Maleana ACCT-A-166473 is a 4-year-old female who animal protection officers brought in as a stray on 6/11. APO's noted that Maleana was very frightful.
Behavior Notes:
On 6/14 staff noted: Maleana got out for some activity time and a dog meet today! She has opened up so much since her first few days here. Maleana greeted in kennel with a loose, wiggly body and wagging tail. She hopped up on the door to sniff but got down as I opened it. She was patient for leashing and came right out once secured. She walked nicely out to a play yard, not too much pulling. In the play yard she was very social and friendly with both handlers. She climbed right into my lap and gave lots of face kisses. If I pushed her down or away she would lean against me hard and try to push her head back under my hand. She was very social, and showed no confliction today! She remained loose and friendly the whole time with us, never showed any conflicted body language; she never even tensed up around us! Maleana was a bit much during her dog meet. We started with a fence meet, and she got quickly frustrated after just a few sniffs, and began jumping and barking at the other dog. During her face to face meet she was very pushy and pretty tense with the other dog. She kept trying to neck and mount the other dog repeatedly, to the point where the other dog gave her a correction. I had pulled her away by the time the dog corrected her, so I'm not sure how she would've responded to the correction on her own. She was hyper focused on the other dog as we walked away as well. I think Maleana may be able to have a doggie friend or two with slow, proper introductions, but she would do best as a single dog in the home. Once we were out of sight of the other dog she walked nicely again, and she gave me no issue returning to kennel. Overall, it seems like Maleana is opening up a lot and is doing much better since her arrival, but she just needs a single dog home to continue to decompress in.
On 6/12 staff noted: Placed on rescue only at this time, but currently is not an adoption candidate. When approaching Maleana's kennel she was already closed off on one side for cleaning. She began to growl, bark, and bare teeth when I approached and had very wide eyes. She stayed towards the back though and did not come forward appearing more defensive and fearful. When I opened the kennel to leash her she continued to growl and bark and made herself as small as she could in the corner, trembling, and trying to dig out the backside a couple times. She appeared very fearful so I took things slow. I tried a couple lasso attempts but could not get her. I stood at the edge of kennel and knelt down speaking to her in a baby voice and tapping the kennel. She continued to react but would give some low wags when talking to her and almost came forward a couple of times but then stayed in the back. I attempted to lasso again and after a few tries got the leash on her. She lowered her body and came forward with low wags appearing nervous but interested in exiting. It took her a few minutes and motivation, but she eventually stepped out of kennel. No issues when returning, used clip method. Pulls strongly on leash. While outside she passed multiple dogs. She would pull towards them whining with mid level wags and raised hackles. She greeted a couple dogs through the fence and initially was waggy but then would growl and walk away, she did this a few times appearing interested but conflicted. Once out of the kennels Maleana opened up a lot! We walked out the door behind f row and did a loop outside around the building. once outside while walking she gave little low wags and would hop on me while walking. She alert barked at a few people as we passed by them but stayed near me and would look to me, quieting down if I called her back to me. We had a fence meet with a dog in the large play yard and then went to the smaller yard next to it. I sat on the bench in the yard and dropped Maleana's leash. In the yard she was very handler focused and had wiggly and submissive body language scooting close to me and even trying to nudge her way into my lap at times. However, she did appear conflicted about this at times and if I touched her too quick or too much she would stiffen, stop wagging, lip lick, or give some semi hard eye contact at times. She gave a lot of appeasem*nt signals while outside with me as well so pay close attention to her body language. She did allow handling in small spurts though while remaining loose and leaning in and if I stopped after a few seconds to do a consent test she would nudge me with her head and come back for more attention. On the way back inside she alert barked at a couple other staff members and was panting heavily. I decided to attempt her medical check in. In the room she alert barked initially at a male nurse but remained friendly towards me and a female nurse. She allowed me to scan her for a microchip (negative) but was tense and lip licking during it. She was very food motivated though so we tried to smear some bologna and cream cheese on the floor while the female nurse quickly did the vaccines. On the first attempt Maleana growled and swung to snap at the nurse before she even touched her with the vaccine. On the second attempt Maleana focused on the cheese and the nurse was able to quickly get the rabies vaccine in, but then Maleana reacted and snapped at me since I was closest to her. We did not attempt any more as we did not want to push her or lead to more escalation. Started on behavior meds and will attempt check in again tomorrow. Maleana returned to kennel without issue, alert barking at a few more people as we walked through the kennels. Did not attempt to play due to nervous and conflicting behavior at times. Interested in toys but does not take possession.
On 6/11 staff noted: Reactive and tense in kennel
Medical Notes:
On 6/12 staff noted: Maleana was in good general health. Staff were not able to give her all her vaccines due to her behavior. Staff noted that Maleana was, "bright, alert, responsive, gives conflicting signals, friendly but little tolerance for handling, did not tolerate restraint. Only able to get Rabies vaccine in.
Videos:
Maleana wants to cuddle!:
https://youtube.com/shorts/d9PUNMMbCfg?feature=share
Maleana and Sergeant fence meet:
https://youtube.com/shorts/XY47pH8Nj_Q?feature=share
Maleana and Sergeant meet:
https://youtube.com/shorts/_kO9yJOO7uI?feature=share
