Grace

Grace is adopted. Grace is a 4 years old entire female.

She has shown no reactions to horses or cats and is fine walking along side dogs and mixing freely.

She loves having cuddles with her humans but if another dog comes up while she is having a stroke and cuddle she will snap so for this reason we are saying she must be the only dog in the home.

She has not lived with children but was used to grandchildren when they visited.

She can pull slightly on the lead but is good to walk.

She has no recall so she will need training and kept on a longline, she does love affection from people, so she does tend to stay close.

She is not interested in toys, but this hopefully will come once settled in a home, she loves treats and responds well. 

She is a calm gentle dog who needs her confidence building up.

If you feel that you can give Grace a home then please fill out an application .

Grace’s Assessment

Kennel behaviour

Grace was excitable when being out on the lead and coming out of her kennel. She jumped up at myself, the kennel manager and a volunteer.
She did not react to the other kennel dogs or when passing the dogs outside of the kennels. She did calm quickly and was composed walking to the secure paddock.

Handling

Grace is a pro social dog who enjoys attention and affection from any humans. She actively seeks out attention and shows no adverse reaction to handling.

Grace was walked on a collar and lead plus a slip lead. She does spin slightly when on the lead and it is difficult to determine whether this is through excitement or anxiety. She can be calmed and overall she walks well on the lead with a small amount of pulling. Within the secure paddock Grace responded well to her name and showed some recall when there was no distractions around. She actively seeks out humans even when off lead. This may be detrimental when training her recall as I feel she would seek affection from any human she encountered.

Sociability

Grace passed dogs outside with no reaction whatsoever. She remains neutral when seeing other dogs.

Grace was relaxed about meeting me (a stranger) although she did jump up me. No adverse reactions shown and was pro social with me very quickly. Not observed with men.

Arousal/Reactivity

Please give details of reactivity on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 = low & 5 = high)
Reactivity – 2

Grace is excited by a treat and did jump up and nuzzle the treat pouch in order to get them. She snatched slightly but not excessively and I feel she could easily be trained to take the treat more gently.

Traffic was passing by the secure area and Grace showed no reaction to this. Grace shows no interest in toys, she sniffed at a toy which I squeaked and threw but didn’t attempt to pick it up or interact any further.

 

Possession

Grace is excited by treats but no issues shown around them. She did snatch slightly but did not react when a treat was dropped on the floor and I picked it up.

Comments

Grace is a gentle dog who has a lack of basic training but is biddable and trainable with food rewards. She shows some anxious behaviour (pacing and whining) within the office area but was still able to take treats and be called away from the door area. Grace will need some confidence building in her future home but generally is a relaxed, affectionate dog who will thrive with positive reinforcement training and mental stimulation in a home environment.