Miikka has been in our care for a few weeks, and we are continuing to assess his character and reaction to other dogs. He had demonstrated some reactivity to other dogs, most notably, when he first arrived in foster care. At that time he was in a home with a well adjusted female field spaniel and two other small dogs. He was reactive to all of these dogs. Due to his reactivity toward them, he was moved to another foster home, where he quickly befriended the foster's two year old female collie. Miikka and his new companion now spend many hours playing together, and there have been no problems between them.

 Over the past three weeks we have tested Miikka repeatedly with many other dogs, and we have seen no further evidence of aggressive behaviour. He greets appropriately and sniffs new dogs he meets. He has also been tested with two cats, and his reaction was to sniff and rub noses with them!  (Both of these cats were accustomed to living in a household with dogs.) Miikka has not been exposed to children.

Miikka's temperament: he is smart and learns quickly, is very trainable and is eager to please. He has learned the following commands: come, sit, down, stay, shake a paw, leave it, off, no bite, no jump. He is quite stubborn and has a tendency to dominate if no boundaries are set for him. He is protective and may resource guard his humans and property once he has bonded to his family. He has typical puppy habits of nipping/mouthing when he is excited as well as jumping up on people. His foster parents are working on correcting these behaviours and he is showing good improvement. He is shy/reserved with strangers.

Miikka is housetrained. He is normally quiet when left alone. He tends to chew things if he is frustrated (eg if he is wanting to get to the front door to greet a visitor, but is in his exercise pen).

An ideal home for Miikka would be one with an active lifestyle (eg hiking and long walks) and interested in obedience training/agility/rally. Miikka will do best in a home with a job to do. He would be fine in a household with another dog, depending on the dog (eg a medium to large sized female who is well adjusted and not a 'pushover'). A home without young children would be best.