Arrietty

In general, once she realizes you are not trying to pressure her to take treats from your hands or engage in direct forward-facing interactions, she really starts to trust you. It is easiest for her to start to get to know you with your back towards her, as if she does not exist. Arrietty started following her primary caregiver once she realized she was not going to be pressured to interact before she was ready. This process took about 2 weeks in her foster home. She now snuggles with her primary caregiver whenever she can, and loves to follow them around. Arrietty is no longer afraid of forward-facing interactions with her person and LOVES to cuddle on the couch with her person. She will sit with you for hours on the couch or in a dog bed while you read a book, or watch a movie. In her new home, it will be important for all caregivers to allow Arrietty to come to them at her own pace and allow her space, encourage her growth in confidence with positive reinforcement, and not to coddle fearful behaviour. Arrietty does tend to form a strong bond with a single person. As a result, in her new home if there is more than one family member they should all be involved in her care.

Arrietty takes confidence from canine friends. She loves other dogs, and can be submissive at times in her interactions with other dogs. She is currently fostered with 2 medium-sized dogs and is often willing to try things once she observes our dogs doing the same tasks. She loves to share space with dog friends, so her new friends should be tolerant of dogs in their space. Arrietty tends to stand up or wall-jump off of our dogs when she is excited, and will dash into their kennels with them. She likes to snuggle up to them during cuddle time. Arrietty will try to play with other dogs as well, and seems to prefer a run-and-chase playstyle. As a result, in her forever home, Arrietty will appreciate a confident canine friend who is not too bothered by a spritely, bouncy and sometimes clingy friend. However, it is imperative to her growth to also spend one-on-one time training with Arrietty so she can build confidence and a bond with her handler separate from her relationship with any current canine family members. It is not mandatory for her to live with another dog, as she does feel more confident with a trusted human as well, and sometimes the presence of a dog friend causes her to focus on them and their whereabouts rather than engaging in new experiences on her own.

Although Arrietty loves cuddle time with her primary caregiver and other dogs, she is also doing very well in her independence training. She is currently crated for varied lengths of time throughout the day. Arrietty tends not to soil her crate and would be okay crated alone for a typical 8hr workday. Sometimes she will bark after being crated, but very quickly settles down once she no longer hears you or sees you. She does tend to be more vocal if she can directly see

Arrietty is mostly housetrained now, and has had only a handful of accidents during her time in foster care. As long as she is given breaks to go outside she does not actively look to use the washroom inside the house. She does not currently alert to needing to go outside, so her new family will need to be observant of her behaviour to avoid accidents and successfully eliminate outside. Any accidents Arrietty had were in the same location, so it was very easy to predict and avoid repeat mistakes.

On walks, Arrietty does very well. She generally prefers to walk on your right side, and generally does not pull. Arrietty is not reactive to dogs, squirrels or wildlife. She has started

 to demonstrate some curiosity in birds in the grass, but is easily redirected. She is not bothered by cold weather or rainy days. In the beginning sudden noises would startle her, like a car hitting a curb, or a sudden dog bark from behind a face, and she would rocket forward before recovering. These moments are not common anymore, and she surprisingly handles a lot of louder sounds by slowly making space for herself from the offending object. For example, if a larger vehicle or bus is passing directly beside the sidewalk she will make an arc to the side to “make space,” recovers, and walks next to you again. Arrietty has very strong hind end awareness, which helps her reposition quickly. Initially, Arrietty would try to make space for herself regardless of your current location, and would get tangled in your legs and be at risk of getting trampled. Sometimes she would end up in front, panic, then  shoot backwards between your legs. She has learned to cross in front and much more predictably when she needs to make space now, but her new family should be aware that she does not always make the best decisions when making space for herself, and can be a tripping hazard. Usually slowing your pace or stopping allows her enough time to safely make space for herself without panic. She is walked on a martingale collar for safety, as she is a flight risk in these infrequent moments of discomfort. We have spent time exposing her to different flooring and surfaces outside to help build her confidence, and she has not shown any sensitivity to walking on metal panels, wood chips at a park, gravel, etc.

While she does have some noise sensitivity outside, Arrietty generally handles most household noises very well. Initially some noises would startle her (namely sneezes and coughs!) and she would retreat to her kennel for a brief moment to recover. Now that she has grown in confidence, she does not tend to retreat to her kennel but may stand up in her dog bed before settling down again. Other noises like a coffee grinder, a loud movie, a chair scraping etc. do not seem to phase her. Her sound sensitivity seems mostly people-related. For this reason and her history of low confidence with forward-facing people, we do not recommend a home with young children. Older teens and adults who respect her space and give her time to get to know her will be best for her. As her confidence walking in the semi-urban neighbourhood has grown, we know she won’t mind a subdivision with lower car and foot traffic flows, but will be overwhelmed in a big city centre or highly urban setting.

Her energy level is best described as medium-high. Arrietty loves to go on walks, and her pace does not flag on longer walks. She appreciates a brisk pace, but also enjoys sniffing and exploring her environment. She is usually walked about 45 mins to 1.5hrs on longer walks about 3-4 times per week. At the same time, Arrietty is very calm in the home even without these longer walks. Even when she is given a shorter 30 mins or less walk, she is relaxed and ready to cuddle. She will appreciate an active home, but does have an “off switch” so to speak. She is not bothered by a rainy day in the home, and will softly snooze beside you. She appreciates being nearby, and will nap in the same room as you when she isn’t crated. She gets very excited when you pick up her leash or make any motions that you are about to spend time outdoors with her. Arrietty has springs for legs and loves to show her excitement by bouncing about 4 feet in the air from a standstill! She tends to bark or make some noises with excitement and twirl around to show her happiness with her short tail wiggling. Arrietty will always appreciate a walk, but will not be bouncing off the walls without one. She is walked either alone or with other dogs, and walks equally well in both scenarios.

During her time in foster care, Arrietty has learned that toys are amazing! She loves soft plush squeaky toys, especially the soft toys that have rubber spiky balls or ropes inside. She is not destructive with toys at this time. She has not shown any interest in chew toys or hard toys but does appreciate and make quick work of dental chews. She loves to empty the toy bin and bring her favourites to her kennel for bedtime.

Arrietty is very food-motivated and praise-motivated. She is just learning how to follow food lures to sit and lay down, and is picking up on this method of training very quickly now that she is less afraid of hands and forward-facing interactions with her handler. She often offers a “sit” or “down” when she thinks you have a treat for her. She will thrive with positive reinforcement-based learning, and she is very sensitive to tones and volumes of human voices. Any mistakes she has made (such as picking up a shoe) were corrected with “uh oh” at a conversational level and she quickly understood not to do that behaviour. She will benefit from a gentle, calm and confident handler.

Arrietty is also fostered with two cats. Arrietty has always been respectful and calm with the cats, and does not bother them. She can often be found sitting together with the cats on the couch, and the cats will go out of their way to show affection to Arrietty. She does not become excited by the cats playing or jumping, and can easily be housed in a home with cats.

In terms of car travel, Arrietty is crated for her safety. Initially, the crate was placed on the floor, she would get right in, and then the crate was placed in the car. Now, Arrietty knows exactly what to do and will jump into her car crate with her grasshopper legs! She lays down and is calm and quiet for the trip. In the beginning of her time in foster care on longer trips closer to 1 hour she had some motion sickness if she had just eaten, but now she does very well regardless of whether she has eaten or not. Arrietty is easily transported on long trips, and has gone on multiple hiking adventures–even as far as Point Pelee in one day from the GTHA!

Regarding her general handling, Arrietty does very well. Initially, being so undersocialized, she was frightened of any handling so required a slow and deliberate pacing. She generally freezes when she is uncomfortable, but is now starting to accept treats during baths! Arrietty tolerates nail trims and baths with gentle handling. She loves to be dried after a bath or walk in the rain, and will turn around happily to give you her feet for wiping after walks. She is fed in her crate and always finishes her meals, and does not display signs of food aggression. Arrietty has graduated from food bowls and eats exclusively from food puzzles. She is very smart and makes quick work of her food puzzles. She takes treats gently and sometimes makes an adorable *CHOMP* noise!

If you are still reading and would like to see Arrietty’s time in foster care, you can find her on Instagram @twiceluckyfosters. If you think Arrietty is a good fit for you, please apply! She will not be a suitable dog for a first-time dog owner. Although she will likely be shy when you meet her at first, she will be your best friend, adventure and cuddle buddy with patience. She is a sweet and sensitive soul. Thank you for letting her borrow a moment of your time.