Garland, Texas, #A189779: Blue pittie puppy confiscated as part of a cruelty case. Off hold 5.22. I went to the shelter to meet her today. The rules were clear...I was not to open her kennel. I brought treats and sat just beside the kennel door. Observation #1. She less less shut down than I expected. When I sat down she readily came up to the front of the kennel to check me out. She was quiet and cautious but she did not hesitate. Observation #2. She is very food motivated. When I started taking out the treats she began to show some animation and curiosity. She was giving low tail wags and she took the treats gently. In between the treats she would look for more. She was not making the connection on the sit command, but if I waited between treats she regularly would sit on her own. I was able to use a treat to hold her attention and she would track it in a focused way, but not an obsessive one. Observation #3. Reactivity. Being a kennel environment there was a lot of noise. She showed very little reaction to all the barking. However, after I had been there over half an hour and the noise had died down a bit, she did react to some other noises. I do not know what the noises were, but she would startle, and shy away slightly, and then assume a more submissive small hunkered down posture. I was able to coax her out of it and into more animation with treats. Observation #4. She did not make any noise. The entire time I was there I dont hear a single whimper, squeak, bark or anything. With all the noise and commotion it seemed very odd. Observation #5. General health. She is VERY thin. You can clearly see her ribs, her back end is bony, and her spine was prominent. Her fur looked reasonably clean and in decent condition. She had abrasions and raw spots on her nose. Her ears had an odd speckled appearance, it might have been dead fleas but between the lighting and her movement it was hard for me to tell. Her nails were long but did not appear to be damaged or excessively dirty. As she was sitting I looked over her underside as best I could and did not see anything noteworthy. She appears young, between 6 and 9 months, Im guessing closer to 9 rather than 6 months. Her eyes were clear and she had no trouble focusing on me. She moved normally and even though she was very calm, it did not have the impression of lethargy. I am not a dog expert and this is merely my opinion. She is timid and shy, but I didnt observe any kind of aggression from her. I did see that when she heard noises that scared her she took a timid and submissive posture rather than an aggressive one. And she was non reactive to all the barking. She is a beautiful girl and I would love to see her go to a situation where knowledgable people would be able to work with her to help her learn confidence.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 21:05:31 +0000
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