Date of intake:: 11/7/2025

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

Previously lived with:: 4 adults 1 child (5 yrs old)

Behavior toward strangers:: Shy, prefers contact on his own terms and can occasionally alert bark

Behavior toward children:: playful

Behavior toward dogs:: mostly unknown; lunge at dogs on walks

Behavior toward cats:: unknown

Resource guarding:: none reported

Bite history:: none reported

Housetrained:: Yes

Energy level/descriptors:: Blue is reported to have a medium energy level.

Other Notes:: On walks he is reactive to large dogs and has been known to lunge at them. He is fearful when held or restrained, moved from furniture and when his collar is grabbed, he is unbothered when he is disturbed while sleeping and when his paws are touched. Has been known to lunge when startled. Blue allowed his previous family to bathe and brush him, has been crate-trained to do well for up to 6 hours in a large crate, pulls mildly on his leash during his 20-minute walks, and knows the cue sit.

Date of assessment:: 11/13/2025

Summary:: Due to the high levels of fearfulness and his quick escalation to hard barking, growling, lunging, and charging at handlers when approached in the kennel, a handling assessment cannot be attempted at this time.

Summary:: According to Blue's previous owner(s), he has no experience with familiar dogs or with unfamiliar dogs off-leash but has been known to lunge at unfamiliar dogs when on a leash. 11/19/25 Blue is introduced to an unfamiliar female dog while off leash at the care center. Blue approaches the gate initially with wide eyes and s loose, wiggly body. Blue offers play bows and bounces before entering the female dog's pen. He is guided into the pen, approaching the female dog gently, displaying a loose body, sniffing her. He then offers her a play bow causing her to be conflicted as she places a paw on his shoulder and her lips grow tight. She attempts to jump onto him and mount him, but Blue solicits play, still bouncy and play bowing. She becomes frustrated, displaying hackles and snarling and Blue is slow to the correction, attempting to still solicit play. Blue is separated from the female dog and returned to kennel shortly after. This concludes the interaction. 11/17 Due to the information Blue was surrendered with when it comes to unfamiliar dogs, Blue cannot attend PG at this time. Will revisit at a later date.

Summary (4):: 11/25/25: Blue is standing at the front of kennel with a neutral frame as handler approaches. Once handler stops in front of kennel, Blue becomes loose bodied and begins to wiggle and toe-tap. Handler passes enrichment into the kennel door and Blue spends several minutes pulling it out from the bars of the door and engaging with it. 11/23/25: Blue is at the front of his kennel toe tapping and vocalizing when seeing the familiar handler. Blue is leashed and begins to immediately jump up and lick the handlers face before they can get up from crouching down to leash him. Blue pulls hard outside. Blue outside continues to pull hard, explore his surroundings and lean into contact when coaxed, leaning his rear hard into the handler. Blue will whine when seeing other dogs and will pull, but is easy to refocus with leash pressure. Blue is taken back to kennel with no issue. 11/17/25: Blue is lying on his kuranda bed as handler approaches. He slowly comes to the front as the kennel door is opened and handler clips a drag lead to his collar. Blue exits the room with a tense frame, skittering past another dog lunging onto kennel door. Once in the hallway, Blue loosens slightly and will walk to the Canine Behavior Office where he is free to explore the space. Blue displays a slightly tense frame while in the room but will slowly settle and approach handlers, leaning into petting and taking treats gently from hand. He is startled by the freezer making a loud noise and seeks exit. Handler returns him to kennel safely.

Summary (5):: 11/16/25: Blue is at the back of his kennel curled up on his kuranda bed as the handler approaches the kennel. They baby talk Blue and coax him to the front and he runs up to the front with a loose body. The handler is able to coax him further out of the kennel so they can clip his collar. Once the collar is clipped, he will walk out of the room quickly as he becomes startled by the neighboring dogs barking and jumping onto their doors. He will pull moderately to the behavior office where his drag leash is dropped as soon as the handler and Blue are inside the room so he can visit familiar handlers. He will go up to each handler and turn around, leaning his hind end on their legs soliciting petting. Blue is social through the session, and playing with toys. When it is time to go back, Blue will stand in the room and balk slightly but is easily coaxed to the door with a toy once the handler opens the door. As they enter the room and the dogs begin to bark, Blue starts to skitter along the floor to his kennel. He is unclipped and shakes off before taking the toy that the handler offers him. He is secured safely. 11/13/25: Blue approached at the front of his kennel, and is heard barking when the handler walks in. Blue is approached in kennel and is already at the front, this time with a neutral body and untucked tail, with wide eyes and dilated pupils. Blue as the dog next to him continues to bark, begins to tremble and the kennel door is opened and Blue will approach on his own, but is weary of the leash. Blue had prior succuss with the kennel door being opened more than is normally should be, and begins to peek his head out again. The handler does a consent check just to see what Blue would do, and begins to lean into contact with his chin. Blue will be pet, and slowly is leashed while the handler baby talks and cajoles Blue. Blue is eventually leashed, and walks out with a low body to the sidewalk, where he explore his surroundings, relives himself. Blue after they relieve themself, shakes off and begins to run around on leash, and leaning into contact, although still a bit overwhelmed due to his facial expressions. Blue when noticing other dogs will begin to wag his tail and continues to walk. Blue is taken out briefly as the weather was getting worse outside and enters kennel with no issue, the handler steps out of the kennel room, and enters back with high values to leash by his kennel door to see him laying down with his head pressed on his bed.

Summary (6):: 11/12/25: Blue is visited at the end of the day, and he is laying down on his bed and when seeing the handler gets up with at tucked tail and tense body, and starts to growl. Blue is baby talked, and begins to head tilt when the handler is doing so. Blue approaches the handler slowly, and the handler opens the door a bit for him to explore the front of the kennel so it does not feel as enclosed. Blue will stick his nose to the gate, peek over into the hallway and remain at the front, with his tail slightly untucked. The handler displays the leash and he will begin to back away but the handler closes the gate slowly, and begins to feed Blue with the leash outside of the kennel door in a loop, to get him used to the image of how it would look when leashing normally. This continues for about 5 min, and Blue begins to disengage less and less, creating more space. The handler observes his communication and steps away, slowly closing the door and ending the interaction. 11/12/25: When the handler enters the kennel room, they hear Blue barking until they approach, where he stands with a tense body, growling slightly when approached initially. Blue is tossed treats and does not eat them, but when tossed in his tray will begin to sniff them, and slowly eat them. As the handler approaches closer, he begins to back away, but does not growl. Blue is offered food through the kennel bars and slowly creeps up and leans forward to eat it. Blue continues to do this with the handler, all with a tense body and tucked tail. Blue's door is opened and he jumps back, still now growling. Blue will not approach if the leash is presented, but when its away he will creep forward again, but flinch at any sudden movements.

Summary (7):: 11/10/25: As the handler approaches the kennel, Blue is at the back of his kennel hard barking. The handler tosses treats into the kennel and Blue will eat them. The handler then extends their hand to the door to hand him a treat through the bars but he charges at the door and muzzle punches the door while hard barking. The handler steps away to ask a second handler to spot them. They attempt to get Blue to cross over through the transfer door so they can clean his kennel but Blue will not get near the transfer door. He watches the handler when they are not looking at him and when they do he rapidly turns his head away and displays whale eye. They close the transfer door and then the second handler places the leash over Blue's head while he is at the back of the kennel, growling low and displaying whale eye as he looks away from the handler. Blue then stays inn the back of the kennel facing the door and will not come out. The handler then squeegees the front of the kennel and removes the soiled bedding with a hook. The leash is then removed with the hook and Blue's kennel is secured safely. 11/10: A handler enters the room and hears hard barking. As they approach Blue's kennel to adjust his kennel card, the handler initially glimpses him standing on his kuranda bed before he charges to the front of his kennel hard barking with whale eyes, body and tail stiff. Blue continues to stand at the front of his kennel, growling, maintaining the aforementioned body language. The handler bends to slide a treat under his kennel door before walking away. 11/10/25: Blue is barking and growling in his kennel, retreating to the back with a tucked tail and displaying whale eye while observing the handler. The handler gently lassos him and escorts him out of the kennel. Once outside, Blue plants his feet and refuses to walk further, placing his brakes on. The handler remains calmly positioned beside the kennel with Blue while ACS tidies the area. When finished, Blue is returned to his kennel safely without issues.

Date of initial:: 11/8/2025

Summary:: tense with tail tucked in kennel, low growl, hard stare

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION:: New Hope Only

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

Recommendations comments:: No children (under 13): Due to Blue's potential for defensive escalations and handling/touch sensitivity, we recommend an adult-only home at this time. Place with a New Hope partner: Blue 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/potential for defensive aggression,On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration

Potential challenges comments:: Handling/touch sensitivity: Blue is reported to be fearful when held or restrained, moved from furniture, and when his collar is grabbed. It is important always to go slow and give him the option to walk away from any social interaction. Blue should never be forced to approach anything that he is uncomfortable with or to submit to petting or handling. It should always be Blue's choice to approach a new person or thing. A dog may do best in an initially calm and quiet home environment and should be given time to acclimate to his new surroundings. Please see the handout on Handling/touch sensitivity. Fearful/potential for defensive aggression: Blue has escalated to growling and lunging on multiple occasions during his time in the care center. His signs of discomfort must be respected; Blue should never be forced to interact. He should always be allowed to walk away from situations or people he finds uncomfortable. We recommend a slow approach, and we recommend only force-free, reward-based training methods for Blue. More aversive techniques are likely to increase fear, increase the risk of aggression, and decrease Blue's quality of life. Please see handout on Fearful/potential for defensive aggression. On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration: Blue is reported to lunge at large dogs during walks. Blue may need positive reinforcement, reward-based training to teach him to look at you rather than other dogs. We recommend a front clip harness or head halter to help manage this behavior. Please see the handout on On-leash reactivity/barrier frustration.