Buck Shot

My story

Buck Shot ACCT-A-224089 is currently considered urgent and at risk of euthanasia due to behavioral concerns. Buck Shot must have confirmed placement with a RESCUE PARTNER or EXPERIENCED ADOPTER by TUESDAY, JULY 8TH at 10AM. Should Buck Shot's medical or behavioral status change, her urgency and timeline for placement may also change. Buck Shot arrived at ACCT Philly on June 27th, after being dropped off at a police station. Initially, Buck Shot exhibited intense fear and defensive behaviors in the shelter environment, including lunging, snapping, and growling when approached. However, in the days following, Buck Shot began to show glimpses of her real self when handled by consistent staff and volunteers. She became easier to leash, walked with a mid-wagging tail, engaged with toys, enjoyed belly rubs, and demonstrated tolerance for handling when approached slowly. She is still nervous with unfamiliar people and settings, and her behavior can regress when overwhelmed or startled. However, she has shown significant progress with familiar handlers and she has also tolerated dog introductions with avoidant but appropriate behavior, showing curiosity without aggression. Due to her behavior concerns, Buck Shot is urgently looking for a rescue or experienced adopter without children in the home who can continue her progress with structure, patience, and compassion. VIDEOS: On a walk with Buck Shot 6/28: https://youtube.com/shorts/i6HEBGQzXeI?feature=shared Dog meet with Beethoven: https://youtube.com/shorts/QaYEG-IrPII?si=6ofM2roPFFLhheID BEHAVIOR: Per volunteer 7/3: Moving from staff only to experience blue to allow our most experienced volunteers to interact with her. She has demonstrated she will warm up to people and become safe to touch and handle, given enough time and a slow approach. Per volunteer 7/3: Hesitant to approach, curious wanting to sniff and backs away each time the other dog oriented towards her. Consistency. Moved away, avoidant of interaction. Per staff 7/2: Passing by Buckshots kennel the last couple morning she was hard barking at me and growling. I tried to call her towards me as I slightly opened the kennel door and she lunged forward -- as the door closed she pinned her side against the door, low growling. Per volunteer 7/2: Was able to check in, took the dog outside. Showed fearful behavior like tail down, mouth closed, whale eye, hunched body. When interacting with me at first, and also interacting with the medical staff. She was able to relax and sniff around then allowed handling, vaccinations were given as she was distracted by sniffing. Did a small lunge and air snap at the medical staff member towards the end of the examination process. Per staff 6/30: Took out for an evening walk without issue. Adorable, wiggly, hilarious, and tolerant of all handling Per staff 6/29: Took out with no issue throughout. Found curled up at the front of the kennel, rose on noticing me, relaxed body and low-mid wags. Looped up easily, smooth exit. Bouncy, playful, mid wags while walking around. Flopped over for belly rubs once we were on the grass, tolerated all over handling. Saw several dogs on walks with volunteers and staff, remained upright, loose, curious, otherwise nonreactive. On perceiving that I was guiding her back inside, she’d put the brakes on, but with some coaxing followed me. Slightly apprehensive and jittery while making out way indoors, but hopped right into the kennel once we were there. Per volunteer 6/29: Observed staff handle her, she came to the front of the kennel with low tail wagging and was easy to leash. Walked with tucked tail outside, eyes darting. Then became loose, playful, bouncy with tail middle wagging, panting with loose tongue. When I would approach she would stiffen and close her mouth. Didn’t eat treats at first. Allowed the staff member to touch her all over, and the longer I sat near them she started to engage with me with the same loose body language. She started eating treats, taking them gently. Balked coming back inside, had to get into the kennel for her to return. That staff member should be present when checking in as she’s most comfortable with him. Per staff 6/28: TTA- Unable to check in at this time. Staff was able to leash up Pt. to bring into intake but then dog started to thrash and lunge at at staff. Per volunteer 6/28: Saw she did not eat her meds yesterday. Left some whipped cream and fresh pet in her kennel along with hot dogs, to see if any of those would be better options to put her meds in. I checked a few hours later and she had not eaten those either. Per volunteer 6/27: Used the hook to get the leash off with the help of a volunteer to manage the door. She was snarling and growling, whipped her head towards it and gave me direct eye contact, then stopped with hunched body, head lowered to gaze at the ground and I was able to shimmy the leash off Per staff 6/27: Alligator rolling, snapping toward staff, biting the leash, lunging towards staff. -- I threw a lasso leash to secure her and we used the leash she already had to secure her into a kennel. She stopped many times, taking breaks after flailing and snapping at us. Once in tta we used leash pressure to put her in the kennel and weren't able to secure our leash back. Per staff 6/27: Setting to eval due to behavior, dog was not handleable and was put right in kennel. Per staff 6/27: Unable to check in due to behavior. Dog was in lobby hard barking and lunging at ACA and behavior was called and dog was put in a kennel. I approached her in kennel, called her and she immediately became tense and began hard barking and baring teeth. Per police 6/27: Friendly. Per staff 6/27: Lady was here this morning with dog and said the dog was her friend and was only had the dog for 1 day. MEDICAL:Per staff 7/2: Extended trazodone duration based on behavioral notes. Gabapentin is already prescribed until further notice. Per staff 7/2: Not able to place microchip due to behavior. Eyes clean. Ears appear clean, full of hair. Nose clear. Teeth appear clean and white, not able to look closely. Long hair, some matting, no fleas notes. Female, unable to determine altered status. No lameness noted. BAR, initially friendly, wary of isolation gown. Was able to vaccinate with almost no restraint, P did lose tolerance with me, was not able to give Bordetella or chip. On 7/1, Buck Shot was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection (URI) or "doggy cold" and started on medication. She tested negative for pneumovirus and is scheduled on doxycycline until 7/14. Due to her behavior upon intake, Buck Shot was prescribed gabapentin and trazodone on 6/27. - Due to being significantly overcapacity with dogs and cats and higher than usual intake, extensions are unlikely to be granted. If you are interested in an animal please contact ACCT Philly immediately. Due to limited space, timestamps may also be proceeded with early so it is imperative to let us know if you are considering adopting or tagging a dog or cat. 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 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.

If you have any questions or would like to adopt Buck Shot , please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.