Hello Pretty!

Lucia the meercat!

Lucia came to New Rattitude at 3 years old. Her owners said that she had started growling and snapping at their son once the child became mobile. Her owners said that she didn’t like new people until she had met them a few times, and didn’t like dogs and cats.

What we didn’t know was that “dislikes dogs/strangers” is far too mild a word for Lucia. What we didn’t know is that her little body was full of anxiety. And what we didn’t know is what a special case she would be. 

Lucia spent 11 months with her foster parents Karrah and Eric, and they took her from a extremely nervous, fearful dog to a cuddly, loving little girl who did very well with them as long as she was separated from their personal dogs. When around another dog Lucia would become agitated, and while she wanted to check out the dog, she would react out of fear and panic if the dog turned towards her. Like many dogs this comes out in growls, snarls, and even snaps in an attempt to have the dog move away from her. 

Such a beautiful girl.

 I first met Lucia not long after Karrah and Eric had her. In fact, I can’t recall the reason they asked me to stop by, but I remember being charmed by this leggy, beautiful girl with an incredible athleticism and the adorable way she growled at her tennis ball as she ran after it.

Lucia was fearful and shy when she first came to Eric and Karrah.

While Lucia is sweet and loving towards people she knows, she is nervous around new people and will snap and bite if people approach her too fast. Lucia would much rather flee than fight though, and she has perfect acquired bite inhibition and has never broken the skin when she did bite. Instead her bites are her method of saying “I’ve tried everything else I know what to do, but you’ve forced me to use my teeth since you aren’t listening to me." 

Despite her fears and anxiety, Lucia enjoys people once she gets to know them. She also likes taking treats from strangers.  This made her a challenge to work with as well as finding people who would be ok giving her treats without trying to pet her. Thank goodness the staff at All The Best Pet Care is wonderful for this, allowing us to hang out in their store for many hours over several weeks while we counter conditioned and desensitized Lucia to strangers. 

Soon she learned how much fun getting a New Rattitude could be!

 Lucia has so many amazing aspects to her personality, but a single issue has prevented her from finding her forever home for almost a year now – her human and canine reactivity. Karrah and Eric were generous enough to let me take Lucia on as my foster so I could work with her more often, since finding time for multiple training sessions a week is near impossible for all three of us.

My stuffed bug Dad!!

The treatment plan for Lucia is both firm and yet very fluid. So much of our plan will depend on where Lucia is at the moment, which is a necessity for a dog like Lucia. At all times I must honor her emotional state and desires, and focus on encouraging her to become comfortable around her triggers and teach her how to safely remove herself from situations she feels uncomfortable. 

She already knows how to dance!

 I look forward to this journey with her. In so many ways she reminds me of Sappho when I got her several years ago. Sappho quickly bonded with Maya, but with strange dogs and people she displayed even more reactivity, lunging and barking at the end of her leash. Lucia has a much closer threshold where she can be around a strange dog and tries her best to astutely ignore dogs as long as they don’t come too close. Seeing the dog Sappho is today tells me that Lucia can make incredible progress and become much more comfortable given time and training. Her foster parents did the hardest part – taking a dog from the only home she had ever known, and giving her confidence to share their lives. I have known Lucia for months and earned her affection long before I took her into my home, making her transition that much easier. I am forever grateful to her first foster parents for setting her up for success and making my job that much easier.

Is that my adoptive family walking down the street?