Thor Mixed Breed Philadelphia, PA

Thor ACCT-A-163942 is a 1-year-old male who came in as a stray on 5/9.

Behavioral notes:

Per staff on 5/12, "I got Thor out today to see how he's doing. In kennel he was laying on his bed and watched me with semi hard eyes. When I opened the door he began full body trembling, so I crouched down and started using some baby voice to coax him. Slowly he started sitting up, but would avoid eye contact with me. Eventually he took a step off of the bed and shook off. I reached in a bit further with the leash and reached over his head. He shrunk away a bit but allowed me to over the head leash him easily, and he came right out. When we got to the room he stuck close to me for the majority of our time. He seems to be doing a bit better than when I saw him last. He allowed some back side pets, but as I moved up towards his shoulder he slowly looked back at me with some whale eye. I stopped and gave him some Fresh Pet, which he was comfortable enough to take right out of my hands. As time went on Thor allowed more and more pets, but would get tense and nervous when getting near his front half. I just sat with him for several minutes, giving Fresh Pet and seeing how comfortable he was with me near him. Thor would allow back pets with no reaction, but never leaned into or enjoyed any pets that I gave him. Eventually he allowed me to give him some head pets, but after more than 5 seconds of head pets he would give some lip licks. Thor did not give me any prolonged hard eye contact today though! It seems like he's trying to come out of his shell; he took treats from me which he didn't do before, and allowed more touch. He's definitely still very scared and needs low and slow intros to things."

After a behavioral assessment on 5/10, staff noted: "Very fearful and unsure right now. Not very comfortable with handling, makes prolonged, hard eye contact that is maintained even after handling has stopped.

The police officer who found Thor as a stray on 5/9 indicated that he was "very friendly and well mannered and was able to place Thor into his car and transport him to the shelter without issue.

Medical notes:

Due to his heightened fear, anxiety, and stress in the shelter environment, Thor was prescribed gabapentin for stress on 5/10.

During an intake exam on 5/9, staff found Thor to be in good general health, but noted that he "needs a slow approach, extremely sweet and absolutely loves cheese.