Date of intake:: 3/2/2026

Spay/Neuter status:: No

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

Previously lived with:: 1 adult, 1 child

Behavior toward strangers:: Kia is is friendly, outgoing, and playful with strangers

Behavior toward children:: Kia is is friendly, outgoing, and playful with children

Behavior toward dogs:: Kia is is friendly, outgoing, and playful with dogs

Behavior toward cats:: No experience

Resource guarding:: No resource guarding

Bite history:: No bite history

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: High Energy

Other Notes:: Kia's former owner reports she is tolerant of most things aside from her nails being trimmed or touched due to her allergies making them sensitive.

Date of assessment:: 3/4/2026

Summary:: Leash Walking Strength and pulling: Moderate Reactivity to humans: None Reactivity to dogs: None Leash walking comments: Pulls toward spots to sniff with moderate strength, pulls toward people with neutral body Sociability Loose in room (15-20 seconds): Moderately social Call over: Approaches readily Sociability comments: Approaches handlers accepting pets and jumping on them socially, explores and sniffs around the room, when attempting to collar begins mouthing and biting the collar and overall becoming aroused, eventually able to collar. Soft handling: Over aroused Exuberant handling: Over aroused Comments: Seeks contact initially but quickly becomes aroused and mouths/bites the leash, mouths handler very lightly but overall frantic and has difficulty settling, panting and tongue lolled out, eventually settles briefly allowing handling Arousal Jog comments: Follows neutral bodied Knock Knock comments: Does not approach Toy Toy comments: No response

Summary:: 3/14/26: Kia greets another dog at the gate with a tense body, jumping on the bars and moving along the fence line as the other dog moves away.

Summary (5):: 03/29/26: Kia is at the front of her kennel as handler approaches. She ignores treats offered to her by handler but allows leashing and exits kennel following handler out to the hallway. She is placed on a harness and spins in circles rubbing into handler soliciting pets in an exuberant manner. She also attempts to interact socially with members of the medical staff that she sees exiting the building. Outside she becomes tense when seeing a large group of people but recovers and walks with handler outside pulling mildly. She generally ignores people she sees on the street but becomes tense, stops and stares when seeing dogs further down the street. It is difficult to redirect Kia but with some leash pressure and breaking line of sight she will continue walking. She also becomes tense for pigeons but does not chase them. Throughout the walk it is noted that Kia will whip her head in the air backwards while walking on her harness. While walking back to the building she sees a large group of people as well as a person walking a dog in front of her. She again becomes tense but due to the traffic on the street handler is unable to go around and while waiting for the group of people and dog to pass she begins vocalizing frantically and pulling mildly towards the dog. She is brought back inside and whips her head into the air when handler attempts to re-leash Kia but she allows it after another attempt and pulls moderately back to kennel.

Summary (6):: 03/28/26 (pm walk): Kia is at the front of her kennel as handler approaches, she is leashed without issue and walks with handler out to the street for her walk while pulling forward moderately. Outside Kia is frantic and continuously pulls forward and increasing intensity toward any stimuli she sees, including people, dogs, birds and carts on the street. Handler maneuvers her to the best of their ability keeping her away from people and dogs however she is very difficult to redirect but is eventually brought back inside. She walks with handler back into kennel without issue. 3/28/26 (midday walk): Kia is at the front of her kennel with a soft body. She is easily leashed and brought out the room; Kia sniffs a staffer with a soft body and goes downstairs with a looser body. On the street, Kia walks ahead with mild leash tension. When seeing a large dog, several feet away, Kia fixates on them with a tense body; the handler calls her name, tosses treats, and uses a squeaker, but she doesn’t redirect. The handler pulls her to the side to allow the dog and handler to walk past; as that happens, Kia actively tries to see where the dog is. Once they get back on the main path, Kia looks behind her a few times until the dog is out of sight. After relieving herself, Kia socializes with the handler by jumping on them with a soft body and allowing pets. The handler is briefly distracted, but looks back at Kia. Kia jumps on them again, which causes the handler’s squeaker to fall out of their treat pouch. As Kia jumps off the handler and they go to pick up the squeaker, Kia begins to jump up high and around them. Once the handler stands up right, Kia jumps up and bites the leash, holding on to it. The handler drops treats on her face, but she doesn’t stop. Kia begins to loudly growl and adjust the biting. The handler attempts to leash her with another leash, but it gets caught in her mouth; once the 2nd leash is out her mouth, Kia begins to fixate on it. The handler calls for back up; K9 behavior arrives. Once Kia sees the other handlers, she stops fixating on the current leash. While walking back to the shelter, Kia begins to fixate on the other handlers’ leashes; she attempts to jump towards them but the handler pulls her away. She does it once more when one of the handlers step in front of her to open the entrance. Upon entry, the handler clips their leash and returns Kia to her kennel.

Summary (7):: 3/27/26: Kia is reported to leash bite during walks, but stops on her own. Treats are used, but they don't redirect her. 3/26/26: It is noted on the whiteboard that Kia "loves the hose". 3/21/26: Kia greets handler at front of kennel with a loose and wiggly body. She is easily leashed and pulled from kennel. Coming out of kennel she pulls very hard. Handler takes Kia for an outside walk. While on her walk Kia continues to pull hard and walk in front of handler. When handler offers Kia treats she doesn't seem interested and turns away from treats. Kia is returned to kennel with no issues. 3/14/26: (dog-dog) Kia is loose bodied at front of kennel. Kia is easily leashed, pulls hard out of room but less intensely once in hallway. Kia is walked to play-yard. She greets a dog from vestibule (see dog-dog notes). After she is brought into yard to be fitted for a harness. Kia is social with both staff members, is exuberant, jumps on both in a social manner, loose body mildly panting. When handlers attempt to harness, Kia mouths the leash. The mouthing is mild but persistent enough that harnessing is too difficult. Kia is walked back to kennel without issue. 3/12/26: It is reported on the behavior board that Kia is reacting to people. 3/9: She walked ahead of the handler with moderate pulling on leash. When staff scratched her hips, she did a little hip-bouncing dance that was absolutely adorable. At one point she noticed a small keychain toy dangling from the staff member’s neck and started jumping to try to grab it. Second handler offered her a real toy instead, and she immediately stopped jumping, took the toy, and happily carried it while walking back toward the shelter. During the first half of our interaction she seemed somewhat unsettled, panting and scanning her surroundings. Once she had the toy, however, she appeared noticeably calmer. She may enjoy having a toy with her during walks as a sort of emotional support. 3/6/26: It is reported on the behavior board that Kia is not allowing slip lead leashing. 3/4/26: Kia is at the front of her kennel with a soft body. She is easily leashed and brought out the room. On the street, Kia walks with mild to moderate leash tension, usually pulling hard towards spots she wants to sniff or relieve herself on. She doesn't react to dogs or passersby. Upon entry, the handler brings Kia inside for her assessment (see notes). Afterward, the handler brings Kia to her kennel; as she refuses to enter the kennel, the handler muscles her in and she enters.

Date of intake:: 3/2/2026

Summary:: Loose bodied and active, vocalized excitedly, allows leashing and bites leash

Date of initial:: 3/2/2026

Summary:: Initially nervous but settles, easily examined, tail wagging

ENERGY LEVEL:: Kia is described as active and enthusiastic. She will need daily mental and physical activity to keep her engaged and exercised. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct her energy and enthusiasm. We recommend feeding with puzzle feeders and food-dispensing toys. And we recommend only force-free, reward-based training techniques for Kia.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No Children (Under 5): Due to Kia's low threshold for arousal, we recommend a home with no children. We recommend placement with a New Hope rescue partner who is able to provide an experienced, adult-only foster home. Force-free, reward based training and/or consultation with a professional trainer/behaviorist is highly recommended.

Potential challenges: : Basic manners/poor impulse control,Mouthiness/poor bite inhibition,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration,Leash-biting,Low threshold for arousal

Potential challenges comments:: Basic Manners/Poor Impulse Control: During her behavior assessment Kia would socially interact with handlers by jumping on them. It is recommended that default behaviors such as "Leave it", "Sit/Stay", "Down" are reinforced to substitute any frustration and teach her to control her impulses instead of simply reacting; proper management is also advised. Force-free, reward based training only is recommended. Please see handout on Basic Manners and Poor Impulse Control. On Leash Reactivity: Kia is reported to react to people while on leash. She is also observed to be dog reactive. Noted to fixate of other dogs. This behavior is not able to be redirected until line of sight is broken. Kia will need positive reinforcement, reward based training to teach them to look at you rather than other people. We recommend a front clip harness to help manage this behavior. Please see handout on On Leash Reactivity and Barrier Frustration. Leash Biting: During her assessment, Kia was observed to leash bite and bite the collar as the handler attempted to collar her. During her stay Kia has become highly rope reactive. Noted to jump up, bite and tug the leash while growling. Kia also becomes very fiaxted on the leash. This behavior is not redirectable. 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. Low Threshold for Arousal/Mouthiness: During her assessment Kia was observed to become aroused with social interaction and would escalate to light mouthing and leash biting. Positive reinforcement, force-free training should be used to teach Kia to remain calm when people and other exciting things are around. she should be rewarded with treats when calm. If she escalates to jumping or mouthing, people should immediately walk away from and separate themselves from Kia. Please see handout on Arousal.