 Mika (center) and two other dogs were dumped in a drop box at a New Mexico animal shelter. A long distance trucker brought them to Tennessee. They were temporarily kept by a New Rattitude volunteer until they could be transported to three different foster homes in Michigan (Mika), Illinois, and Georgia.
|  From left to right: Zuni (Georgia), Nova (Illinois), and Mika (Michigan).
|  From the beginning, Mika enjoyed playing with other dogs, toys, and showed signs of wanting to interact with humans.
|  When Mika arrived in her Michigan foster home on 3/28/26, she was too frightened to come out of her carrier. The next day we took the top off her carrier; she still didn't want to exit the safety of the crate.
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 Mika traded the safety of a crate for the safety of plush donut dog bed. She wouldn't get out of the bed either and didn't go potty for at least 24 hours.
|  Mika loves her food and didn't skip a meal, but those back feet had to stay in the safety of the bed at first.
|  Soon she summoned the courage to leave the bed and now is all over the kitchen, exploring every corner and playing with all the toys.
|  Mika loves to play with other dogs, including her foster sister, another Rat Terrier of similar size.
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 4/3/26: In this video, Mika was in her xpen. I sat in it with her with no opportunity for her to escape. She's clearly uncomfortable with me being in such close proximity when she can't run from me.
|  4/5/26: In this video, I am trying to coax her from the kitchen into the sun room. Paris and I are on the couch. She wants to come in, but is intimidated by the threshold and/or the new space.
|  4/5/26: Evening play. She'll take toys from me and will come up to me to sniff my hands, but backs away if I reach for her. When Paris comes in the room, she gets a little braver.
|  4/18/26: Mika sleeps in the kitchen and this is the delight she shows in the morning when the rest of the family gets up (including her canine foster sister who she loves).
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 4/18/26: Mika got brave enough to come into the sun room this week. Now she goes in and out all the time - it's no longer scary!
|  Now she can look out the window and watch the birds and other wildlife.
|  Mika traveled from Michigan to Tennessee April 22-27 to attend the 21st annual Rat Terrier Jamboree. She traveled quietly in her crate and was a good girl in the hotel rooms and cabin too.
|  On the field, she was picked up and held by a couple people. She did not care for being picked up (but didn't bite). Once she was on someone's lap, she would relax.
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 More lap time.
|  Offering treats.
|  Part of the time, she sat in her crate and observed all that was going on. There were dozens of people and dogs going by her area so there was a lot to see.
|  Sometimes she'd come out of the crate and even sniffed the hands of strangers. This was the first time she'd been on grass since coming into foster care.
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 She pottied on the grass a couple of times, which is the goal to do consistently soon! For now, she uses potty pads indoors.
|  5/3/26. Pesky puppy play!
|  5/5/26: Big milestone for Mika! She is going outside in the fenced yard now. It required her to go down 3 steps. While scary at first, now she goes up and down them like nothing!
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