Date of intake:: 8/1/2026

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

Date of assessment:: 8/5/2026

Summary:: 8/3: Gumball enters the behavior office with a tense body and slow movements. He does not take offered treats and immediately attempts to leave the office. Due to his fearfulness and avoidance, he is returned to the kennel. A handling assessment is unable to be conducted. 8/2: A handling assessment was unable to be completed due to Gumball's fearfulness. He does not allow for collaring, becoming tense while whale-eyeing and backing away from handlers. He is returned to his kennel out of concern for his stress levels.

Summary:: Gumball arrived as a stray, so his behavior with other dogs is unknown. 8/8/26: Gumball greets a novel dog through a barrier, displaying a neutral body with a wagging tail while the novel dog remains loose, wiggly, and social. Both dogs are introduced on leash. Gumball's eyes widen and his ears pin back as he tolerates the novel dog play bowing and jumping on him to solicit play. During a consent check, Gumball initially chooses to reapproach but then changes his mind and walks away, appropriately disengaging from the interaction.

Summary (6):: 08/14/26 (Trainer Note): Gumball is standing at the front of kennel with a loose body as handler approaches. He is easily leashed and removed from kennel to be taken to the behavior office. He is put on a drag leash and is social with handlers in the room. He is easily re-leashed to be returned but begins to balk in the room. Handlers toss treats but he is uninterested. Multiple handlers coax him and walk alongside him, and he exits the room. He walks through the meet-greet area but begins to pancake right before entering his room. Treats, squeakers, and coaxing are not successful. Handler turns him around in a different direction and attempts to walk him to another entrance. He begins to pancake right before he enters the room once again. Second handler attempts to belly band him, and he briefly thrashes before moving forward a couple steps. A second attempt is done to use a leash to belly band him and handler successfully secure him in kennel. 08/13/26: Gumball is at the front of kennel on approach. He is leashed easily with a treat lure and walks into the loop without issue. He pulls slightly on the way out of his kennel towards the training room disregarding other dogs. Once in the training room he sniffs around, engages with snuffle mats and is noted to chew on the bottom of his feet. He sniffs unknown handlers and has a neutral body language throughout the interaction. When he is lured into the slip lead he plants. Handler creates a treat trail out of the door and he readily follows. Once inside the door of the kennel room he plants and will no longer take treats. Handler attempts a treat trail again which he is unresponsive to. Handler attempts to jog him back to kennel which he is also non responsive to. Handler applies strong leash pressure and jogs and Gumball starts to follow. Handler continues tossing treats as he enters his kennel.

Summary (7):: 08/11/26: Gumball is at the front of the kennel as the handler approaches. He is leashed with ease and brought to the office. In the office, he is clipped with a drag leash and allowed to roam. He explores the room and takes treats and accepts pets from various handlers. When returning to his kennel, he stops walking and pancakes near the kennel room. The handler is able to jog with him back to kennel. 8/6/26: Gumball was at the front of the kennel with a neutral body. He was easily leashed and taken for a backyard walk. When going back, he stopped numerous times, and the handler had to get help in returning. Multiple paths were used in returning to the kennel. Handler ended up jogging him all the way back to his kennel. 8/4 (1): An ACS requests assistance with returning Gumball to the building after completing a way. When handlers arrive, Gumball is found planted in his tracks. He ignores offered sliced cheese, sausages, and chicken and attempts to pull further away from the building or into the street. Gumball is given a break and then allowed to cross the street down the opposite sidewalk from the building. He begins walking and is able to cross back to the side of the shelter. Once at the doors to enter the building, Gumball plants again, lightly thrashing and vocalizing once. One of the handlers opens the other side door to a different hallway, and Gumball walks through and back into his kennel without issue. (2) Later on in the day, another ACS has difficulty getting Gumball back into his kennel. Two ops handlers assist, double-leashing Gumball due to him backing away and putting on the brakes. He does not take their treats and continues to back away. One of the Ops handlers uses their lead to attempt to belly band Gumball, but he continues to move away. Once the belly band is on, Gumball begins thrashing and biting the leashes as he is brought back to his kennel. Once in the kennel, a hook is used to remove both leads. 8/3/26 (BA-late entry): Gumball is at the front of his kennel as the handler approaches. He is leashed with ease and will walk to the behavior office pulling mildly. Once in the office, his FAS is too high. He will avoid collaring and is then returned to his kennel with no issue. (see Behavior Assessment for more info)

Date of initial:: 8/1/2026

Summary:: some resistance to handling and trying to evade restraint; needed to move very slow

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to how fearful and uncomfortable Gumabll is currently with handling and novel stimuli, we feel that an adult-only home would be most beneficial at this time. Place with a New Hope partner: Gumball 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: : Handling/touch sensitivity,Fearful,Leash-biting

Potential challenges comments:: Handling/touch sensitivity | Fearful | Leash Biting: Gumball has been slightly fearful and avoidant of interaction and most forms of handling. He is reluctant to return to the kennel and often needs several handlers and intervention to be returned to his kennel successfully. He has escalated to thrashing and leash biting on one occasion after being double leashed. Please see handouts on Handling/touch sensitivity, decompression period, and arousal.