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Princess Peach ACCT-A-137906 is currently considered urgent and at risk of euthanasia due to length of stay and lack of space for incoming dogs. Princess Peach must have confirmed placement with a RESCUE PARTNER or ADOPTER by WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7TH at 10AM. Should Princess Peach’s medical or behavioral status change, her urgency and timeline for placement may also change.
Princess Peach was surrendered to the shelter after spending four years with her family, who described her as a sweet, high-energy girl who adored walks, back rubs, playtime, and being the center of attention. Sadly, her owner was moving somewhere that didn’t allow pets and was heartbroken to say goodbye. Princess lived indoors, was crate trained, mostly housebroken, and knew several commands including “sit,” “relax,” “bed time,” and “no snatch.” While she could be territorial with her food and nervous around unfamiliar people, she formed strong bonds with those she trusted.
This is her second time at the shelter, several years ago she was surrendered but the owner was able to reclaim her. Since arriving at the shelter on December 14th, Princess Peach has been understandably scared and cautious. During her intake and early handling, she flinched at sudden movements and showed stress during restraint, but never directed aggression toward handlers—only at the tools being used, such as muzzles. Staff quickly learned that food is a great way to her heart; she’s gentle when taking treats and begins to relax when given time and space to decompress. In fact, during one medical exam, she melted into the lap of a technician and happily stayed there for the entire session.
Princess Peach’s behavior continued to improve with each interaction. She now seeks out affection, engages in gentle play, and even initiates contact once she feels secure. She enjoys leaning in for booty scratches, softly wagging her tail, and giving hopeful little nudges for more pets. Her progress shows just how much love she has to give once her walls come down.
Princess has also met other dogs during her time at the shelter. She shows interest through the fence, but can be tense at times when meeting them face to face. Throughout the interactions, she remains tolerant, showing that she could coexist with the right canine companion, especially if they are respectful and calm. Princess Peach will thrive in a patient, low-traffic home with experienced adopters who can help her continue building confidence. This sensitive and loyal girl is just waiting for someone to believe in her and show her the world isn’t such a scary place after all. Due to her length of stay, Princess Peach is urgently seeking placement with a rescue partner or adopter.
VIDEOS:
*NEW* Met Bruford: https://youtu.be/fWokBpsolCI?si=53PHoQQcK8WyNDzg
https://youtu.be/f3cJ1hbURiM?si=3Erfzj6cYgwxhW9Q
*NEW* Petting Princess Peach: https://youtube.com/shorts/QgH5bcYBmAc?si=QxygdWvdpKNZJrjW
*NEW* Meet Timestamped Princess Peach:
https://youtube.com/shorts/QgH5bcYBmAc?si=QxygdWvdpKNZJrjW
Princess Peach Xmas Find it!: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PicKoKL-q3g
Princess Peach Xmas Find it 2!: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EJzHjgwG6lM
Playgroup video with Blue: https://youtu.be/LUxUhbVHJSM
Meet with Luna Lunark: https://youtu.be/cZQQHyxWfgg
Betsy Barddock and Princess Peach: https://youtu.be/-wJTBJEliIQ
Videos from her stay in 2023:
Princess Peach!: https://youtube.com/shorts/7d5BKyKIHrE?feature=share
Princess Peach 1: https://youtube.com/shorts/O2Y1OVjhPKQ?feature=share
Princess Peach 2: https://youtube.com/shorts/R2xnM0Sq0ME?feature=share
Princess makes a friend: https://youtube.com/shorts/V27NqdHzKKc?feature=share
Cuddly Princess: https://youtu.be/BCUh6DB-OIw
Princess Peach likes scratches: https://youtube.com/shorts/RK4boup1-N4?feature=share
Princess Peach fence meet: https://youtube.com/shorts/4lj1oQypABQ?feature=share
Princess peach warming up: https://youtube.com/shorts/CBp90PqHP5Y?feature=share
Caramel and Princess Peach Fence Meet: https://youtu.be/POU4-dx97pc
Caramel and Princess Peach Fence Meet: https://youtu.be/oK2VMYTiOvc
Princess Peach and Caramel: https://youtu.be/phH_kB_maVk
Bolt and Princess Peach: https://youtu.be/bqhCo1yUwJA
BEHAVIOR:
Per staff 1/5/26: Curious, neutral, slightly tense, he growled at her and she remained the same, easily redirected away with verbal cues.
Per Volunteer 1/4/26: When I approached her kennel, she greeted me with a wiggly and excited body and a wagging tail. She started doing little hops with her front legs out of excitement! Opened the door and very easily leashed her. She was walking hesitantly out of the kennel and then did not want to walk outside the back door. There was rocks and ice, so I’m not sure if that scared her. I dropped a trail of treats and she still wouldn’t come forward, although she tried to eat them without moving her legs. We ended up going out the front entrance and she came out just fine. In the play yard she took treats for me very gently out of my hand. She also took pets from me and quietly sat by my side, then went and sniffed around the yard. No interest in toys today. She was interested in meeting dogs through the fence and had calm fence meets. Went to the photo shoot and allowed me to put a scarf around her neck, although gave a few lick lips after I did that. Very treat motivated and sat patiently for her Photo. Pancaked a little bit trying to go down her kennel row, but I dropped a few treats and it got her moving. No issues unleashing.
Per staff 1/1/26: A volunteer brought Princess Peach into the office because she was too fearful to go outside. She was a little hesitant in the office at first and explored the office with a low tail. She was not interested in treats at first, but after a few laps around the room, she started gently taking treats so I was able to capture a few photos. I then kneeled on the ground and she approached with a low wagging tail and allowed petting. She also solicited attention from the volunteer that brought her into the office and allowed gentle petting.
Per volunteer 12/31: Didn’t make it through the outside door. Fearful in doorway.
Per staff 12/30: Medium energy. Perfect dog. Easy walker. Loves sniff walks. Loves cheese. Soft eyes + loose + wiggly for interaction.
Per staff 12/27: Low energy. Good fence meet w/ Blue.
Per staff 12/25:
Kennel Presentation: At the front barking with ears back. Soft eyes , seemingly barking because she sees the leash and wants a walk.
Leash Skills: Walks on a loose leash.
Sociability: Aloof, will interact when you call her over. Ears back, soft eyes and lip licks for butt scratches. Able to handle all over her body.
Play: Did not do.
Dog Interaction: Buddy walk with Betsy B. Tolerant, stiff body, aloof.
Return to Kennel: Easy.
Color Level: Blue.
Due to behavioral improvement this dog is being leveled down from exp blue to blue. Also making available for adoption!
Per staff 12/24: During my morning walk through this morning. Princess peach came right up to the front with soft eyes, ears to the side and low tail wags. Took a treat gently through the bars.
On 12/21 and 12/22, the handlers noted Princess Peach to be low energy with no behavioral issues.
Per staff 12/20: Low energy. Good fence meet with Bam Bam. Avoidant but allowed pets. Pauses when seeing people seems interested in other dogs.
Per staff 12/19, playgroup: Princess Peach was steerable at the gate and was avoidant for gate greetings. She had a low tail and ears to the side. Once in the yard she walked right up to Blue and sniffed his side and neck. They sniffed each other face to face. She had a low tail, ears to the side and was unsure. She walked away and they did some bird watching together. They sniffed each other many times and would away from each other after some time. She remained very tolerant and pretty asocial after 5 minutes.
On 12/18, Princess Peach was noted to be low energy with no behavioral issues.
Per staff 12/17: I met Princess Peach for the first time in the evaluation room yesterday and she warmed up relatively quickly. I walked into the room and she was noticeably nervous, gave a low bark and moved away from me to hide behind Becca who was conducting the evaluation. I then had a seat and got on a lower level and turned my side to her, speaking to her in a high welcoming tone. She approached slowly and then allowed pets, tail was tucked at first and with prolonged handling she started to wag her tail and even approached me with tail wags and solicited pets. The longer we had her in the room with us the more she seemed to feel more comfortable and tail remained untucked, she was also approaching both of us without solicitation. She was also easy to return to kennel on leash.
Per staff 12/16:
Kennel Presentation: Near the front with neutral eyes and body. walked to the front with a low tail and allowed me to lasso. She as a bit nervous but very easy to secure
Leash Skills: Pulls minimally - doesn't really pull at all.
Sociability: Princess Peach followed me around the room as soon as I dropped the leash. She had a low tail and soft eyes. I offered her a treat which she took very gently from my hand. She was super aware of movement outside of the room and flinched whenever she heard a noise outside the room. I crouched down the entire time letting her come to me. She rubbed herself against me and allowed all over handling. It took maybe about 10 minutes of her getting treats before she started soliciting for affection. Another handler entered the room and she did a couple huffs and a low growl. She slowly walked over to him, sniffing his leg and then hopped on his lap for some pets. She quickly began soliciting for pets from him and engaging in play with a loose body and mid level wags.
Play: Engaged some play, trotted around.
Return to Kennel: Walked right back into kennel without an issue.
Color Level: Exp blue.
Per staff 12/16: When Princess Peach first came into dog intake, she was clearly very scared and unsure of her surroundings. I made sure to move slowly and calmly with her so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. After talking with the nurse, we decided to use food as a distraction to help her stay relaxed during handling.
While I gave her cheese, Princess Peach stayed focused on me and took the treats very gently. This allowed the second nurse to give her vaccines without any problems. Peach did not react to the vaccines and showed no signs of fear during the process.
After the vaccines, we needed to do a physical exam. I got down to Peach’s level, and she began wagging her tail and then jumped into my lap. She stayed there for the rest of the exam and allowed me to touch all parts of her body with no issues. She seemed comfortable and enjoyed the attention and affection.
Once the exam was finished, I took Princess Peach back to her kennel. She walked back calmly and went into her kennel without any trouble. I spent a little extra time sitting with her to help her feel safe and comfortable. Overall, Princess Peach did very well and showed that once she feels safe, she is a sweet and affectionate dog.
Per staff 12/15: Food does not seem to increase or change behaviors - When using treats to help with initial exam - patient enjoyed cream cheese , princess did not become defensive or start to guard treats . patient was not able to be safely muzzled due to fractious behaviors when leash muzzled . When patient was not being muzzled , patient was tolerant of petting , was avoidant at times , not directly making eye contact , stiff body , tail low , and ears pinned back . When attempting to place muzzle - would bare teeth and bite muzzle - never made any attempt at hands or handlers , only the muzzle directly in front of face. will attempt again after medications have had time to take affect. Behavior when speaking to the medical staff who had initial exam - seems like slight progress with aid of medications is being made.
Per staff 12/14: During intake exam patient was pacing around while lightly panting. Pt was offered cream cheese and peanut butter. Pt ate and enjoyed both offerings. When medical staff would move closer pt would back away. Muzzle was able to be placed on pt but when pt felt restraint on body or medical person hand, pt would thrash to get away. After getting out of hold pt was able to get muzzle unlatched. At that time staff did not want to push pt too far on her first day. Send pt to kennel and giving her TTA.
Summary of owner surrender notes: Moving where they don’t allows pets. Likes: going on walks, back rubs, playing, attention. Dislikes: nail cutting. Mostly housetrained bu some accidents. Crate trained. High energy. Has bitten another animal because she was eating and other dog tried to take food. Knows sit, no snatch, bed time, relax. Good on leash, tugs a little. Eats anything. Enjoys teddy bears and any treats. Skeptical of strangers, has to warm up to children, not good with cats, scared/aggressive towards dogs. Her ideal home would be a “nice caring and loving family has space for her to play and run around. Not abusive and takes care of her not someone who wont take her on walks and that will feed her. Overall someone who loves her.”
Behavior notes from 2023:
Per staff 5/18: Took Princess out yesterday. She was nervous in kennel, as usual but this time had more spunk! She was play bowing and low wagging at me, but was still dodging the leash and snapping at it. Outside she was nervous initially but warmed up quickly to me. She leaned against me outside allowing pets and even gave me some low wags. We then went back to my office for a bit and she shook off and gave even more wags. She loves booty scratches and does a cute little smile when petting her. When a new handler approached Princess would growl and bark at first but after a few minutes approached them sniffing. She gave a few tail wags and then hopped up on them for pets as well.
Per staff 5/17: Available to experienced adopters who are able to manage Princess ps behavior in home regarding slow intros and stranger fear.
Per staff 5/15: Took P out to attempt physical exam. P was cage reactive, but I was able to close her off onto one side and lasso her with a leash. She was initially resistant to leaving the kennel, but once out, she walked easily. Walked her around to dog intake, P entered readily. Once in the room, allowed P to decompress, check out the room. P walked on to the scale when I asked her to. After, I sat down in a chair and offered some different treats, P likes cheese slices, showed no interest in hot dogs, cream cheese, or squeeze cheese. BM had to step out of the room, and I was able to observe P for a bit. She began to relax more, and I found that she has an itchy spot on her hind end, just to the right of her tail, which she likes scratched. P has limited tolerance for intrusive handling such as checking ears, teeth, under tail, abdomen, go slow and don't do it all at once. I was able to do her physical exam, and identified a tattoo on her abdomen. When scanned, I did not find a chip. When BM reentered, P was protective of me, trying to guard me from BM. A fabric muzzle was placed, which P managed to get off as it was already torn. A leash muzzle was placed and the dog positioned in laterally recumbent restraint for vaccines. Was able to give vaccines, dewormer, FTP, unable to place microchip as P was flailing too much. P did scratch my hand with a very sharp dewclaw, unable to trim these as P had met her limit. P was cooperative walking back to kennel.
Per staff 5/15: Took Princess out for a bit today to see how she is doing. princess was growly in kennel but once I opened it she retreated and turned to face the wall. I was able to lasso her after a couple tries and once the leash was on her she exited easily. We went to the eval room and she was very nervous but chose to stand near me. She sat next to me trembling but allowed me pet her lightly. She gave some whale eye when I first touched her but relaxed after a few minutes and was more relaxed with petting. She hopped up next to me on the bench and shook off being more comfortable as time went on. She even gave some slight wags and began to paw at me and lean against me. When a new person entered to meet her she was very nervous though and tensed up and low growled. Princess is a sensitive gal who needs a slow intro and would benefit from an experienced adopter or rescue who can help her learn to trust and work with her on building confidence.
Per staff 5/15: Changed to rescue only- would like to re eval in a few days as most staff are having issues with her still + needs checked in.
Per staff 5/12: When approached, PP was standing at the back of her kennel barking at me. She was lowered to the ground with a tucked tail, pinned ears, and was whale eyeing me. I threw some treats which she did not take and then opened the door to attempt leashing. At first I just stood with the door open and without leashing yet and she was very fearful, alarm barking, growling, and whale eyeing. She was very reactive to the leash and would charge at it, bare teeth, and bite it upon lasso attempts. I tried throwing the leash to just rest on her bed so she could sniff it but she remained hard staring at me and growling. It took many lasso attempts to get the leash around her as she would figure out a way out of it. She was not reactive to the leash once on her neck. She came forward to the front of her kennel once leashed and was shaking with a tucked tail. I waited a while to see if she would exit on her own but she did not. With some leash pressure she exited however. Returned without issue. Once she got back in kennel and I took the leash off she immediately became reactive again, barking at me and growling. She did however jump up at the bars and give me a wagging tail and was coming up to the front more. I tried opening the door again to see how she would react and she backed up growling and barking and even bared some teeth at me. Very good on leash. When we got to the eval room, I dropped leash and let PP do her own thing. She had little interest in exploring, staying nearby the side of the room closest to the door. I offered her multiple types of treats which she had no interest in. Eventually I came and sat on the bench and she wanted to be nearby me. She was extremely tense, would whale eye me sometimes and maintained a tucked tail. She would move closer to me however, and clearly wanted attention. At first she flinched when I touched her back so I stopped but then she leaned into me a bit so I continued petting her. Every time I stopped petting her she would look at me again for more pets. After a bit she jumped on the bench to sit beside me and I pet her more, and pet her head as well. She had pinned ears and a lowered body and tucked tail so I would stop but then she would paw at my leg for more pets. She got a bit more comfortable over time, relaxing her position on the bench more and coming closer to me. She was never reactive to touching anywhere on her body, and is clearly very affectionate. Princess would do well in a quiet home. She takes a while to warm up to new people and a high traffic home would be very stressful for her.
Per staff 5/11: Upon approach she started hard barking tense body wale eye and lunging.
Per staff 5/10: Spoke with the owner up front about Princess. He said Princess gets very nervous around new people, but will slowly warm up with time. She has never bitten or attempted to bite. The owner said she is a very sweet and mellow dog who is more like a cat and likes to cuddle and hang out on the couch. She lived with other dogs in the home as well. The owner was very upset when putting Princess in a kennel and sat with her for a few minutes crying and hugging her goodbye.
Summary of owner surrender notes 2023: She is like a cat like to sleep doesn't like anyone around her food as she eats. Crate trained. Medium energy. Knows command “go to cage”.
MEDICAL:
On 12/17/25, Princess Peach was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection (URI) or "doggy cold" and started on doxycycline. She tested negative for pneumovirus. She completed her course of doxycycline on 12/30.
On 12/15/25, Princess Peach was prescribed gabapentin until further notice.
12/14/25 Intake Exam:
Weight- 35.7 lbs
Body Condition Score- 4 - Lean
Age- 7 years - est owner surrender
Urogenital- female
Altered- unable to check due to patient scurrying away. did not want to corner during intake.
Eyes- clean and clear.
Ears- appears clean - could not check deeper
Nose- clean and moist
Coat/Skin- clean no fleas. nails are slightly long. thinning of fur on head and around face.
Teeth- adult teeth, some yellow staining present. Could not check back teeth for tartar.
Gums- pink and moist
Musculoskeletal- no lameness
Behavior- BAR - Alert about who is in the room. Does okay with handler and one medical person. When a third person enters the room she starts to bark. Enjoyed peanut butter and cream cheese during exam.
5/17/23 Vet Exam:
Subjective: Dog coughed twice during a dog meet.
Objective: No cough observed at time of exam. No nasal discharge noted. Panting, stressed so could not accurately auscultate.
Plan: Respiratory PCR 2524 to IDEXX. Moving to isolation ward. No doxycycline started at this time but will continue to monitor closely for worsening URI signs.
5/15/23 Intake Exam:
Weight - 43.1 lbs
Eyes - normal
Ears - clean
Mouth/Teeth/Gums - no significant tartar build up
Coat & Skin - 2 skin tags on left thigh, several areas of scabs on hind end, just to the right of the tail, and on the back of the left ear.
Urogenital - spayed female tattoo visible
Gait/Mobility - normal
Attitude: BAR, anxious, reactive in cage,
Overall Assessment: long nails need to be trimmed.
From 5/11/25-5/13/25, Princess Peach was prescribed trazodone and gabapentin to reduce anxiety to allow basic physical exam.
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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.
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 a 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.
