Lemon ACCT-A-172917 is an adult male who came in as a stray on 8/30, found tied to a tree in a wooded area, secured tightly enough around the neck that, staff later observed, it posed a risk to his safety. Extremely stressed, anxious, and scared, Lemon has just begun settling in to his new surroundings and is learning again to trust, already making friends with staff as he enjoys being cared for and pampered.
Video:
Lemon knows paw: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/js9U2n-Qdqo?feature=share
Petting Lemon: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dj4m4RhipiA?feature=share
Lemon meets Metroplex: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Y_tqjAxMxzY?feature=share
Lemon and Metroplex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJiPzhU1L6k
Lemon and Metroplex 2 plus Lemon knows sit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyUdzFABlEA
Behavioral notes:
Per volunteer on 9/1: Loved Lemon!! He was definitely scared for leashing at first. He has a very pouty mouth and his lip gets caught a lot- at first I wasn't sure if his lip was curled but then I realized it was just stuck! I was dropping treats and he always came forward to get them but as soon as my leash came out he backed away. I was finally able to leash him by putting the leash in a circle on the ground and putting treats down in the middle.
He walked outside with me with no issue. In the play yard he loved treats but was clearly scared and cowering with any sudden movements and noises. He has scars on his ears that are really fleshy and fresh so seems he's been through some recent trauma. Took treats very gently and didn't seem to know any commands. He had a great meet with Metroplex, a small little bully mix! He approached her slowly, gave sniffs and took sniffs too. We hung out with her for several minutes and he was very relaxed and started to really open up! He started doing little play bows and actually solicited some affection from me.
When we went back in the play yard after that he was prancing around, taking pets, and was super sweet. He seems very shut down in the shelter environment. No issues going back into his kennel
Per staff on 8/31: After Lemon's evaluation I wanted to get the tight rope he had around his neck off of him, but he was so fearful I was worried I couldn't do it alone. I asked a medical staff member to assist with cutting the rope off, because it was beyond the point of loosening at that point. We went into the behavior office, and when the other staff member walked in he was very fearful of her. Lemon hid behind me and flinched away from her. It took about 10 minutes but Lemon started taking treats from her and giving low wags. He was opening up slowly but surely! We were able to distract him with some cheese and cut off the rope without any reaction! We kept him out for a short while longer to do a physical exam. He continued to open up and be very sweet. He's super handler oriented and got a little goofy and playful with me towards the end. He leaned in hard for scratches and would give his paw whenever he needed comfort. He was a very good boy, especially for how fearful he was
BEHAVIOR EVALUATION (8/31):
KNOWN HISTORY:
Stray - APO pickup
KENNEL PRESENTATION:
Lemon was laying on the bed and growled at the handler with hard eye contact. He was offered a treat and his eyes softened. The handler began tossing him treats and he gave low tail wags which allowed the handler to sideways lasso. He was hesitant to come out and needed to be lured out with treats
LEASH SKILLS:
Pulls minimally - walks very nicely on leash
HANDLING:
Lemon is very scared and nervous. He seems very undersocialized and nervous of people. When the handler tried to pet him he flinched really hard and whipped around. He was given treats to calm him down and he took them very snatchy. He does know how to sit and paw and is very good with redirection. He began hyperfocusing on the sound of the dogs in TTA barking and would back up, seeming nervous but was easily distracted with treats. He sat next to the handler and was nervous for handling but he allowed it and gave some low wags. He is tolerant and just a big scared baby. He allowed all touch but is more sensitive about his ears and back legs.
PLAY
No interest
TOYS:
Scared of toys
Per staff on 8/30: Helped get Lemon off of the APO truck. APO who brought her in said that Lemon really didn't like him, and asked for help getting him into a kennel. The APO hid around the other side of the truck while I leashed and handled Lemon. He was cowering in the back of the kennel when I approached. He gave me some low growls, but did not come forward at all. I was able to reach in and grab the leash already on him, and he did not react. He came forward a couple steps on his own, and I used some leash pressure to get him to the front of the kennel. I sat with him for a bit, trying to leash him, but he was nervous and kept leash dodging. I stood with him, my body facing sideways to him. He sniffed me gently and let me get the leash around his head after a minute or two. He still would not leave the truck, so I had to use leash pressure to help pop him out. Once out he let me clip the leash without any reaction. He did watch the APO that brought him in with hard eyes as we walked by, but did not react. He was hesitant to climb into kennel, but climbed in when I stepped in with him.
Per staff that found Lemon and transferred him to the shelter on 8/30: Searched and couldn't find at first but did eventually and had to wait for a second staff member to come and help me to get. Removed one stray tied up abandoned dog from the wooded area of the park. ... Can't get a good read on him. Was lunging at the other staff member and me. We both needed to use control poles to get him out of the wooded area. ... Did bite at the control pole, but never grabbed or bit down hard, just kept lunging at it.
Medical notes:
During an exam on 8/31, staff noted:
- I was asked to assess P this morning, dog required multiple handlers to secure in the field, and was fearful when being placed in a kennel last night. Behavior staff noted P had a rope tied tightly around his neck that was used to secure him where he was abandoned, and the rope was tight enough to be a risk to P's safety.
- On exam, noted P was fearful, but extremely handler oriented, looking to Sabrina for reassurance for everything. With some coaxing, I was able to get him to approach me while I was seated, as he was less intimidated that way. He was offered squeeze cheese on the floor, and with Sabrina's assistance, I was able to cut the rope and remove it from P's neck. Some redness noted on the skin under the rope, does not appear to have caused any wounds.
- Ears slightly dirty inside, noted crusted wounds on outsides of both ears that appear to be somewhat infected, could benefit from Abx.
- Teeth are pretty clean, with small areas of discoloration and tartar
- Skin is dirty, but mostly in good condition. Noted a healing laceration (or rope burn?) on lateral LF leg around the distal radius/ulna, appears to be healing cleanly, no intervention needed.
- Noted to be male, intact w/2
- Sweet dog, looks tough on the outside, but just scared. He did very well once we babied him.
ACCT Philly is located at 111 West Hunting Park Ave in Philadelphia. We are open for adoptions 7 days a week. Please visit www.acctphilly.org/adopt for details.
If you are a rescue interested in pulling this animal, please email our lifesaving team, or visit here if you are not currently a rescue partner: https://acctphilly.org/acct-philly-love-local-partnership-program/
Confirmed placement is considered a confirmation of an actual rescue pull. Possible placement, interested parties, and other "TBD" statuses are not considered confirmed and do not indicate an animal is no longer urgent.
All animals at ACCT Philly are from Philadelphia, as the only open-intake animal shelter in Philadelphia, we are not able to accept animals from outside of Philadelphia. ACCT Philly's Pennsylvania kennel license number is 08313
