Fries is on our Call to Action list due to high levels of excitement/arousal that caused issues in her former home, and are difficult to manage in the shelter.

Fries shared her previous home with a young child and an older individual, both of which she was too strong for and has knocked over. On one occasion, Fries was startled and bit her owner on the leg, though the exact circumstances are unknown. Fries’s second bite incident occurred while she was being surrendered. As her owners attempted to load her into their vehicle, she bit the older individual on the arm. The damage from both of these bites was extremely minor, and we believe her behaviors may be rooted in a lack of fulfillment and overarousal rather than aggression, and Fries has been very amenable to handling for shelter staff and volunteers. However, managing these behaviors requires a dedicated adopter, making her more difficult to place.

While Fries is reported to have done well with small dogs in the past, and has been friendly with large dogs while in our care, she becomes extremely excited at the sight of other dogs, even at a distance. She barks, pulls on the leash, and will even run into fences trying to reach them. Again, she has been in playgroup successfully, and these behaviors appear to be rooted in excitement to go say hello. Going on walks with Fries may require a physically strong individual to manage her. This limits her handlers at the shelter and her opportunities to get out of the kennel. In a home, management and consistent training may help lower Fries’s stress levels and reactivity to other dogs.

We believe that Fries is an extremely energetic, active young dog, who is sweet at heart but is not being fulfilled. Unfortunately, we often see dogs like this decline quickly at the shelter. They spend most of their days kenneled, building up even more energy, and it’s impossible for us to meet their needs here. Knowing that her mouthiness has already led to two bites, we urgently need to find placement for Fries with an adopter, foster, or rescue. We want to see this girl succeed, so to help her adjust to a new home the shelter will sponsor a series of training sessions with a local trainer for foster or adopter.

URGENT UPDATE 6/8: Fries is going to be a challenging dog in any environment, and we want to be fully transparent about that. But her quality of life in the shelter has deteriorated to the point where keeping her here is not humane. If we cannot find an adopter, foster or rescue able to give her a try, we will have to discuss the possibility of humane euthanasia. We need to hear from any interested fosters by Sunday, June 14th due to the time sensitivity of this case.

If interested in adoptionL, please email animal.care@ventura.org, or come into the shelter anytime 1pm-5:30pm to meet her!!!

Interested in fostering Fries? Please apply at vcas.us/foster and apply at vcar.foster@ventura.org to let us know you are specifically interested in Fries A865186.

Rescue groups can reach out to vcar.rescue@ventura.org.

Thank you.

vcanimalservices

Urgent FOSTER, ADOPTER or RESCUE needed for Fries! Chronically under fulfilled and over-aroused. Has lost 20lbs in shelter ?? 4 y/o Fries was surrendered to us in February due to extreme barrier frustration, reactivity to people/cars/dogs, knocking over children and older folks in the home, and several low level bites. It was clear that meeting Fries's needs may be well beyond the abilities of the average adopter. We quickly saw these behaviors worsen at the shelter, despite being on behavior meds. For the first few months Fries was too overwhelmed to engage with anyone or anything at all. Her days were spent frantically pacing, barking at passing dogs until she went hoarse, and jumping at kennel walls to the point of injury - even when in the yards. Her weight dropped from 65 to 43lbs. Her strong pulling and reactivity makes her difficult for staff & volunteers to handle, even further limiting her chances to get out. Having already sent out a social media post and rescue pleas, we’ve been extremely concerned about her quality of life and lack of placement options. This week, we've seen a different side of Fries for the first time. She's still frustrated, but has started to seek attention from people and has made efforts to play with dogs. She takes treats in the kennel and may even greet you with eye contact, a wiggly body, and a tail wag. This shift may be in part thanks to the multiple, long daily walks she's gotten from volunteers. It's possible that we are also finally seeing positive effects from her behavior medications! We REALLY want to see Fries keep making this positive progress, but she needs out of the shelter to really thrive. We would LOVE to place her with an experienced foster, adopter, or rescue group. We do still have concern for her quality of life, and will be closely monitoring her well being. Humane euthanasia may be considered if Fries continues to lose weight or declines. Please reach out to us ASAP if you can help Fries. We're rooting for her. VCAS may be able to support with training resources or transport. Foster email: vcar.foster@ventura.org Rescues: vcar.rescue@ventura.org Adopters: animal.care@ventura.org

? Forever - Alex G