Leonard Rottweiler Lincoln, NE

Description
MARR covers Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Leonard is being fostered in KS currently. However, transportation is available for adoptions within our coverage area. More to come on Leonard.

From the Shelter: He does great being leashed, walked and handled but gets reactive and hits kennel when being put back. He did well with getting intake vaccines and deworming.in. We assume it's due to not wanting to be in a loud kennel situation as we are over capacity and our
holding area is very high stress right now. This big boy has been very easy to work with. Medical was able to do intake with no issues. He knows
sit and shake. So far we have not been able to find a food that piques his interest as a treat. He is very
interested in sniffing anything and everything he comes in contact with. He is pending dog intro's at this
time but that will be done by the end of the week to see how he interacts with other dogs. When out walking
he does not show any reactivity when he sees other dogs or people.
The only fault we've seen is that he does not like being put back in his kennel and will growl and hit the
kennel when you close the door. Our holding area is over capacity at this time, and it is a high stress area
so we are assuming this is why this tis happening.
Notes from evaluator: I went to meet/evaluate Leonard and a staff member brought him out from his kennel and I met them in the hallway coming back from the bathroom. He gave me a tail wag and I went ahead to their meet and greet area. Once inside, Jenny held the slip lead loosely while he checked out the area and eventually, me. He initially seemed cautious but friendly, doing lots of sniffing. She was feeding him treats when he would interact with her and once he had a chance to give me a good sniff (I was sitting on the bench), I placed a couple cubes of cheese on the bench for him to find while I talked with Jenny.

He continued to exhibit more relaxed body language as we chatted, and continued to take cheese from the bench. I also used some canned food on a long wooden spoon to guide his eyes up to check for an eye contact trigger, but I saw no indication of one. Jenny said that he had been slow to take food for the most part especially when he was stressed, but he was readily taking food from both of us at this point.

I stood up to see if his reaction would change and it did not, he just looked at me curiously to see what Id do next. Jenny dropped the lead and we let it drag. I was able to get him to give me lots of sits, downs, shakes, and even a messy heel with an auto-sit. Someone spent some time training this dog.

He continued to take food from me and indicated several times that he wanted to go out the gate of the area, so I asked if it was okay if we went outside. He relieved himself outside, indicated that he is most likely house trained. Jenny noted that he keeps his kennel pretty clean minus occasional marking. He was slightly less relaxed outside but sniffed around and did not react to anything out there including people going in and out of the building nearby. He seemed to know how to respond to tension on the leash and did not pull much at all.

As we went back in, we did a quick drive by of another room with some very small dogs in stacked kennels and he was non-reactive, slightly interested but nothing that would indicate he would have issues with small dogs. Jenny indicated that he had been neutral during initial play groups they had put him in.

After we went back to the MG area, he picked up a toy that we had tried to offer earlier and initiated play with it. He led me into a game of fetch and willingly dropped the ball for me each time he brought it back. He quickly became very relaxed and animated as you could tell he loves this game. Occasionally rather than dropping it right away, he would smash it into my leg and rub or wrap one paw around my calf momentarily. If I stepped back, he would drop the toy to initiate play again. He showed no signs of resource guarding and Jenny noted she had not seen any either.

His response to me dropping a metal lid loudly was to turn and look.

His response to me running away from him was for him to turn and then follow me, making eye contact like this was a game he was trying to figure out

She noted that they had seen some increasing signs of barrier reactivity as he passes kennels or other dogs pass by, but this is not uncommon in a shelter environment. She also noted that he has been growling/jumping on the kennel door when he is returned to his kennel as its being closed. When I finished my eval, I asked if I could watch her put him back in his kennel. We used a secondary line on the slip lead to open it quickly, and as we put him in, I threw his toy in and also threw some food in. As we shut the kennel, I offered some food under the panel on my long spoon and no negative behaviors were noted.

Jenny said that she did the initial vetting for Leonard and didnt have any issue with him as far as vaccinations etc., but he has become slightly more sensitive about head/neck handling (collar trigger) the longer he has been there. She was able to muzzle him for his neuter. He is 6 days post-surgery currently so pain would be a factor in behavior here still. He did have an incident earlier this week in which Jenny tried to adjust where the slip lead was on his neck and he growled and flipped his head back/snapped at her but immediately neutralized and no further issue was seen.

He does exhibit more negative behaviors with people who are nervous around him. I did not physically handle him much other than walking him on lead since I know that he has had some handling sensitivity lately and he doesnt know me well, but I think that Id be able to handle him pretty freely in a home environment in a matter of days. He did nuzzle and lick my hand several times and leaned against me.

My conclusion is that Leonard would be a good fit for an experienced, confident foster/adopter and that having other neutral or playful dogs in the home would be fine with proper introduction. Decompression would be VITAL and conservative handling including a drag line would be recommended during that time. He already has a lot of training which makes handling him fairly easy. He would easily have his exercise needs met with some fetch and foraging/find it games each day. He seems to enjoy training and is food motivated, once he feels comfortable in the environment.

I would also recommend muzzle training for vet visits and placement in a home with no young kids simply because of his handling nervousness at first. Kids that are old enough to be coached through that would be fine. He seems to like people or at the very least be neutral with them in almost all circumstances. He also isnt jumpy and his default sit has been developed somewhat and could easily be tuned up.

He is large, tailed, and very typey of the breed. Really nice looking dog with some really good qualities.

Jenny did mention that he is moving up the Euth list due to behavior, since their staff is limited in who feels comfortable handling him and they are over capacity. /31/2024 Rabies/25/2024 Adenovirus/25/2024 Bordetella (Kennel Cough)/25/2024 Parainfluenza/31/24 Heartworm test (negative)/15/2024 Distemper (due)/15/2024 Parvovirus (due)
Neutered Male