# Dog evaluations at the shleter today...



## blackbirdzach

Dog #1. Sable German Shepherd about 4 years old. 

I left Lithia Springs about 7:30 this morning and drove down to Warner Robins to look at a couple of German Shepherds. This first dog was supposed to be a White German Shepherd in pretty rough shape, but we'll get to her later. This first dog was her kennel neighbor. I apporached the kennel and the dog payed me no attention. Very calm, neutral body language. 










I opened the gate and stepped inside. She was a little uneasy at first but so are most dogs at the shelters. I stood tall but calm and slipped my chain lead around her neck without issue. I turned around without saying anything to her, walked out of the cage and to the side of the building where we could get away from the other barking dogs. Once we got there, she immediatly sat right on my feet and started panting. Wow, great sign! This looks promising!










While she was sitting pleasently, I swapped my 4ft lead for the 30ft lead. I pulled my left foot out from under her rump and stepped away. She turned her back to me and walked out a little ways for a quick pee break and to sniff around a bit. 










While she was doing her business I sat down on the ground and went through my pack for some toys to test her with. I looked up from my backpack and her she comes trotting over to me. As she approached her ears were back, her mouth was open, and her tail was swishing side to side. So I opened my arms and welcomed her in. She plopped down right next to me. 










Just checking her out. 

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/b...nt=MVI_0676.flv



I stuck my hand back in the pack and grabbed a tennis ball. Her whole demeaner changed from calm and relaxed to very excited. I held the ball out and she took it right away and then went pouncing off, chewing it like a piece of meat. 










I wasn't quite ready for her to get fired up so I took the ball back for a few minutes and continued watching her...she never got more than a few feet away from me and constantly watched me for instruction...or to throw the ball. lol 










*sigh* I realized that she wasn't going to show me anything out of the ordinary so I got the ball back out of my pocket. Look at that focus!



















Aaaaaaand GOOOOOO!!!!










This one hit her square in the chin...I'm sure she was just out of practice! hhahaha










Here's a couple of tennis videos!

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/b...nt=MVI_0696.flv



Second one

http://s74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/b...nt=MVI_0702.flv



Here's the ball after just a few throws. guh....










Since the ball was already mush, might as well keep playing. heehee



















She carried that ball the whole entire time I was with her. 










Great look of satisfaction. 










I pulled out my bag of beef jerky to see how responsive she was to treats. She sat on the first request. This dog, with her high drive, would be very, very trainable. Excellent intense reaction to the food and the ball.










She is not hand shy at all. I also touched all four feet, spread her paws, touched her tail, ears, etc and never had a negetive reaction. Her expression never changed. 










Since she was being such a good girl, I sat back down on the ground with her to give her some affection. Instead of sitting next to me like I hoped, she plopped right on top of me. 










I was curious how mouthy she could be so I put some jerky in my hand and closed it into a fist. "I know there's food in there!"










Quite a set of chompers on that dog! She never did clamp down on my hand trying to get the food, although she does look quite vicious in this picture! hahaha. 










Here's her kennel info. 










Notes:

Very high prey drive (good for training, but not for small kids)

Higher than average pack drive

Lower than average defensive drive

Loves toys and is very responsive to treats. Very friendly towards strangers and not handler shy at all. Gets along fine with the dogs around her, although the other dog I evaluated today did make her a little uneasy...but the other dog was a complete basketcase. Would be a great working dog and companion for a family...although older children are preferred. She was fine with any touch, any tone of voice, being brushed, etc. I don't know about cats, but I would be cautious with this dog's level of prey drive.

---

Oh...and I let her keep the ball.


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## SunCzarina

She looks like a fabulous girl. I will never understand how dogs like her could end up in a shelter...

That ball is disgusting...


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## blackbirdzach

Jenn, I can't either. A lot of times when I go eval these dogs I can come up with a theory of why someone would give them up...this dog has me stumped. It's almost like someone's house dog that got out by mistake and got picked up by the pound.


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## StGeorgeK9

My trainer trains for drugs and explosives and is always looking for dogs with good ball drive.........What was the age and where is she?


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## blackbirdzach

I'm guessing about 4 or 5 years old and she's in Warner Robins, GA. She would be excellent for that type of work. I have a friend looking for simular dogs. He'll probably either pick up this dog or I'll take this one and give him my other soon-to-be rescue. 

This is Bella


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## chruby

Wow, she seems really nice and good looking conformation too. You did a very nice eval and pics and vids to boot!!







I sure hope she finds a home. Would make an awesome working dog it sounds like. 

Do you know her history?


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## StGeorgeK9

Shoot me a message if you have any trouble getting these guys to a needed environment, I work with a rescue, but dogs like this need to work to be really happy, at least in my opinion. Like I said, my trainer is always looking for high ball drive dogs, I love the way he trains, and all his dogs absolutely love to work.


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## StGeorgeK9

Do you have a link to the web site? My trainers name is Andy Hanellin and he lives outside Charlotte NC, it would be a long day trip.


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## MacknCody

Ugh, why do I look at this stuff? Tell her to go straight up to NC and sneak under my fence..... 

After looking at your other thread about the red zone dog, I'm amazed at your pic taking. Kinda like a freak of nature with your multitasking...
















Here's hoping she gets someone good to adopt her.


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## StGeorgeK9

I've found the petfinder link to send and also sent my trainer the link to your video of the dog, hopefully he'll check her out.


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## amackinpitt

Great series! I really enjoy your posts and the mini progress reports from your meetings & outings!!


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## blackbirdzach

chruby - Thanks! I love doing the evals...most of the time. hahaha. Sadly, I do not know any of her history. All I have to work off of is mere observation. 

Betsy - Thanks for the help! I'll let you know sometime today if my guy is going to take one of my two dogs for sure. You can also just copy this entire thread and send it to him if you'd like...or if you prefer, pm me his address and I'll gladly send all the info to him. 

Hillyard Farms - Thanks! I take pictures from all angles, at all times...you don't get to see the 40 pictures that don't make it! You know, the ones of the ground, my left shoes, the sky, or just a piece of the dog. hahahah

Amy - Thanks! I really enjoy writing them! I can't save them all, but if I can save just a few then it all feels worth while. And when I leave a dog after an eval his whole demeaner is differnet than when I arrivded. Watching a scared dog blossom into a pouncing playing puppy is it's own reward.


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## michelleans

She is just gorgeous, I hope she gets a great home.

I too, am impressed at your multitasking abilities


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## BlackPuppy

What a great dog! How did she end up in a shelter!


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## amackinpitt

LOL:


> Quote: Watching a scared dog blossom into a pouncing playing puppy is it's own reward.


You got that right! I live with one of those "rewards"!!!


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## blackbirdzach

Dog #2. This will be short. There's not much to talk about. This was the main dog that I went to go see since it was suppose to be a complete basketcase...they were right on the money. I finally got the full story on this dog from the person that got it out of the trap. This dog had been reported running around for nearly two months. They finally caught a break and got it in a trap. Now it's been in the shelter going on it's third week. 

I approached the kennel and the dog immediatly went and got behind the "dogloo" in the corner. 










I tried to lure it around to where I could reach it with some jerky and it did come out of the corner...but bolted straight into the dog house. Crap. That's the last thing I wanted. I sat down by the dog house to see if she would come out on her own. I tried all my usual tricks, but nothing worked. Since the dog was suppose to be very fear aggressive, I didn't want to just go sticking my hands in there. hahaha. 










If I couldn't get this dog out of the house for an eval', she would have even less of a chance of getting adopted. The dogloo didn't have a bottom on it so I lifted it up off of the dog and leaned it against the side of the fence. Being the complete moron that I am, I left my slip chain collar in the grass. 

There wasn't a loop on the collar that she was wearing so I slipped my 4 ft leash underneath it and clipped the clasp to the loop end of the leash. The dog collapsed on the ground and wouldn't move. I couldn't pull the dog over the little ramp that they had in there that keeps her off of the ground when it rains so I had to pick her up. 

The dog went absoluetly bananas. I carried her over to the side of the building with her snapping and growling under my left arm. I plopped down on the ground and held her till she calmed down a little....five minutes later I put her down and she immediatly tried to bolt. 

Still not the worst I've seen, but she was really a wreck. Realizing that she was hooked to me and couldn't get more than a couple of feet away she started biting the leash and then realized she could back herself out of the collar. I couldn't let this happen since we were in an unsecured area and if she got away from me should would be gone again. 

I did the only thing I knew to do and lunged for her just as the collar was over one of her ears. As soon as my hands touched her I was rewared with a bite on the arm. Crimany. At this point she was completely red zone so I put her on her side to let the tantrum pass and also to get my slip collar on her. As I was attatching my other lead to the slip collar she make a quick snap to her left (she was still on her side) and had the end of the chain not fallen into her mouth, my finger would have been mauled. Thankfully she couldn't compress the chain and I was able to remove my finger from her mouth. 

I let her up and gave her a little lead at a time and she eventually collapsed against the side of the building. 










I slowly worked my way over to her as I was cursing myself for letting her get so out of control. If only I had taken the slip collar into the kennel the first time, this episode might have been avoided. 

She growled and shook at every single move I made. Once I got a couple of feet from her I layed down on my back and rested my head on my pack. She immediatly relaxed a little. While I was happy to see this, I didn't have 4 hours to spend working on this dog, I still had to deliver a motorcycle and get back to work well over two hours away. 

I slowly inched my way towards her and slowly sat up. I leaned against her to give her a place to hide and I blocked her from backing up with my right elbow. 

I still had to get my 4 ft lead off of her...which had now fallen under her chain. Great. I tried slow movements and beef jerky and just about had my hands on the clasp when an Animal Control truck pulled into the driveway and set her off again. She got ahold of my arm again. Guh....










After almost 30 minutes of sitting there hiding behind me, she relaxed a little...










I might have been able to make more progress with her if I had enough time, but even after an hour of time with her, every single light touch was delt with by a bite attempt. 

I stood up to take her back to her kennel and as soon I did she went red zone again and could not be control. She ran about 15 feet out on the lead and managed to get herself wedged inbetween the fence and a tree. Great...

Since she was pinned I used the chance to remove my blue lead. She was stuck so tight that I had to pick her up again to remove her...and was bit for a third time. I managed to get her back to her kennel where she ran into the dogloo and growled. 

Conclusions:

I hate to use the words "not adoptable", but this dog should not be approached or handled by anyone except those with experience in extreme fear aggression. 

prey drive - ???

pack drive - little to none

defense drive - extremely high. Biting, growling, snapping, and complete loss of control

This dog should not go to a family with kids, cats, or other dogs. If someone wants to adopted this dog, you have read my report and you know 100% what you are getting into. Please do not go get this dog and then blame me or my eval because you cannot handle her. 

There is a chance this dog could be rehabed, but it would be weeks or months. Good luck and God bless if you want her. 

Also, this dog is NOT a German Shepherd or even a German Shepherd mix. She is 30-35 lbs and more than likely a Shiba Inu mix.


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## k9sarneko

Your pictures and honest evals of these dogs are wonderful, thank you for doing what you do.


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## Regen

> Quote: Oh...and I let her keep the ball.












I agree, great post! Only problem......Now I want her!

Please keep us updated. And let me know if she can't find a great home. She would fit really well, with my ball crazy Golden Retriever,and calmer GSD. 3 females though....


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## RUGER1

The first girl is just beautiful! I know I could not do what you do. My heart would be crushed when it came time to leave.









It's a real eye opener when you see lonely abused dogs.









Thanks for making a difference with so many unwanted puppers.


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## daniella5574

I rarely speak my mind on what I am thinking in situations like this... but for once I have to, if only because I am confused. This thread is full of congratulatory words in regards to his help and eval, and now he is banned. I am with others where they said they didnt see anything that breaks board rules... and I thought we were warned before being banned... that was stated with another member who was banned that she had multiple warnings before being banned. also, how do we know we arent going to say something that will be misinterpreted and be banned off the board ourselves? We should be teaching and guiding each other- there is enough cold hearted people in this world- the ones that truly do care should be educated and taught how to continue helping. Life is a learning experience- we have all been "just starting off" at some point. I have only been with BrightStar since last summer, and while I have learned SO much- there is still so, so much more to learn... I would hope others would continue to guide me and teach me so that I can help the dogs in the best way possible. It was stated on the other post that we are a group of different people with different idea's, and that can be a good thing- and I agree. One thing we are taught in the SocialWork/counseling field is about being multiculturally accepting- this doesnt have to be from a racial or ethnic point, people all over the U.S. have different cultures that vary from state to state, ways they do things that are the "norm" to them and not to others, and I think that is easy to forget when we see a post in writing. Sometimes we just look at the words give them our own personal meaning which may not be what the poster was implying at all. 
My point for this long winded post is that emotions run very high on this board, and I know we are all here to save the dogs and we need to be careful who we trust, but I think we need to remember we cant save dogs without the help of other people...and there isnt enough out there doing rescue as it is. I really liked Ruth's post about a thread to help educate and teach other, I know I am always willing to soak up new information and learn from others.


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## ILGHAUS

Members are usually warned before banning. I say usually because off hand I don't know of anyone in my years of being a Mod who was banned <u>withou</u>t warnings and usually these go on over weeks. 

This person had warnings and refused to pay heed to them. Warnings are not always posted on the board for everyone to see. Mods and Admin. ususally try to work with someone through PMs and private emails to settle a problem instead of making the person go through a public scene. 

Sometimes a temp. ban works with the person being allowed to come back after a couple of weeks but in many cases that has not even settled the problem. 

Just because you do not see or hear what is being discussed behind the scenes does not mean there is not a lot of activity going on.


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## Vinnie

Closed by Admin.


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