September 26, 2010 - Mika stayed with us for several days

At the end of September 2010, we agreed to take care of Mika in Boise for several days while her foster mom Niki went on vacation in Oregon.  Mika was described as pretty hard to control on a walk as she pulled really hard with a no pull harness and seemed to be interested in everything around her. Katy and Niki thought it was hard for Mika to focus and pay attention to people, but I thought she was focusing on something almost every second and wanted to investigate every smell, sound or object that came to her attention.

Since Mika was reactive to other dogs, we needed to keep her separate from our two dogs, Stony and Tasha.  She stayed in my office with me and seemed quite calm, happy to chew on all her stuffy toys.

I agreed to take Mika on walks while she was here and I soon found out how exuberant and excitable she could be.  She also barked and whined and pulled hard whenever she saw another dog walking or behind a fence.  In a few days, she seemed to calm down somewhat while I was walking her and we started to get along great together.  I really started to like this dog in those few days.

In the pictures below, notice how much thinner and less shaggy Mika is after being groomed and bathed compared to when she first was transported to Moonsong Malamute Rescue.

Getting ready for a walk with a no-pull harness.

Did I already mention that I was really starting to like this dog.

Mika taking a happy walk in the back yard

Mika standing tall looking at a stray dog Katy found on the street an hour before.