Anika 22-055

November 1, 2022:

Anika has adapted to her new home amazingly well. She spent the first few days as a “velcro” dog following us around all day. Now her tail wags all the time. She has started using her kennel in the main area of the house for naps during the day–I guess it was tiring following us around the entire day!

Anika enjoys exploring her fenced back yard and laying on the deck, soaking up the sun and monitoring the squirrel and rabbit activity in her kingdom. Her favorite thing is the daily walk. We have visited different parks and walking trails, and she eagerly gets into the car for a new adventure. She has met the neighbors with enthusiasm, learning that it isn’t necessary to jump up on them for attention. We are working on the recall and have seen improvement by incorporating it into a play activity. She is learning to play with a stuffed ball toy and it is fun watching her playful side emerge. Anika enjoys laying on the couch in the music room listening to her dad play piano (she is his biggest fan). She is sweet, gentle, and curious about all the household activities. Much has been accomplished in one short week. We are all seniors enjoying each other’s company. We look forward to a great future with Anika. Thanks to GRRoW for making such a good match!

October 22, 2022:

Anika has found the perfect home! Watch for updates about her new life!

Adopted 10/22/2022

September 20, 2022:

Anika had her trip to the vet for her dental cleaning. They discovered a cracked tooth that they ended up removing. Her mouth has healed up completely but we have another trip to the vet planned for another diagnostic test. Fingers crossed that everything looks good.

With the cooler weather we have been taking Anika on longer walks through our nearby conservancy. Anika recently joined a couple friends and participated in a 5K walk.

Anika continues to love sleeping in her crate in our master bedroom. She walks in on her own and we are able to leave the door open all night or we can close it if needed.

We have recently added another foster dog to our home and Anika has settled in with her new foster sister. Anika prefers a dog that is not up in her face and her foster sister is a perfect match.

With a good report from the vet later this week we expect Anika will be ready to finally find her forever home.

August 20, 2022:

Anika had her trip to the vet and received a clean bill of health. Due to her age and some buildup on her teeth she will be getting a dental cleaning to remove some buildup. The vet said her weight is perfect.

Anika has had to endure a few more storms and she is doing better handling the thunder. We make sure she has access to her crate which is covered with blankets or we simply allow her under our bed which she also uses as a safe place. Most nights she easily walks into her crate to sleep until morning. The few times she didn’t do that for us she chose to sleep under our bed.

Anika enjoys car rides and would like to sit in the front seat if she was allowed. I took her to a local store that allows pets inside and she did really well walking through the aisles but she definitely was distracted by all the new smells. We continue to walk at least once a day for a minimum of half a mile. Recently we walked 1.6 miles on a trail in a nearby conservancy so she has plenty of stamina for longer walks.

Once Anika’s dental cleaning is done she will be ready to find her forever home.

July 24, 2022:

Anika is settling quickly into her new foster home. She was a bit shy at first and found a quiet, comfortable spot to decompress in our 4-season room. This has now become her favorite room in the house, and she spends most of her time there napping on the couch. On her second day with us her personality has started to emerge. She will get excited and run around the house when she thinks we are going to take her for a walk. We recently started using a harness for her walks and she walks very well with very little pulling. Her energy level so far is low to medium. She is very content sleeping for quite a bit of the day but enjoys exploring our fenced yard and going on walks. We are currently limiting the walks to about half a mile to gauge her endurance and we walk 1-2 times per day depending on the weather and temperature outside.

We currently do not have another dog in our home, but Anika will stand at our front door and bark at neighbor dogs passing by. We aren’t sure if she is trying to get their attention to play or if she is telling them to keep moving. We will need to work on introducing her to some other dogs to be sure we understand how she acts around them. She is also quite fond of the squirrels and bunnies that show up in our yard and likes to watch them through the windows.

Anika understands the command SIT but we need to work on her STAY. She also likes to help in the kitchen when we are preparing meals and we have learned that she will put her feet up on the counter to try and get a better look. She has also carried a sock and one of my shoes from our laundry room into the main part of the house. She hasn’t chewed on anything and, so far, shows no interest in dog toys or stuffed animals. We recently learned that Anika has some fear and anxiety when thunderstorms passed through our area. We helped her take refuge in our basement but ultimately, she found the area under our bed made her feel more secure.

Anika is crate trained and we will continue to encourage her to use the crate as a safe place to go and rest. Next up will be her checkup at the vet.

July 18, 2022:

Anika is new in foster care. More information to come as we get to know this sweet girl.