Health Condition:

Chickadee is healthy and ready for adoption! She is on a small maintenance dose of Prozac that she takes each morning to help reduce anxiety.

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Physical Description:  

Chicka is slightly smaller than average for a female. She has a pretty blue and white coat and delightful smiling eyes. You can't help but smile when you're around Chickadee because she's always smiling!

 

Current Living Situation:  

Chickadee is fostered in a home with access to the fenced yard to do her business. She lives with two adults and two dogs. Her foster brother, Astro, is a 9-year-old pit mix and her foster sister, Canella (MPR alumni 😊), is a 6-year-old pit mix.

 

Chickadee has taken up residence in a spare bedroom, enjoying a queen-sized guest bed all to herself. She "redecorates" the bed, arranging the blankets and sheets to her liking! Foster mom works from that same room, and Chickadee is a pleasant coworker! She initially requires attention, but once she realizes her humans are busy, she self-soothes and minds her own business.

When out in the living room, she bounces around a bit and has the occasional indoor zoomies, but she eventually curls up next to foster mom or dad and relaxes. Her daily medication really seems to help her relax quicker!

 

Personality:   

Chickadee likes to stick to what she is comfortable with. Despite not knowing the full extent of her history prior to MPR, she certainly came in with some fears and anxieties. For example, When Chicky first arrived her foster home, she struggled with the unknown - a new hallway, not being able to see around a corner, etc. She is a dog of habits and needs time to decompress after a big change in her life. but she conquers her fears one at a time. She does not care for fireworks or other loud noises. A calm environment where she can relax on her own timeline is the best bet for this awesome gal.

 

Chicky's level of energy is medium/high. She absolutely loves to do zoomies and is totally hilarious about it. It's as if she was never given a chance to have fun before and she's now soooo happy to be happy. She even likes to initiate play with foster brother! To watch her enjoying herself with a huge smile on her face will brighten anyone's day.

Now some info about a few quirky behaviors! She can be a "hangry" girl. When it's breakfast or dinnertime, she lets you know it by letting out what can only be described as “dinosaur noises” (they're kind of cute, we promise!) She also whines a bit when her humans are eating. She gets the occasional carrot, but she thinks she is entitled to all human food. A stern "no" generally does the trick.

In addition, Chicky has some puppy tendencies - specifically her bouts of puppy energy and her incessant licking. We think she may have been weaned too early, as she likes to lick her foster parents. She also likes to lightly bite on long human hair. Mmm…tasty? 😂 She generally will respond to a stern "no" or physically creating space.

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Behavior with people: 

This cutie-pie came to us scared of everything and very conflicted about people. This is where her foster parents have seen the greatest improvement. When she first came to the shelter, she had some baggage that made interactions with volunteers (specifically males) challenging. It was obvious that she wanted to make friends, but she might have met her fair share of unsavory individuals before her rescue.

 

Once she got comfortable in her foster home and felt safe, she really opened up with foster mom and dad, and even got comfortable with meeting new people! She has met so many new people that have visited her foster home, both men and women, and she has welcomed them with kisses and requests for scratchies! We love to see it! She can get a little too excited if there are more than four or five people around when she’s hopping from person to person for loving, but she eventually wears herself out and relaxes. Big crowds or large groups of people are too triggering for this girl’s anxiety.

 

Behavior with children:  

Unknown. Chickadee has not been around kids since being in our program. We believe she would be more comfortable in a home with adults only, but we will not rule out a family with gentle and respectful older children.

 

Behavior with other dogs:  

She was not reactive at the shelter and did very well during training classes with other dogs in her proximity. At her foster home they have successfully completed slow, thorough introductions with the male dog, and after a few months they were able to be together while supervised. Her foster brother is a tolerant older pittie, and Chickadee can be the annoying little sister that wants to play. But once she settles down inside, Chicky will sometimes try to snuggle up next to him. Awww! It is a very sweet relationship, but it took time to get there.
 

Chickadee is always kept separate from the female dog in the home.

 

It is possible that a home with a compatible male dog could actually help Chickadee's confidence. But she will require a slow, intentional introduction to any future pet siblings. Because it will presumably take her some time to adjust to a new home, that must be the priority. She could definitely be an only pet too and would probably enjoy being the queen of the castle!

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Behavior with other animals:  

Chicky has shown zero prey drive. She was around a cat once before and she did not take notice of it. 

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Training: 

Chickadee is one smart cookie! She is treat-motivated and loves to show off what she knows. She takes direction well, listening to various commands. If she does get too excited, she will still respond to firm commands (down, off, etc.).

 

She is housebroken and doesn’t mind her crate, though she’s never in it much since she has her own bedroom. Her foster parents work from home, so she gets time out of her bedroom three or four times a day. Her humans aren’t often away for longer than a few hours but get this - there have been a few occasions where she has needed to be in there for up to 10 hours and her parents come home to no issues - bathroom, behavior, or otherwise!

 

Chickadee loves running around in the safety of the fenced-in yard, but she struggles on leash. Foster parents are working on getting her comfortable on-leash and hope to build up to walks, but it is a work in progress.

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Best Attribute:

First, she is so resilient. Assuming she had a rough life prior to MPR, she has grown and blossomed so much in her foster home! She has learned to trust her humans, and that was something not thought possible in her early days at the shelter. You can tell she's so grateful to be saved. She's playful, funny, and a perfect sized pittie. We’re amazed by how far this girl has come and excited to see what else she’s capable of. Chickadee is a sweetheart who just needs someone who can be patient and willing to give her the time she needs to get comfortable in a new environment.

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Even if you can’t adopt this sweetheart, you can still help by donating for their care.