Hi, I'm
currently located at
ACCT Philly
Philadelphia, PA
age
Adult
gender
Female
color
Brown/Chocolate
size
Med. 26-60 lbs (12-27 kg)
pet id
39925981
Somer ACCT-A-152344 is currently considered urgent and at risk of euthanasia due to length of stay and lack of space for incoming dogs. Somer must have confirmed placement with an ADOPTER, EXPERIENCED FOSTER, or RESCUE PARTNER by Saturday, May 11th by 10:00 am. Should Somer's medical or behavioral status change, her urgency and timeline for placement may also change. Due to being significantly overcapacity with animals 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 an animal. Meet Somer, short for Somersault! Somer is now back at the shelter after being in foster care since November of 2023, due to them moving across the country. Somer originally came to us in November after she was found as a stray and brought in by the police, who noted her to be very friendly! Somer is a 60-lb pittie girl with a heart of gold. She got her name from how she somersaults into your lap for cuddles. Just a goofy, sweetheart! She's a tank and she would do best with a family who has experience with big dogs working on their leash manners. She also needs to be the only animal in the house because she is pretty dog reactive at this time. She would really benefit from a fenced yard where she could get her zoomies out so she can focus better on training. According to Somer's foster family "Somer loves to stand on the couch beside you, press the top of her head into your lap and then slowly lift her hind legs (in what can only be described as a somersault) until she is fully nestled into your lap, belly up (often with my hind end higher than her head). She is affectionate beyond belief, but not clingy. She is happy to hang out by herself during work hours, as long as the day starts and ends with big snugs. She's a confident and brave gal who likes to approach new things with curiosity. She doesn't mind bath time, vacuuming, and even stuck her head in the concave door of her foster friends washing machine to see what was making that sloshing sound! She knows how to be polite with food and understands that human food is for humans. She's very polite with all human things and is not destructive at all. While in Somer's foster home she was also noted to be housetrained and crate trained, and has great manners at home! Somer has been patiently waiting for her forever home and is still hopeful that her forever family is out there. 4/21 per volunteer: Somer was ready to get out of her kennel and head outside, I didn't have any issues with her walking through the kennels. She does pull pretty hard on the leash, so a harness to prevent pulling would be best. I took her right to a play yard to run out some of her energy and boy did she! She zoomed all through the large play yard from one end to the other. She wasn't interested in toys or treat she just wanted to run! She did start to get overwhelmed by the passing dogs and was jumping to the top of the fence. She unfortunately seems a bit stressed being back at the shelter. She is a beautiful pup and she is in great shape. She did eventually settle down and come over for some pets. She would really benefit from a quick exit. I had no issues returning her to her kennel. 4/18 per staff: In the room somer did a perimeter check and circled the room a few times, but then came over by me. She had a neutral body but when I called her over to me she trotted over and began to wag and have soft eyes. She leaned in while petting her and curled up against me. She was stress shedding frequently in the room but was very sweet with all handling. Took treats gently and showed knowledge of sit. 2/18 per foster: I wanted to report a fight and bite incident that happened while I was walking Somer this evening. As I've noted in my previous emails, Somer is dog reactive. To reduce the number of times she sees and could possibly react to other dogs, I only take her on walks after 9pm, when few people are out with their dogs in my neighborhood. I also keep her on a double lead with a front harness and a snug martingale collar to maintain control of her when she lunges. We were on our regular evening walk tonight around 10pm when I saw two men with two off-leash pitbull-type dogs (probably 40ish lbs each). The men and dogs were across the street and about half a block away. I shouted "She's reactive" and immediately turned and began walking the other direction, but looked over my shoulder to make sure they had control of their dogs - they didn't. The two dogs ran across the street and down the block and swarmed around Somer. I told them to get their dogs and tried to pull Somer out of the huddle of dogs, but the two off-leash dogs wouldn't separate from us. Within a few seconds, all three dogs went from stiff posture and high flagging tails to lunging, snarling, and biting. One dog bit Somer's face and the other was jumping up on her side. I managed to kick the jumping dog off and one of the men restrained that dog, however, the other dog had a grip on Somer's lip and she had managed to bite his lip as well. I tried kicking at the other dog, but he wouldn't release. The other man came to restrain his dog, but neither the other dog nor Somer would release their grips on each other. After probably 30 seconds, the other man and I managed to get both dogs to release. Once the dogs released, I immediately turned Somer away from the other dogs and began walking away. She looked back and pulled for a couple yards, but quickly calmed into pace with me and gave me her attention (we're working on "look" and getting attention in stimulating environments, so she's good at this). In the moment, I just wanted to get her to relax and get out of that situation. I didn't speak to the men or get any information from them. Behaviorally, she's fine so far. She's a sweet trooper and she's currently curled next to me in bed. She hasn't been especially clingy or alert, but it's only been a few hours. If you have any preemptive tips on helping her recover from this incident, let me know. Otherwise, I'll continue our routine as usual and let you know if there is any extreme escalation in reactivity or new behavioral concerns. In terms of my amateur assessment of this incident, I don't think that Somer's behavior caused or meaningfully contributed to the fight. She was on leash and at a distance where I should have been able to redirect her. We do see 2-3 dogs every night on our walk and we just take a turn or cross the street - sometimes she barks and throws a fit, but there's never any danger of escalation. She was restrained while two loose, unknown dogs rushed her with not-friendly body language, so I think many dogs would engage in some degree of fighting. I also wouldn't fault her for not letting go when she was being bit. Obviously, there are more preferable alternative reactions to this, but all things considered, I wouldn't say this is a highly concerning incident in terms of what it says about Somer's behavior and temperament. 12/4 per foster: I wanted to give you an update on Somer now that she has been with us for about 10 days. The overarching headline of the update is that she is sweeter and better than I could have imagined when I met her in the kennels, and, like all of us, she has some areas for growth. Other than the challenges described below, Somer is a dream dog. We've taken to calling her Somer because she has the silliest and cutest way of cuddling: she stands on the couch beside you, presses the top of her head into your lap and then slowly lifts her hind legs in what can only be described as a somersault until she is fully nestled into your lap, belly up (often with her hind end higher than her head). She is affectionate beyond belief, but she isn't clingy. She's happy to hang out by herself while we work, as long as we start and end the day with big snugs. She is a very confident and brave dog who approaches new things with curiosity and no fear or aggression. She's been a total sweetie for bath time, vacuuming, and even stuck her big head in the concave door of our washing machine to see what was making that sloshing sound! She's also very, very polite with food and understands that human food is for humans. In fact, she's very polite with all human things and she's not destructive or naughty at all. Rounding out her ever-unique personality, Cilantro/Somer isn't interested in most toys. Instead, her favorite things are towels, bubble wrap mailers, and her grooming goodies like the scrubby bath glove and her paw balm. Miss Somer is almost perfect, and she has all the potential to become an 11/10 Good Dog. She just needs a person who is really dedicated to working with her on her growth areas, and I honestly couldn't imagine a better investment! She doesn't appear to have any obedience or leash training at all, nor does she seem socialized at all. The obedience isn't a problem because she's so well behaved in the house, and she's learning sit, stay, go to bed, and come very quickly. The leash training is definitely a challenge. Cilantro/Somer is very strong and she knows how to use all her power to pull. We've moved from the martingale collar to a freedom no-pull harness which offers better control of her body mass but doesn't seem to curb the pulling. She seems to be very scent motivated and her head barely picks up off the ground while we're walking. She is also extremely excitable and fixated on everything: people, blowing leaves, cars, bikes, squirrels, any noise at all from anywhere. Everything is very stimulating to her, and I am not having success at getting her attention with treats (including things like rotisserie chicken and lamb liver) or toys or squeakers. I am only taking her on one walking path in the hopes that her familiarity with the route will eventually make it boring, so that I can finally be interesting and get her attention with things like treats/toys/etc. So far, her pulling has subsided a tiny bit so long as there aren't any triggers (more on that later). I am cautiously optimistic about her leash training because she is so keen and overall well-tempered. To balance out our "boring" walks, I'm giving her puzzles at home like frozen kongs, knotted towels, "find it" nose work, and a treat-dispensing ball. I'm also working on clicker training her and we do drills with basic obedience commands. She is a good sport with these games and gets tired after 20-30 min, at which point she gives herself a rest by going to nap in her crate. She appears to be crate trained and really loves her little den. We haven't left her alone yet, but she's fine with the door closed when we're in the house but out of sight, so I expect she'll be good alone. We've taken her on a few short errands and she's good in the car and doesn't bark or monitor for us when left alone (less than 10 minutes, I promise!). The major issue we've encountered is that Cilantro/Somer is very dog reactive on leash. She lunges and hard barks with tail flagging and forward pricked ears. It's impossible to break her fixation, and she scrambles and yodels when you turn her or drag her to redirect. Once the other dog is out of sight, she stays hyperalert with high tail and pricked ears for about 5 minutes. When she's in that state, it's still impossible to break her fixation, and she pulls very hard. Since we don't have a back yard, this means that every potty break and walk can quickly turn into a very unpleasant event. I would really like to work with Cilantro/Somer on this because she deserves to live a big life where she gets to explore lots of places and isn't stifled by her reactivity. I also recognize that there must be some underlying fear or anxiety that's causing her to react this way, and I'd like her to be able to be her goofy, trusting, brave, and confident self in all situations. If there are any trainers/classes that you guys are connected with that could help us, I would love to be put in touch! 11/22 per volunteer: Somer was a super sweet and affectionate pup for me today! She allowed leashing super easily and pranced through the kennels to get outside. She was super playful in the play yard. She did little zoomies and then always ran back to me to lean against my legs. It's so cute! She loves to jump- when I was holding treats she got excited and jumped super high for them. Met several dog friends through the fence and she was so excited to see them, continuing to jump lol She allowed handling all over and allowed a staff member in adoptions to put a brand new collar on her. Such a sweet lady 11/22 per staff: Somer was mellow in the room and well mannered. She wandered around exploring and would then come back over to us for attention. She would put her front paws up on our laps soliciting attention. She was tolerant of all handling and would lean against us. She was very gentle while out as well and had great manners. No interest in treats. Video: Somer (FKA Cilantro): https://youtube.com/shorts/6fdCwqh83zA?si=GfWIG_rTaWP0DqQc Snow Day https://youtu.be/SA8mn8P9M3E Squirrel Day https://youtube.com/shorts/U6Lieh7kz34 Somer in the play yard: https://youtu.be/wP45mVpHi1o?si=FzTKBzIZiKdsuW_4 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 Somer, please reach out to the adoption group directly. PetSmart Charities does not facilitate the adoption process. Thank you.
adoption group
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