Intake photo in South Korea, July photoshoot (after her summer shed), and her December photoshoot
Winky ::adoptED::
In March of 2021 Winky was found alone sheltered outside of a local business in Asan, South Korea. A staff member from the city pound went to retrieve Winky and was surprised by how sweet she was despite the rough shape she was in. Shortly after she was taken to the city pound they discovered that Winky had parvovirus. With their quick actions it was treated but they had to keep her isolated from people and other dogs at the pound. Once Winky recovered she went into the care of a loving foster home in South Korea prior to her flight to Wildhearts. There she learned what it’s like to be part of a family.
Winky’s flight to Portland took place in June of this year and we were very surprised by her temperament upon first greeting. It seems like Winky has spent a great deal of time alone and has a lot of socializing to catch up on with animals and humans. She can be pretty hot & cold with touch from people and has been known to yelp in fear (predicting pain) during gentle baths. While her first Portland foster family was able to work around a lot of Winky’s quirks, she was often overexcited which quickly turned to anxiety, and then fear. Winky shuts down when scared, bites hands, and will snap at other animals. After about a month in foster care we decided to place Winky with another Portland foster family to finish out the program and to see if she could make further progress with another dog in the home to show her how to be a domesticated dog. Within a few days they realized she needed a lot more help than we’d ever expect a foster family to take on.
In July we all decided it would be best if Winky was moved to Mel’s home (the founder of Wildhearts) to deep dive into behavioral training and to get to the root of Winky’s fears. One of the major goals of Wildhearts is to not leave the burden of behavioral modification on the adopter. Sometimes that means a dog needs months in foster care to work through their hurdles before we open up adoption questionnaires. Months later, here we are with a for the most part stabilized Winky who we feel is ready to start her journey with her forever family! Her sweetness, charm, and silly personality have won over all of our hearts but at the end of the day we need a family for her that is able to see through her top layers of adorable personality and realize there is a very insecure dog underneath who needs our help to show her how to navigate domestic dog life. If you’re looking for a cute dog to ask very little of and to spoil, Winky is not your dog. Winky has been rehabilitated through structure, calm interactions, scheduled play, and a ton of oversight. She has a LONG way to go with training and that’s why we are offering a supported (two month minimum) foster-to-adopt opportunity to make sure Winky doesn’t regress during her next transition and her forever family has the tools they need to help Winky’s continued growth. Learning dog body language will go a long way with navigating WInky’s needs and, better yet, experience with positive reinforcement training will help her forever family get started.
You’ll need an Instagram account to learn about Winky! Please check out her journey below.
Journey in South Korea here.
Portland foster journey 1
Portland foster journey 2
Portland foster journey 3
A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE Winky THINGS FROM her FOSTER FAMILY…
Despite her small stature, Winky is a big personality! It’s been a joy to watch her sassy nature start to shine through. Her little strut when she’s out on walks is so proud and confident, she should have her own soundtrack. Winky’s loose leash walking skills are great these days, but she needs consistent reminders to heel. She loves lush green grass and will bound ahead to a particularly juicy patch so she has time to revel and roll in it. She can’t get enough of the beach — so many holes to dig! So many birds to chase! What’s that big ocean thing? Wow! For having such short legs she can really pick up speed when she’s on open terrain. She’s a good eater and has laser vision for when there might be a treat coming her way. She’s bold and curious and loves to meet everyone. But like every social butterfly, she needs time to decompress and recharge. When that happens she’s happy to retreat to her crate, chew on sticks, or rest quietly on her “place” cot.
Winky has been eager to learn since day one. She picks up cues quickly and is often easily redirected from troublesome behavior with her learned cues + treats & praise. Over the last few months Winky has learned some confidence building cues around touching and, by doing so, has opened her heart and body up to snuggles. These low pressure snuggle sessions have translated well to new people and we hope she continues being more comfortable bonding with humans with everything she’s learned.
Winky adores other animals. She loves to pester our cats and dogs to play a few times a day and seems to feel more safe in a home where she’s not the only pet. She keeps things lively and interesting!
The joy Winky brings us each day gives us hope that she will become someone’s whole world. She still requires a lot of oversight, especially in the early days, but her precious antics and big heart make all of the work worth it. Everything Winky is working on is becoming easier for her (and us) with a solid management system that we will coach her next family on.
A FEW THINGS Winky IS WORKING ON FROM her FOSTER FAMILY…
Winky gets moody easily and she also has trauma from human hands. Being very intentional with when and why we touch her has helped her learn to trust humans. In July of 2021, Winky was very sensitive with baths, brushing, nail trims, being lifted/held, having her collar adjusted, harness being put on, and also touching towards the back of her body. She has made a ton of progress since then and we now have a system in place to work with her. Sudden movements and touch can lead her to snap towards your hand if she’s taken unaware. She hasn’t broken skin, but the fact that she’s scared enough to attempt a bite showed us we needed a different way to connect with her. We’ve been working on touching exercises and she’s doing very well with them as long as she is warned prior with verbal cues and understands why its happening. Asking for Winky’s consent is the best way to get her comfortable. Building a relationship over time should help with this behavior along with continued touch exercises. We only pick Winky up when she needs help getting from once place to another (sink bath, etc.) and we’ve been training her to jump into our arms voluntarily vs. us reaching down to pick her up.
Winky gets nervous in the car and sometimes car sick. We have lots of tips on how to navigate this for positive car rides!
Winky is still a young dog and with her street dog history can be grabby with anything left within her reach. Having her in a heel position during walks helps prevent her from picking up and trying to consume garbage off of the sidewalk. She also struggles with resource guarding and it’s important for her forever family to have a protocol around food, chews, toys, and undesirable objects that Winky is notorious for picking up off the ground, protecting, and/or trying to consume. Wildhearts will provide professional training with a behaviorist to continue working on this.
As Winky has learned to trust humans and finally melt in their laps she’s also started displaying signs of separation anxiety. Keeping a balance of independent time alone and scheduled bonding time will be important so she is able to be left alone without panicking. This is a very new shift in her behavior and she has big feelings around it.
Winky has a typical terrier “intruder bark” that is useful in some circumstances but sometimes also just means “hey, there’s a thing happening and I don’t know what to do!”. When possible, we have found that having her occupied with active treat-giving + praise while the other person comes into the space (whether through a front door, or even up/down stairs if she’s forgotten you are there) helps decrease her anxiety to where she won’t bark. This is an ongoing part of her training to get her used to people coming and going. She would not be a good fit for a family who is sensitive to barking, but we’d love a family for Winky who is going to work with her to prevent barking to begin with.
THE IDEAL FAMILY FOR Winky WOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING:
A family who is able to offer a work from home(ish) lifestyle, as that is all she’s used to at this point.
No shared walls.
A home without children (teenagers could be a good fit!)
A fenced yard.
A friendly, active cat in the home.
A friendly dog the home or access to friendly dogs for frequent playdates.
Winky living with dogs requires modifications to your current dog’s lifestyle to keep everyone safe and happy - example: Winky cannot be around toys at this time due to her instinctual resource guarding. Luckily she’s very social and will want to wrestle and run around with other dogs to stay busy!
A lot of patience, eagerness to continue training, consistency, & lots of love!
Winky’s Details:
Breed: Terrier mix
Age: 2 years old
Sex: Female
Size: 12lbs
Color: White/Beige
Spayed/Neutered: Yes
Microchipped: Yes
Vaccinated: Yes
Medical notes: N/A
Housetrained: Yes
Crate Trained: Yes
Site: Wildhearts Rescue
Location: Foster home in Portland
Intake Date: 06/09/21
Good with cats: Yes, but would love an active cat companion
Good with dogs: Yes, but navigating her needs with another dog is a lot of work, especially around toys and food
Good with children: Yes, but due to her touch sensitivity children are not a good fit to live with her
Good with adults: Yes
Adoption Fee: $250