 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.
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