Mishka
DOB: 1998
DOH: 4/14/00
Favorite Food: Picky eater
Dislikes: Anyone who may come between her and her "mom"

One early morning in October 1999, Kathy was returning to her apartment building on New York City’s Upper West Side when she ran into one of her neighbors. Ronnie, a retired school teacher, was never up that early so it was quite unusual to run into her. Ronnie told Kathy she had planned on calling her so she was glad they ran into one another. She asked if Kathy would be willing to take in another dog.

At this point, Kathy had four dogs in a two bedroom apartment so she initially told Ronnie that she was maxed out. However, being a softie for all dogs, she asked “Why, what is the situation?” Ronnie proceeded to explain how a dog walker had found a Labrador mix walking down Broadway on the Upper West Side, alone, cold and apparently abandoned. The dog walker had taken the dog in but could not keep her and had tried to foster home her several times with no luck. One of Ronnie’s friends had tried to foster the dog but she had a bad hip and could not walk the dog easily.

Kathy offered to take the dog for the weekend and try to find a home for her. The dog sitter brought the dog over to Kathy’s apartment. Kathy drove the dog first to her mother’s house to try to convince her mother she needed a dog. When that failed, she drove further up to one of her sister’s houses to see if her sister’s family could add the pup to their brood. They had been thinking of getting a dog for the kids.

Her sister agreed to adopt the dog, however, in one week she was taking her family away for a week of vacation time. Kathy offered to keep the dog for those two weeks and then transfer her to her sister’s care. In the following two weeks, the dog bonded with Kathy and refused to let her out of her sight. When Kathy and her sister met to transfer the dog to her new family, the dog cried and whined the entire way home to her sister’s house.

The next few days, the dog proceeded to get very attached to Kathy’s sister and her children while her husband was traveling. When he returned, the dog refused to let him enter the house or his bedroom. Overcoming these hurdles, the husband made peace with the pup. However, the following day, the dog proceeded to scratch every doorway in the house, tore the curtains off the kitchen door, knocked plants off the window and finally bit the husband as he was picking up a doggie toy off the floor. This all took place in three days. Kathy got the call to come back and get the dog.

So Mishka joined Kathy’s pack of four. She was very well trained but had severe separation anxiety. She would nip at the dog walker’s legs when he came to get the crew for their noon time walk. She stayed close to Kathy’s side and was very protective. As time went on, she mellowed out and became more secure.

While she is still very attached to Kathy, she is now friendly to people and other animals and plays with all the other dogs. She goes on runs with Paco and Kathy, walks with the other dogs, is very curious about the other critters but she is well behaved and a great dog.