appearing to want to exit but retreating when presented with leash loop. Handler coaxed her forward and clipped leash to collar. Autumn walked the short distance to the BA room. Autumn spent time scenting and searching for treats. Autumn was alert to staff entering the room. Autumn approached handler 2 seated at desk and jumped up on them with her front paws. Autumn appeared conflicted with slicked back ears and a mildly tense frame, so handler 1 called her off. Autumn was returned to kennel with ease.

Summary (7):: 06/13/25 (assessment note): Autumn is standing at the front of her kennel. When the handler opens the kennel door, she appears skittish and avoids the leash, retreating to the back of the kennel. Once the handler is able to loop the leash around her neck, she quickly runs out, looking around with heightened alertness, and is brought to the assessment room. Inside the room, Autumn continues to display fearful behavior, pacing back and forth while seeking an exit. She approaches the handler with a tucked tail and trembling body, appearing conflicted; she shows interest in engaging but repeatedly backs away, exhibiting signs of fearful defensiveness. Due to her escalating discomfort, a secondary handler escorts Autumn back to her kennel to avoid further stress. She is placed back inside her kennel without issue. AH 06/13/25 (playgroup): Autumn is standing at the back of crate with a slightly tense frame as handler approaches. Handler kneels down and uses a soft tone to coax her forward. Autumn will slowly approach, sniff treats that are offered, and retreats to the back of crate again. After several minutes of slow coaxing, handler is able to clip Autumn collar and she readily exits crate, bouncing and pulling hard towards the door to exit. Autumn pulls moderately and will zigzag and circle handler as she walks. Handler shortens the lead to keep Autumn in close and she begins to pull hard. Once in the play yard, Autumn is clipped to a drag lead and free to explore the space. She spends time scenting along the yard and will approach handler to scent their legs before walking away. After her session, Autumn is returned to crate safely. 6/12/25 (Assessment): Autumn's behavior during her assessment was much the same as noted during playgroup. She was cowering in back of crate but eventually came forward to have leash clipped to collar. She displayed exit seeking behavior and was unable to settle in place. Her tail became less tucked over time and she ate many pieces of Vienna sausage. She was returned to kennel with ease. 6/12/25 (Playgroup): Autumn had just returned from a walk as handler approached. Autumn sat in back of kennel and looked around seeking exit. She did not eat a piece of chicken jerky. She was tolerant of handler leashing her and exited kennel willingly. Handler attempted to walk Autumn to the yard via the stairs (unaware of her aversion to stairs at the time), but she became fearful and pulled back towards the door. Handler gave her a moment to reset and they proceeded to the yard for a gate greet. Autumn had a tucked tail and would often stand close to or behind handler and lean against them. She allowed a second handler to collar her without issue. Autumn's tail became untucked after she greeted the other dog. Autumn was returned to her crate with ease using a treat. Her crate was covered for her comfort.

Date of intake:: 6/10/2025

Summary:: very fearful. Staff slowly walked the dog back to the kennel. Minimum handling was done

Date of initial:: 6/12/2025

Summary:: trembling with tail tucked, muzzled for exam, fearful but did not escalate

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Autumn's high level of fearfulness, we recommend she be placed in an adult-only home at this time. Place with a New Hope partner:: Autumn came into he care center due to her owner moving and not having time to care for her. Prior owner noted autumn to be Social/Affectionate, Very active & Playful, and Independent. She plays with various toys, especially her rubber toy that resembles a bone (she’s a chewer). She knowns sit,wait,drop it,and down. In the care center she has displayed high levels of anxiety and has a difficult time settling including avoidance during leashing, hard barking in the kennel, and sensitivity to handling. She displays social hyperarousal, often jumping and mouthing with pressure, and has shown resource guarding toward toys, growling and becoming tense when handlers attempt to trade. Autumn has also shown social behavior towards handlers often seeking attention and engaging in enrichment games during training sessions. Autumn is available for rescue through one of our new hope partners.

Potential challenges: : Resource guarding,Basic manners/poor impulse control,Social hyperarousal,Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition,Handling/touch sensitivity,Fearful,Anxiety,Strength/leash pulling,Kennel presence

Potential challenges comments:: Resource Guarding: To address Autumn's resource guarding, begin by creating positive associations with people approaching her while she has toys. Avoid taking items away suddenly, and instead, teach her that human presence near her possessions means good things happen while rewarding her with treats. Please see the handout on Resource Guarding. For additional support, we recommend contacting a canine behavior professional. Please see the handout on Resource Guarding. Social hyperarousal/Basic manners/poor impulse control/Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition: Autumn exhibits a high level of jumping behavior and applies significant pressure when mouthing the handler’s hand, even when treats are no longer offered or have been tossed away. During the assessment, Autumn showed elevated hackles, persistent pacing, panting, and difficulty settling. She frequently jumped on and mouthed at handlers while running around the room.Training should focus on calming protocols, impulse control exercises, polite greeting behaviors, and teaching gentle mouth use through consistent redirection and positive reinforcement. Please see the handout on Social hyperarousal/Basic manners/poor impulse control/Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition. Handling / Touch Sensitivity: Autumn is sensitive to touch, especially around her paws. She is noted in her prior home to will snap when her feet are touched and doesn't allow her owner to trim her nails. Use gentle desensitization by pairing light touches with treats, starting with less sensitive areas. For additional support, we recommend contacting a canine behavior professional. Please see the handout on Handling / Touch Sensitivity. Kennel Presence / Fearful: In the kennel and out of Kennel Autumn shows signs of fearfulness. She will display a tucked tail, pacing and will begin to panic seeking exit. We recommend going slow and allow her to seek contact at her own terms. Please see the handout on kennel presence and gecompression period. Anxiety: Autumn general anxiety can be eased by maintaining a consistent routine and providing mental enrichment like puzzle toys and sniff walks. Creating a calm environment and using tools like calming sprays or anxiety wraps may also help. For persistent anxiety, consult a canine behavior professional for additional support. Please see the handout on Generlaized anxiety. Strength / Leash Pulling: Autumn pulls strongly on walks, so using a front-clip harness or head halter can provide better control. Teach loose-leash walking by stopping when she pulls and rewarding her for walking beside you. Please see the handout on Strength / Leash Pulling.