Adopt a American Bulldog / Mixed

American Bulldog / Mixed Dog

Achilles the Dog needs a home

DATE: 11/28/17 09:39 INTAKE: Yellow Aggression? growling, reactive when i approached property Level of fear? High Level of friendliness? Med DOT RECOMMENDATION: RED, due to reactivity, change to blue if neccessary MICROCHIP: Unable to scan due to beh Initials: EEM VACCINATOR: YELLOW Aggression? Yes If yes, what happened? growling when vaccinating Level of fear? Med Level of friendliness? Med DOT RECOMMENDATION: BLUE MICROCHIP: 985112001407409 Initials: JJS,LNG,ELK 12/08/17 17:22 REVIEW: I have been doing drive bys with Achilles for about 4 days. The first day he barked as I approached but stopped when I offered him treats. He took treats from my hands and has not barked at me since. However, he stiffens if I linger in front of his kennel and face stays tense throughout the visit. I will continue drive bys until he is more comfortable with me. SFW 12/12/17 13:48 After a few more days of continual drive bys, today I sat in front of his kennel and fed him treats. He was comfortable with this, but his body and face stayed stiff. I opened the door and it spooked him, he ran away from the door, then back to the front, then away again a few times. He finally settled at the door and when I went to put the lead on him, he spooked again, jumping back and alarm barking at me. I closed the door quickly and fed him some more treats, which he continued to take nicely. He may need another day or so before he is ready to come out with me. SFW 12/15/17 16:11 REVIEW: I walked up and treated him as usual, then moved to his outside kennel and treated him from there. I opened the kennel door and he ran to the inside, like before, and then creeped back out. With the door open, I played treat/retreat with him. He was very engaged with the game, and eventually started to take treats from my hand. However, he was quickly overwhelmed from the close interaction and would run back into his inside kennel to decompress for a second before coming back for more treats. Will continue to play treat/retreat with him until he is comfortable with me leashing him. SFW 12/19/17 13:12 REVIEW: Took Achilles out with Rachel. He acted normal, and backed up a few feet when I opened the kennel door. I stepped into the kennel and was able to put a slip lead on him while I treated him . He pulled hard as we walked and paid no attention to me. We went to the play yard and switched him to a clip leash. He explored for several minutes, then went back to the gate and scratched to get out. His anxiety would rise when he stopped moving and wasn't sure what he should be doing. We tried to engage him with toys, which he was not interested in, then treats which he was very interested in. He was very smart and trainable, but lost interest quickly in working for treats and would walk away. After several more minutes, he started to perk up and really relax with us. He had a wide open, relaxed mouth, became a little jumpy for attention, and asked for affection several times. Throughout our time with him, his body language continued to be hard to read, easily going stiff with consistent side eye and slow movements, and it was clear he was undersocialized. Will continue to take him out everyday until his behavior is more consistent and easier to read. Keeping on Behavior Lock for now. SFW 12/21/17 11:59 from 12/20/17 Took Achilles out again with Rachel and Megan. Leashing in the kennel was the same, he would get nervous when you hesitated but was easy to slip lead with treats. He pulled very hard on leash. We tried him in the 400s yard to see how he was with volunteers and dogs walking by. He showed no reactivity and was interested in greeting dogs through the gate, though was very stiff and forward posturing. He was hesitant around Megan, this being his first time meeting her, but warmed up quickly after a few minutes and came up to greet her several times. He became relaxed as before, with a soft face and was friendly as before with me and Rachel. He was comfortable with me petting his back, however, about 20 minutes in, he growled at me when I went to pet his back. I was to his side but leaning over with my arms stretched towards him and petting up and down his back in a light scratching motion. It was a warning growl that he didn't like it, but he remained stiff for a few seconds after I backed off. He went back to his relaxed , friendly state. He leashed back up easily and re-kenneled well with treats. SFW 12/28/17 11:30 REVIEW: Rachel and I took out Achilles. It has been a week since we got him out and he was much more fearful in his kennel about being leash and walked out. I first tried with a slip leash but he kept his distance from me. Rachel entered his kennel and he vocalized when he saw the slip leash and ran . He was afraid of it so she put it away and played treat and retreat for a minute. He was still fearful so she tried crouching down. He walked right up to her then and had loose body language. She was able to clip leash him. We walked him out to the play yard. He still pulled very hard and stayed tense for the first couple of minutes in the play yard. He then relaxed quickly with a soft open mouth, sitting politely to ask for treats , and running a few laps around the yard. He was very playful with us and enjoyed playing chase. He was a little jumpy, but managed his energy very well with us. We were able to switch out his velcro collar to a martingale while treating, but did not attempt handling beyond that. He would sit and stand very close to us , but would choose to move away from our hand if he was not getting a treat. He vocalized several times in the play yard, once from excitment and play, once at a dog about 100 ft from the fence, and at a siren in the distance. None of them were offensive or threatening, he is growing more vocal as he becomes more comfortable with us. He pulled hard on the way back and re-kenneled easily with treats. We will continue to get him out every day to continue his progress. SFW 01/02/18 10:13 REVIEW: Aquilles was the softest, loosest, and friedliest yet this mornings! He did go a bit stiff when I leashed him, but it was easy to leash him with a couple of treats to distract him. When we walked to the play yard, he only mildly pulled and it was very manageable. He was very interested and focused on dogs as we walked out and that passed us by the play yard, but he was easy to distract away from it with gentle leash tugs and call aways. In the yard, he was very playful, especially loving a stuffed frog toy. He came up several times and offered sits for treats. He walked back nicely and re-kenneled easily. SFW 1/11/18 RED - charging kennel on outside and inside when VS has attempted to look for stool samples 4x today. Directed barking..mes

  • Animal: Dog
  • Breed: American Bulldog / Mixed
  • Size: X-Large
  • Gender: Male
  • State: Texas
  • Zip/Postal Code: 78703
As of 5/4/2024 Achilles is still available for adoption. Please use the owner information below to confirm that Achilles is still available or to adopt. Don't forget to check the other animal shelters near me there are many other pets needing a fur-ever home.

Owner Information

You can find Achilles at Austin Pets Alive!

If Achilles is not the right pet for your family you can still adopt a pet.

Find other pets for adoption from Austin Pets Alive! now.