Wiki is still afraid of many things…..especially people and “talking” noises (talk radio, talk TV, talking neighbors)…...but he has come a long way in six months. He’s been on antidepressants for 4 months, which has helped him deal with anxiety. And although he isn’t “happy” going places where he has to be around people and noises, he tolerates it much better now.  He used to hate walks, but he handles them fine now. He still gets scared seeing people, but when we first started walking, if he saw someone he would be so scared that the rest of the walk was ruined; now he’s fine as soon as we are past the perceived “danger”. 

Wiki didn’t understand “go potty”, and he would only go once every 24-48 hours.  He was drinking almost no water, so I started giving him 3-4 cups of broth a day. Within three days he learned “go potty”, and we’ve had no trouble since.  But he still wouldn’t drink water so I continued with the broth. Two months ago I started scaling it back, and a few weeks ago he started drinking a little “plain water” on his own.  Now he drinks plenty of water, so he no longer needs any broth. 

Wiki is very good at sleeping in a large crate at night.  I used to lock the crate door, but after a couple of months he graduated to just having a “pen” around the crate.  Now he has graduated to it being completely open with no pen; he lies on the floor by the bed while I’m reading at night, and shortly after I turn out the lights he goes into the crate on his own. But he does love getting up on the bed to cuddle with me sometimes or to take an afternoon nap, so I know he would be very happy with someone who would let him sleep there all night.

Wiki has separation anxiety so he will follow you everywhere in the house. He’s fine in a pen as long as you’re in the same room with him, but he’ll jump over a 3-foot-high pen if you leave the room.  However, he is now okay with being left alone in his locked crate for short periods of time (we’ve gotten up to 4 hours). 

He loves riding in the car -- he jumps right into the crate in the back seat.  He doesn’t always want to get out at places where he is afraid so a leash is a must. With that, he always comes right out with no problems.

Wiki had not had any kind of training and was very resistant to it at first; he would immediately get scared and shut down to point that he wouldn’t respond to food or praise.  But through lots of very short sessions that we tried to keep “fun”, he has learned sit, down, come, and stay. He especially hated the words “no”, “off” for a very long time……he must have heard them in a mean way in his past because he would get so scared by them that he would immediately run and hide…….but he is getting used to hearing them in a “nice” tone and now they don’t bother him much. “Stay” has been much harder, but he is getting better.  The great news is that Wiki is naturally very well-behaved, and he really is a gem to have around!  He doesn’t beg for food or jump on you or get into trouble.  He just wants to be near you and be loved.    

When Wiki came he didn’t know how to play. If I would throw a small squeaky toy, sometimes he would run after it, and once in a while he might toss it in the air.  But about a month ago, completely out of the blue, he brought it to me and we played fetch for a little while.  He doesn’t want to play every day, but it’s a real joyful time when he does. 

I don’t know whether or not Wiki would be good with another dog.  We haven’t had the chance to be around dogs without people also being present.  So far he has been indifferent to most of the dogs we’ve met.  He doesn’t want to play with them, but doesn’t run away; he basically just ignores them. The one exception is the dogs next door; they are super aggressive and vicious, and Wiki hates them (I do too).

Wiki is the sweetest little guy and would make a wonderful companion for someone, especially for a woman who lives alone and is home most of the time.  I’m not sure if he would bond with anyone who just “visits” him, but I think he would bond fairly quickly with someone he lived with full time.  Most of all, he just needs someone who has lots of patience, who loves to cuddle, and will give him heaps of love and affection.  If you're interested in Wiki and would like more information please call Linda at 801-737-9628 or Barbara at 801-942-4762.

Several short videos of Wiki are posted on YouTube.  To see them, just go to www.youtube.com and do a search on “SRU Wiki”.