Overall, Shika has been doing amazingly. He’s continued to be the sweetest, most laid back guy and has fit into our family and routine seamlessly. It definitely helped getting to know his personality through fostering before making the leap into adoption, but we couldn’t be happier that we did. 

The aggression we experience from him is quite minor and manageable. We’ve seen it reduced to maybe twice a week and it’s in the form of grabbing our ankles/legs and biting (lightly), and typically when he has too much energy to burn. We’ve curbed this by baking in playtime, clicker training sessions and new enrichment (cat tv, new toys, puzzles etc) into our daily routine to give him mental stimulation. 

His favourite thing to do is to be pet, cuddled or held – by anyone who will offer it! He’s a super social guy and all of our friends and family have fallen in love with what an affectionate guy he is. 

He loves to be near my partner and I, no matter what we’re doing! If Mel is working, he’s got his own designated place that we’ve made right beside the desk or if we’re on the couch he insists on being on someone’s lap. Truly his favourite thing in the world is cuddling. 

He’s continued to be a star at clicker training and we’re currently working on paw! He’s already mastered “sit”, “sit pretty” and “step up”. 

We’ve even challenged him with new experiences which he’s taken in stride. We stayed at hotel with him over a couple days while visiting family which he did amazing with. And just recently we did some dog sitting for a friend, and after some very slow and considerate introductions he did amazingly! The two were snoozing less than 2 feet from each other by day one! 

If you would like to share your Happy Tail on our website and social media, please send us a photo and story at happytails@torontohumanesociety.com.