Date of intake:: 1/15/2025

Spay/Neuter status:: Yes

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

Previously lived with:: 1 Adult

Behavior toward strangers:: Shy, will snap

Behavior toward children:: Tolerant

Behavior toward dogs:: Hard bark, growls, and lunges

Behavior toward cats:: Unknown

Resource guarding:: Food, bones, and treats. Casper will hover over the items and become very tense; his hackles will raise.

Bite history:: None reported

Housetrained:: Partially

Energy level/descriptors:: Casper is noted to have high energy

Other Notes:: Casper is fearful when given a bath. He is friendly when brushing coat and when trimming his nails. He will hard bark & growl when someone unfamiliar approaches. Casper is described as a friendly, affectionate, playful, excitable, fearful dog.

Date of assessment:: 1/17/2025

Summary:: Casper has been observed becoming stiff, snapping, or lowering his body when staff attempt to remove him from his kennel. Outside of the kennel, he avoids staff and remains fearful. Due to these behaviors, Casper will not undergo a handling assessment.

Summary:: 1/28/25: Casper is neutral bodied when greeting another dog initially. He walks away then turns and hard barks at the greeter dog.

Summary (4):: 1/29/2025: Casper is standing at the front of kennel and barking with a flagging tail as handler approaches. He is easily leashed and removed from kennel. He very intensely kennel fights as he leaves the room. Handler takes him on street walk where he remains neutral bodied and relieves himself. Upon return he intensely kennel fights as well. 1/29/25: Casper is standing at the front of the kennel when handler approaches. Casper is receptive to treats however once the handler open the door, Casper retreats to the back of the kennel hard barking at the handler. Handler is able to easily lasso Casper, once out of the kennel Casper begins pulling very hard towards the other dogs. Jumping up, kicking off the wall and thrashing. As the handler straight arms Casper, he snaps towards the handlers leg and pushes off of them with their legs. Casper is taken to the yard where he relieves himself immediately. Once Casper is finishes he begins pulling back towards the building. Handler attempts to move him away using coaxing and treats, Casper is not receptive. He begins to thrash on leash and wrap his front paws around it. When returning to kennel Casper pulls very hard towards the other dogs in the kennel room again, handler trips and accidently steps on Casper's paw. Casper when snaps towards the handlers leg. After he ready enters kennel and begins barking towards the handler.

Summary (5):: 1/28/25: Casper is standing at the front of kennel with a neutral body and barking as handler approaches. Handler uses a baby voice and he comes forward with a softer body, and tail wagging high. He is leashed without an issue and removed from kennel. As he is walked out of the room he cage fights. He shakes off upon entering the driveway. Casper is walked all around the block, he relieves himself and maintains a neutral body with a bouncy trot. He pulls lightly and stays in front of handler, however, when called over he becomes soft bodied, and allows gentle petting on his head. After handlers stops petting, Casper socially jumps up on handler and paws for more pets. On his return to kennel he cage fights but has no further issue. 1/25/25(AM Walk): Casper is at the front of his kennel as handler approaches. He begins barking as handler approaches and is offered a piece of chicken which he accepts before continuing to bark. He is leashed as he continues barking and exits kennel quickly, Casper is taken to the street for his walk. Once Casper is outside he immediately stops to use the bathroom, afterwards he begins walking down the street. Casper pulls moderately and walks slightly in front of handler with his ears pinned back. He is walked past people on the street without issue and when spotting a dog, Casper will stare at them from across the street and fixates on them intently until line of sight is broken. Casper is difficult to refocus at this point. He is offered treats from handler and briefly investigates them but does not accept them. Casper walks for a bit more until being brought back inside. Handler attempts to clip him but in both instances he turns around looking at handler, so he is returned to kennel and a hook is used to retrieve the leash. When using the hook Casper barks intensely but tolerates it, allowing the leash to be removed and interaction is ended. 1/25/25: Casper is reported to back up and bare teeth at handlers when attempting to approach the kennel and leash him. His ears pin back and he curls his lip slightly when introduced to the leash. Due to Caspers clear stress and not wanting him to further escalate interaction is ended.

Summary (6):: 1/22/25: Casper is standing at the front of their kennel as handler approaches. He turns and moves back towards the center of the kennel and sits down looking at handler. He allows handler to lasso him and sits still while leashing before being brought out to the street for his walk. He exits kennel hesitantly and while walking on the street is frantic, looking back frequently and attempting to pull towards the street. He stops to use the bathroom and once finished stops pulling toward the seat and directs himself more forward. He walks past people on the street without issue and after a bit is brought back inside. He tolerates clipping and is brought back to kennel, he returns without issue. 1/21/25: Casper is laying at the back of his kennel when handler approaches. He doesn't initially come forward but the dog in the kennel behind him bangs on the transfer door. He comes forward but dodges the leash a few times. Handler stands there with the loop dangling waiting for Casper to allow leashing. He does so eventually and is walked on the street. He is aloof, keeping his distance from handler but is able to be clipped while sniffing something. He flinches when the leash taps his side. He goes into kennel without issue. 1/19/25: Casper is sitting at the front of kennel with a neutral body as handler approaches. He stands up and begins to whine and briefly does a low tail wag. He dodges the leash multiple times, but handler is able to lasso him. Slight leash pressure was applied and he hopped right out and was taken to the play yard for a walk. He remained neutral throughout walk, did not accept treats, and kept his distance from handler. At one point handler lowered fist and he slowly approached with a neutral body and relaxed tail wag, he slightly leaned in but turned away at the last second. Handler did not force interaction and did not pet. He was walked around the pen and returned to his kennel without issue.

Summary (7):: 1/18/25: Casper is lying down at the front of his kennel as handlers approach. He was uncomfortable being leashed and would back up each time it got closer to his head. He became more eager to be leashed when the dog behind him starts to jump around in their kennel very loudly. Once leashed, he pulled ahead very quickly on the way outside and on the walk. He would pull ahead harder or stop walking when he would become more nervous of his surroundings. On the way back to kennel, he stopped on the weighing scale and refused to come off for a minute. The handler started to jog in place in order for him to continue walking. He walked quickly back to his kennel and was nervous of all the dogs who were barking while walking past. He was not comfortable with the handler retrieving their lead with the hook due to the dog still jumping around in their kennel behind him. He would have a stiff body and then lower his body to the ground when the hook got closer to his neck. 1/17/25: Casper is at the front of his kennel as handlers approach. He then walks to the back of his kennel with his body low and was not comfortable with the lead going over his head. The handlers then gave him a break and walked away. When the handler comes back after a few minutes, he was the front of his kennel again. He was able to be leashed and taken outside for a walk. On the walk, he would pull ahead and was nervous of the second handler following. On the way back to the building, at the gate he froze and got spooked from staring at the other handler and backed up and let out a bark. He then was able to proceed inside and the handler had to use a hook to retrieve their lead out of the kennel. Casper was siting and had a stiff body frame as the hook was retrieving the lead. 1/16/25: Casper is laying at the center of his kennel as handlers approach. He lifts his head up while still laying down and stares at handler, he turns to give a slight whale eye. He is offered multiple types of treats and a squeaker is used to entice Casper forward but neither are successful. Handler attempts to introduce the leash by gently placing it in front of Casper for him to sniff, but he remains frozen in place and ignores it while continuing to whale eye towards handler. Casper is lassoed and his kennel door is left open as handlers step to the side to give Casper space to exit kennel, however Casper remains frozen in place. Casper begins to shake while looking at handlers and continues to lay in place, so handler uses gentle pressure in an attempt to coax him out. Casper gives a big lip lick so handlers decide to end interaction. A hook is used to remove the leash from Casper which he tolerates. Interaction is ended. 1/16/25: ACS report that when they attempted to leash Casper he began to snap at their leash and arm. This behavior was not able to be redirected using coaxing or treats.

Date of intake:: 1/15/2025

Summary:: Tense

Date of initial:: 1/15/2025

Summary:: Whale eyes, hard staring, trembling, dodges leash &muzzle, avoids handlers, Opted to sedate

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Casper's behaviors in the home, Casper should go to a home with adults only. Place with a New Hope partner: Due to all noted concerns displayed in a home and the Care Centers environment, the behavior department recommends Casper be placed with a New Hope placement partner who is able to provide an experienced adult-only foster home. A period of decompression is recommended to allow Casper to acclimate comfortably to his new environment; force-free, reward based training only is advised when introducing Casper to new and unfamiliar situations.

Potential challenges: : House soiling,Resource guarding,Fearful/potential for defensive aggression,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration

Potential challenges comments:: House soiling: Casper is reported to be partially house trained. Positive reinforcement should be used to help manage this behavior. Please see the handout on House Soiling. Resource guarding: Casper is reported to hover, become tense and raised his hackles when people approach his food, treats and bones. Positive reinforcement should be used to teach Casper the trade game. Please see the handout on Resource Guarding. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: During his stay in the care center Casper has been observed to be highly fearful. Noted to snap at handlers during leashing. Please see the handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: Casper hard barks and lunge at other dogs. While in the kennel room Casper has been observed to pull very hard towards the dogs in the kennel room, and noted to attempt to redirect onto handler. Positive reinforcement should be used to help Casper check in with his handler when he sees his triggers. Please see the handout on On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration,