Katarina

Katarina is an adoptable female Pit Bull Terrier looking for a home at Philadelphia Animal Care and Control in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is fully grown and medium in size. She is currently on the shelter's euthanasia list with just one day left, listed due to lack of space. Adopting Katarina, or even sharing her story, could save a life before it's too late.

Katarina ACCT-A-255800 is currently considered urgent and at risk of euthanasia due to length of stay and lack of space for incoming dogs. Katarina must have confirmed placement with an ADOPTER or RESCUE PARTNER by MONDAY OCTOBER 26th at 10AM. Should Katarina''s medical or behavioral status change, her urgency and timeline for placement may also change. It usually takes a village. Katarina's Got an Army. Some dogs come into a shelter, find their person, and head off happily ever after. Others take a little longer. And every once in a while, a dog comes along who inspires an entire community to rally behind her. Meet Katarina. Katarina isn't just another dog waiting for a home. She's a dog with a fan club, a support system, and what can only be described as a small army of people determined to see her succeed. Foster caregivers, dedicated volunteers, shelter staff, professional dog trainers, and members of the community have all fallen for this special girl. And once you get to know her, it's not hard to understand why. Katarina first arrived at ACCT Philly in July. She's spent time in foster homes, attended adoption events, explored the Wissahickon, worked with trainers, made canine friends, and charmed more people than we can count. Along the way, she's shown us two very important things: she has an incredible capacity for love, and she's capable of making meaningful progress when given the right support. In foster care, Katarina showed us what life with her could look like. She was described as a \"10/10 snuggle bug\" who loved nothing more than curling up beside her favorite people, following them around the house, and soaking up belly rubs. She enjoyed long walks, hikes, sunshine naps in the grass, tennis balls, stuffed toys, and frozen Kongs. She learned household routines, demonstrated excellent housetraining, and became comfortable sleeping through the night in her crate. She's also quite the social butterfly when the circumstances are right! Katarina has attended numerous public adoption events, including busy locations filled with unfamiliar people, dogs, children, and all sorts of distractions. Volunteers have described her as calm, friendly, and beautifully behaved at these events. She's accepted treats gently from strangers, allowed soft petting, and earned plenty of compliments from people meeting her for the first time. But perhaps the most remarkable part of Katarina's story is the progress she's made with the things that scare her. Katarina can be fearful of unfamiliar men, particularly in a home environment. In one foster home, she initially barked and growled when male family members entered the room. Rather than giving up on her, her foster caregiver worked patiently to help Katarina build positive associations. Her husband began providing meals, offering high-value treats, and participating in carefully managed interactions. And Katarina responded. The dog who once barked when he entered a room learned to remain comfortable with him coming and going. She began accepting affection, following him around the yard, resting near him on the couch, and enjoying walks with him when her trusted foster caregiver was present. These weren't overnight changes. They were the result of patience, consistency, and someone willing to meet Katarina where she was. Her foster caregiver ultimately had to make the heartbreaking decision to return Katarina to the shelter because the household environment, particularly the presence of adult sons she remained fearful of, wasn't the right fit. But that experience wasn't a failure. It gave us invaluable information about the kind of home where Katarina can truly thrive. And the people who have loved Katarina haven't stopped advocating for her. Volunteers have continued taking her on adventures, spending time with her outside the shelter, and helping her practice the skills she'll need in her future home. One volunteer even connected Katarina with a professional trainer through Philly Unleashed, where she's been receiving individualized training and support. During these sessions, Katarina has demonstrated that she can settle in a home with an unfamiliar man present, respond to redirection, and build confidence through positive reinforcement. Even better? A generous supporter has offered to help cover additional professional training sessions after placement, meaning Katarina's future family won't have to navigate everything alone. Katarina isn't looking for someone who expects a perfectly polished dog on day one. She's looking for someone who understands that trust is earned, progress isn't always linear, and sometimes the most rewarding relationships are the ones we work a little harder to build. We believe Katarina would be most comfortable in a quieter, predictable, adult home, ideally with women or with a patient male caregiver committed to following her training plan. She needs people who will respect her boundaries, use positive reinforcement, and give her time to settle without pressure. Any potential canine companion would require thoughtful introductions and consideration of her sometimes pushy play style. Katarina has so much going for her. She's affectionate, playful, intelligent, food motivated, and eager to connect with people she trusts. She loves adventures but also knows how to enjoy a lazy afternoon. She has demonstrated that she can learn, adapt, and grow when given thoughtful guidance. And perhaps most importantly, she won't be starting her next chapter alone. Katarina already has her village. She just needs her home. Somewhere out there is a person who won't see Katarina as a project or a problem to solve, but as a wonderful dog who needs a little extra understanding. Someone who will celebrate the small victories, laugh at her goofy zoomies, appreciate her enthusiastic morning greetings, and discover just how special it feels when a cautious dog decides you're her safe place. Her foster caregivers believe in her. Her volunteers believe in her. Her trainers believe in her. We believe in her. Now we just need someone willing to believe in her enough to bring her home. Katarina has an army of people rooting for her. Will you be the person who gives them all something to celebrate? 📋 Katarina's R'sum' ✅ Housetrained
✅ Crate trained: she walks right in on the cue \"in\" and sleeps through the night
✅ Sits on cue and waits politely at the door
✅ Calm and relaxed on car rides
✅ Handled 6 adoption events like a pro, greeting men, women, and kids well!
✅ Bounced back from a serious respiratory illness Special skills: Professional sunbather, deflated basketball enthusiast, frozen Kong connoisseur, 10/10 couch snuggler References: Available upon request (her fosters can't stop talking about her) 🎓 She comes with a training scholarship! Katarina has been working with Philly Unleashed, and thanks to a generous volunteer, some of her training sessions will be covered after she goes home. She's been practicing \"Look,\" \"Touch,\" and \"Place.\" Her new family won't be starting from scratch. They'll have a professional in their corner from day one. Questions? Or want to meet her? Come to ACCT Philly or email dayna@acctphilly.org VIDEOS Playgroup 10/21: Healthy: Katarina and Sophia bonded duo: Katarina gets a bath! Katarina walking parallel with another dog: Katarina meeting the horses for the first time: Katarina playing in the yard: Katarina loves to sleep on an outside couch: Katarina enjoying pets after her walk: Katarina gets so excited when she's heading out for her walk Video from Katarina's foster of her on a walk-along with another dog: Katarina and tink Katarina and Rylo Katarina having so much fun in the play yard!: Katarina loves to lay in sunshine: Katarina playing ball and having treats: Katarina playing in the yard: playgroup 9/24: Katarina playing with volunteer friends: Katarina & a male volunteer having a nice fence meet: Katarina hanging out with former foster dad at the shelter: Behavior notes in foster care: 09/22/2026 by events coordinator Katarina has participated in multiple public events and has consistently demonstrated appropriate, manageable behavior in a variety of social settings. Throughout these events, she remained calm and well behaved around unfamiliar people and other dogs. Although Katarina has previously been described as fearful or cautious around men, this behavior was not apparent during these (3) events. She willingly accepted treats from unfamiliar individuals, including strangers, and was able to comfortably coexist in close proximity to unfamiliar people. Her willingness to engage with strangers and take food from them indicates that she was able to remain sufficiently comfortable and regulated in these environments. In foster care, her foster reports that she has used an abundance of positive reinforcement with male strangers and Katarina and reports that there is extreme improvement. Overall, Katarina has demonstrated consistent social tolerance, good event manners, and an ability to navigate stimulating environments appropriately. Her behavior at these events was encouraging, particularly her willingness to interact with unfamiliar people. Per foster 9/22: I wanted to send an update on Katarina and her routine. Katarina has been with me about 6 weeks . Katarina wakes up in her crate , dry. Tail is super waggy in the morning, she will go outside, loves to have some zoomies and then does her business #1 & #2. She goes back in the house and has her breakfast. Here she has been eating ACANA dry kibble (usually salmon/barley or fresh fish). I usually break up a freeze dried lamb patty in it. She gets the same for dinner. Generally she gets almost a cup and half for breakfast and cup and half for dinner. She loves treats and beef/liver freeze dried seems to be her favorite. Katarina sits on command, she goes in her crate at night and if needed during the day when I open the door and say 'in'. If I have to run out of the house I crate her, she will whine and bark for a couple minutes but she settles down in 5-10 minutes and will lay in her crate (this is a great time for a frozen Kong). I always give her a treat after she goes in. In the morning she has a lot of energy and is usually a bit jumpy just because she is so happy to see us and she knows she is going outside. I tell her to sit and stay before we walk outside (I go out first because I check my yard for rabbits, ground hogs etc') then i open the door and tell her to come out. She usually sits very nicely waiting for me . Later in morning she goes for a longer walk which she loves. She will generally go #2 again. Other than that she hangs out in the house while I work. I take a couple breaks during the day and take her in the yard, she loves tennis balls and old deflated basketballs. She will play with toys in the house. Stuffies, hard nylon toys she can chew, she loves a peanut butter /kibble frozen in a king or lick mat. She loves to lay in sunshine in the grass during the day. She does get a walk before bed and she will do her business and she is so ready to go to sleep by then. At night she is in her crate from 9pm to 6am. Katarina, while does show some fear of men, has done very well with making progress if meeting stranger men, I always ask them to let her go to them and offer them a high value treat and she will usually accept and allow pets. Her tail is usually down, it's pretty clear she tolerates the interaction but I wouldn't say enjoys being around men. She has done remarkably better with my husband who we practiced him coming in/out the door and I give her high value treats, she is tolerant of him now, will follow him around outside while he feeds the fish, sometimes hop up on couch and lays not to far from him, she will walk with him holding the leash, as long as I am walking along. Unfortunately my older sons (19 &22) did not have time to work on this with me and Katarina and Katarina is fearful of them and will bark when they come home. She no longer barks when my husband comes home. She is very happy, wagging tail, her but would wiggle, at any female that comes in my home and she always allows pets by the females. Katarina did amazingly well at all the adoption events (6) , allowed male,female and kids to pet her. I always explained to everyone , especially males to let her go to them and I would provide them a high value treat to offer to her. I believe an all female household would be best, but I do believe a couple with a very patient male who would be willing to put the work in to earn her trust could very well be a good fit as well. She is very affectionate and loving. She loves belly rubs. 9/21/26: from the foster to the Director of Behavior: The advice you had given me with Katarina and my husband (high value treats when he walks in room) really worked amazingly. She still has some fear in that she doesn't want to go for a walk with him unless I'm there. He feeds her all of her meals. He can now walk in/out of the room or outside without her barking or growling at him. He can pet her and give her treats. Unfortunately my sons who live here (19 & 22) did not have the time to do any of that and she continues to bark (sometimes growl) and when they come home, I generally take her out in the yard until they leave for the gym etc' it's been stressful at my home and I've had her at 6 adoption events over the last 3 weeks and I promote her for an all female household or a couple with a patient man. I've had her for about 5 weeks. She is such an affectionate sweet girl with me and all females. I'm going to have to bring her back. It is killing me to do this. She has made amazingly progress in pretty much everything else. 9/10: Per foster: I just wanted to give a weekly update about sweet Katarina. I took Katarina this past Saturday to the adoption event at Petco in Andora. She did wonderful. There was a lot of activity with people (men & women) walking by and dogs! Not to mention in the store; cats, birds, hamsters and guinea pigs! She would at times get very excited and a walk around would settle her down. Lots of smells in there for her. People just gushed over how adorable she is. We explained to the men approaching her that she has some fear of men , so some just said hello and continued on their way and some stayed , talked and even gave her a high value treat , which was wonderful. Katarina goes in her crate so easily at night for bedtime and goes right to sleep. She has continued to be 100% house trained. She still displays fear with my sons (19 & 22) she will bark towards them when they come in the house , so they just give her the space she needs. She displays some fear with my husband when he approaches her alone (without me present). For example in the morning he will open her crate door and clip her leash to take her outside to potty. He gives her a lot of verbal encouragement and she will go out the door, off the patio , one step to pee in the grass. Her tail remains down and she will immediately pull to go back in the house. When I come downstairs in morning her tail and but are super wiggly and she is so happy. I will take her out for a walk and she will poop and pee usually within a couple minutes. My cousin (female) walks her late morning everyday on trails and business area. She passes bikes, people and dogs. In evening I clip her leash to her harness and I leave her in the mudroom and I go out front. She will whine at the door. My husband will go and pick her leash up and take her outside and she will pull to go out front where she knows from our routine I am waiting. He holds her leash the entire time on our walk and she shows complete comfort with that (because I am there). She will sit at every corner, takes treats nicely from my husband . She will look at other dogs on other side of street and sometimes try to pull towards them, she appears to want to go meet them, we usually throw treats down on ground to redirect her focus. My husband feeds her both meals and gives her treats. We are continually trying to give her positive male interactions . She is very affectionate and attached to me, which is why I have my husband doing all her can to give her positive experiences. Myself and cousin are taking her to an adoption event Saturday and myself and husband are taking her Sunday to another one. She loves walks and laying in the sun. I still feel an all female household would be most comfortable for Katarina. 9/10 from the foster manager: Fear of men remains the main concern. She barks at the foster's adult sons when they enter the home and is uncomfortable with her husband approaching her when the foster is not present. Strong attachment to the foster mom. Her comfort level changes significantly depending on whether the foster mom is present, so this may be important for an adopter to understand. Dog interest/pulling: She sometimes pulls toward other dogs, although the foster can redirect her. It doesn't sound like aggression based on this update. Busy environments: She handled the adoption event well overall, but became excited at times and needed a walk to settle. 09/08/26 Per previous foster Questions regarding a potential behavioral concern 1. Are there any activities we could do to work with Katarina based on feedback below? 2. Would Katarina be a candidate for a board & train? I could potentially consider a donation to help offset the cost. Background I have been walking Katarina in the Wissahickon on Forbidden Drive to get her used to people, children, bikes and walking past other dogs. She has been doing very well. There have been two exceptions where Katarina got upset she could not greet dogs as we passed them. In hindsight, she became too focused and I probably should have noted this and redirected her. These were on separate days about a week apart and in different situations. Two Scenarios: The first one was towards the end of a walk, after a brief conversation with an acquaintance who had a small dog with her, and then another dog passed. Katarina then had a high degree of reactivity with whining, twirling, growling, snarling and while using my body to attempt to keep her moving I did feel her mouth & teeth on the inside of my thigh. No skin broken. The second time was more pronounced while walking behind and on the same side as another dog, Katarina became focused as we approached the dog. While passing the other dog Katarina then went into a higher degree of reactivity with whining, twirling, growling, snarling and while using my body to attempt to keep her moving I did feel her mouth & teeth on the back of my shin with a bit more force. No skin broken. Conversation with my dog trainer I discussed these situations with a hike and train professional that I use for my personal dog, who is also a trained vet tech, she noted this could potentially be 'redirect' behavior. So today my dog walker, Esther, let me walk Katarina in front of two large dogs she was walking on Forbidden Drive and Katarina allowed me to keep her moving albeit while attempting to look backwards. With wider spacing, the dogs started to walk almost, but not too closely parallel. Esther called out to turn Katarina around, walk past the dogs and use high value treats on the ground to break Katarina's focus. Esther noted Katarina becomes focused and recommended this be broken within 10 seconds. The 10-15 min session was ended and was considered a positive experience. 8/22: As per foster:I wanted to give some updates on Katarina since she has been back with me. Katarina has been sleeping all night in her crate (9 straight hours) , she goes in when I point and say 'in'. I then go up to bed, so she is down stairs herself. She use to whine a sometimes bark for about 5-7 minutes, the last two nights she laid down and went right to sleep with no barking/whining. I've also been crating her 1.5 hour in late morning and late afternoon with some kind of enrichment . She has been completely house trained for me. During the day I now have it stretched out to 5 hours. We had done a parallel walk with an 11 year old female dog 3 times. Last night we did an on leash walk, introduction, play time with a 1.5 year old male dog that was two times her size. That went well, and we plan to do another meet up Sunday. Katarina also met this dogs handler for the first time and Katarina was friendly immediately, wagging tail, allowing pets all over. This handler was female. Katarina has been going on daily hikes and sitting by a bench on forbidden drive with my cousin (female) , she being exposed to dogs, people and bikes going by and this has also been going well! Katarina is still showing shyness/some fear around men. I have 3 in my house. If any of them are in a room and either she or she/I enter she will sniff all around including around them, but her tail is down. In the morning my husband will go down and leash her while she is in the crate and take her out in the yard and she will pee/poop and he will bring her back in and she goes right in the crate. Her tail is down the entire time with him. When my sons leave, my husband will let her out and she immediately runs upstairs to my room, tail wagging, excited and jumpy and allows/enjoying pets all over. If just Katarina and I are on my patio or a room together and either my husband or one of my boys enters she was barking at them with some growls. We are currently working on this. We are practicing me giving her treats when any of the males walk into our space and so far this has shown improvement when we did this multiple times yesterday with my husband going in and out. He is also giving her high value treats often. Katarina is so sweet & affectionate to me. My daughter has met Katarina twice when she came over and Katarina melted into her allowing belly rubs where Katarina would fall fast asleep. More to come on this sweet girl who has undergone so much change. She is slowly , but surely starting to open up 8/21: Per foster: Katarina is a 10/10 snuggle bug who just wants to love her people and be loved in return. Her ideal day would be curled up on the couch as close to you as possible and following you around to supervise chores. She had no accidents in the house and prefers to go on/near grass. She got a little excited when spotting other dogs on the street but was easily redirected and did not show signs of aggression. She experienced some separation anxiety while in my care and would thrive in a home that could help build trust and make her feel safe. Katarina would be an amazing addition to any family! 8/17/26: \"We have been calling her Katy. Katy is a sweet girl who seems to have settled into our house well when we are with her. She is very affectionate and loves pets & snuggles. Katy likes going on hikes, hanging out in our yard, playing with toys and enjoys Kongs. Katy is eating very well and her coat is much improved since we have had her over the past week. House broken: She has not had an accident in the house for the past 5+ days. She only had two accidents during the first 72 hours. I can't validate if she is house broken because I have been taking her out approximately every 3 hours to avoid any chance of an accident. Crate: I have not had much success with keeping her in the crate; she whines for 10 mins before I have let her out. Other Dogs: she whines and pulls, probably wants to greet. Leash: Katy is curious about everything so she can get a bit distracted and is starting to pull more. Katy appears alert & focused when she sees people or a squirrel in the brush. We use leash pressure to move her along, she may attempt to turn around to keep looking at what has caught her attention. I think most of her behavior is normal given circumstances\" Per foster 8/9: Unfortunately, I am reaching out to see if I can bring Katarina back to ACCT today 8/9. She is experiencing very bad separation anxiety and cannot be left alone and I am not equipped to handle with my days going into the office. I have greatly enjoyed my time with her. 8/4 per a foster home: \"Katarina has really started to open up. She has become more playful & snugly everyday ! She walks great on the leash. Last night on our walk, we spent about 15 minutes speaking with a neighbor, who also had their dog on leash. Katarina showed interest, but zero reactivity at all. We are waiting for Katarina's pcr test results to come back to see if she still is positive for pneumovirus, because of that we did not get to close to the other dog. She has been housetrained for me, since the second day. Katarina goes right in the crate at night, I open the door and say 'in'. She gets a treat immediately after going in. She may whine for a minute but drifts off fast asleep. She is perfect on car rides, very relaxed. Her cold symptoms are pretty minimal now. She has the occasional sneeze and slight run of nose. I brought her to ACCT to see the vet yesterday because I had noticed she was scratching at her ear, she was relaxed in the car, the nurse came out and took her in, which Katarina hopped right out of the car, they did say she had an ear infection and I started her on ear drops yesterday, which she tolerated easily. She is eating great since day 1, takes her antibiotic pills in cream cheese super easy. She loves to play with her toys inside and outside! \" as per foster 8/02 Katarina has been sleeping in her crate all night since the first night. She may whine a couple minutes but it doesn't last long. I have also crated her a few times if I needed to run out during the day, from 1-4 hours, no issues. She has been 95% house trained, only had 1 accident and that was within the first 24 hours. We did a fence meet with a horse and she did walk kind of parallel with another dog walking with their owner on the other side of the street. Katarina has spent time with multiple family members. She has done well with them, but when I am present she only wants to be with me and can get a little barky if my husband or boys come in the room we are at. Katarina takes her medication in cream cheese easily, she walks easy on a leash. Medically she is a lot better, occasionally sneezes. This is only her 4th day here so we are still in the decompression phase. She is very affectionate, loves all over pets, loves to play. Behavior notes in shelter: Playgroup 10.21 Steer test: 4/5 with water and can Appropriate greetings. Playbows , bouncy moves. Ears to the side and tolerant. 10/19 added by behavior team after being placed in an office overnight: Broke out of crate overnight and when Loose this morning is attempting to escape the office when people go in and out. Placed back in kennels unfortunately. 10/19 added by behavior team: she is very focused on squirrels, rabbits and other small animals in the woods so no cats for safety. 10/17 from a volunteer: Katarina is a sweetheart! Easy to walk and loves treats. Soft body language when noticing a dog from further away, but barked at a dog who approached the fence while we were in a pen. 10/7 from a volunteer taking her to dog training sessions: Katarina & I had a good visit with Peet from Philly Unleashed. She did well with him inside and outside my house. Peet & I discussed the following recommendations that I think apply generally to fearful dogs: Exposure therapy with positive reinforcement is key to gaining her trust and overcoming fear. Training focused on top 3 basic commands of: Look, Touch & Place The addition of a veterinarian behavioralist would be of value. Peet shared the success he has had with one of his dogs where the behavioralist identified an orthopedic issue coupled with the use of anti-anxiety meds. I would be willing to fund sessions with Peet to potential adopters or rescues Reply from the trainer Peet: Per Philly Unleashed : 'Cathy lined out everything pretty clearly, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. She was curious on approach with me and took treats nicely from my hand. While walking in the driveway with her and Cathy she was walking nicely and then approached me suddenly but was easily redirected by tossing a treat. In the home Katarina settled quickly, laying down on her bed without needing to watch me. I got up left line of sight, and when I returned I walked back into the room making direct eye contact she let out a low growl. I waited for her to settle, and left the room again, this time I returned without making eye contact and she was curious and while she wouldn't approach she did eat a treat. I got up quickly, and went to walk by her, she approached me quickly, and again quickly/easily redirected by tossing a treat. When I re-entered the room she watched me from her bed and kept her head down. Then she got up and chewed a toy in the middle of the room within 2-3 feet of me.' 10/3: Trimmed the tip off her \"thumb\" nails, tolerant, able to be distracted with treats. Per volunteer 9/27: We have had Katarina out 4 out of the last 5 nights! She is always wagging her tail and happy to see us. She has been easy to leash and walk. Takes treats so nicely! She has enjoyed long walks in the cemetery and playing with stuffies and balls in the yard. She has retuned easily to her kennel. She is such a sweet girl. Playgroup 9/24: Steer Test: 3/5 with water and 4/5 with can. Tense with low tail, ears back, hackles slightly raised with greetings. Moving away. Started trying to mount, being forward and pushy. 09/13 per Volunteer : \"I just have to brag about how good Katarina was at the outside adoption event at Spruce Harbor. As usual she is excellent in the car. She is always so relaxed! At the event she was greeted by many females and males and she was so good! Everyone complimented how well behaved she was, she took treats gently from many strangers and she allowed soft pets. She was calm and friendly to all!' Per volunteer 8/6: I took Katarina out tonight. She came right to the kennel door, she was easy to leash and was so excited to be going outside, she was playfully jumping and hopping her way to the door. Outside she rolled over for belly rubs, gave kisses and ran around in the yard, playing with a toy. She had so much fun! She was easy to return to her kennel with a toss of a treat! 8/6 by staff: Kennel Presentation: At the front of the kennel with soft eyes, ears to the side and mid tail not moving. Leash Skills: easy to leash and came right out of kennel. Mild pulling on leash. Sociability: allowed handling, however did not solicit for more pets. Did not move away, stayed close. Soft eyes, ears to the side and tail down not moving. Play: n/a Dog Interaction: met Tink and Rylo. See behavioral note below Return to Kennel: went right into kennel and tried to come back out however was easy to remove leash with hand. Color Level: exp gold 8/6 playgroup notes with Tink: Good greetings. Loose body. Did not take correction and continued to try and play. Playgroup notes with Rylo: Good greetings. Bouncy moves. Play bows. Play pauses. Tolerant. 7/19/26: Kennel Presentation: When I approached her kennel, she came up to the front with a neutral body. She was trying to push out pretty hard with her nose when I tried to leash her, so I had to hold the door sturdy while I leashed. Leash Skills: Pulls minimally on leash Sociability: Outside, she was very calm and stood quietly next to me in the play yard. Took some pets from me, however, didn't solicit them out too much. She takes treats incredibly gently from my hand. Was fearful with a quick approach from new handlers- a male handler walked towards us and she backed up right between my legs. Shy girl but sweet and calm lady overall! Play: Not interested in the toys in the play yard Dog Interaction: Nothing today Return to Kennel: When I tried to unleash, she was pushing out very hard so I needed to be careful with unleashing. Color Level: Giving blue due to how hard she tries to get out of kennel for leashing and unleashing. Per volunteer 7/18: Don't be fooled by her anxious kennel presentation, Katarina is very sweet and calm on the leash and outside in the yard. She is gentle and tolerant of handling, even let me clean her ears which was desperately needed. Per Volunteer 7/17/26 - Katarina is such a lovely dog! She was social in kennel, didn't accept treats (even offered a few options), eager to exit and follow along with Sophia outside. Walked well on leash with little to no pulling, side by side with Sophia. Neutral when passing dogs in WC. In play yard she was friendly and social with two handlers as well as greeted members of the public at the fence line. Katarina allowed all handling and didn't show any discomfort despite her irritated skin condition. She accepted treats gently. Katarina walked with ease back inside to her kennel, and once separated from Sophia she hesitated to go in kennel. She followed me after I stepped in and did make attempt to nuzzle back out (presumably to be with Sophia). I removed her leash and offered a treat, which she declined. I later returned to give her a bath. She exited eagerly and walked to bathing room. Allowed me to pick her up into tub. Was visibly nervous when water was on, body relaxed during bathing and she gave intermittent low tag wags when massaging shampoo. Accepted Fresh Pet during bath. Was very patient when I picked her up and then towel dried her. She was friendly in the room after and then returned to kennel, stepping in first for her to follow. Katarina is such a gentle and sweet pup - so deserving of a loving and kind home! I adore her :) 07/17/2026 by staff Volunteers took out Sophia and Katarina together and based on the way they interact, they think Katarina may be the mother of Sophia. Both dogs are very sweet, but Katarina wants to remain by Sophia's side and when she is in her kennel, seems like she is actively searching for her and will try to nuzzle her way out. She is much more at ease by her side. They both received baths and did excellent! -- Due to being significantly overcapacity with dogs and cats 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 a dog or cat. 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: 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. Animal ID: ACCT-A-255800 Breed: Terrier, Pit Bull Color: Brown Weight: 46.2 lbs Age: Adult (1-7 years) Location: Welcome Center Campus: Main Campus Attributes: Good Dog Meet (In Shelter), Experienced Gold, Waiver: Fearful, No Cats