Biography
Maera is a 5-year-old pure breed Labrador Retriever currently living in a foster home. The space is tight, and most of her time is spent in a kennel, but it beats the alternative.
Maera is full of energy and loves to play. Among her favorite activities include chasing a flirt pole, playing in water, playing fetch, and receiving physical attention. She explodes with happiness and excitement on a hair trigger.
Maera has been the victim of an overbearing husky and unprepared owners. After a seemingly successful integration into the household at 12 weeks old, Maera was severely injured in a food aggression fight instigated by the adult husky. This was after multiple weeks of peaceful coexistence and no hint of issues. In the years since, Maera has put up with our husky being antagonistic. While the husky hasn't instigated any fights since that first month, her antics of antagonizing Maera resulted in a progressively worse anxiety disorder in Maera. Maera has instigated numerous fights with the husky and lost every single one of them. She bears the scars on her head and ears from these hopeless events.
Maera gets along well with cats and dogs; however, her anxiety issue with dogs would suggest that caution be taken if she's to be integrated into a new household with another dog. We've had no issue integrating new cats into our household with her and never had any issues there other than the occasional grumble.
Maera reacts poorly to being startled by anything dog-sized. She reacts first and thinks about it after the fact. This typically comes in the form of her using her "stay away" bark and giving a warning bite before retreating to safety.
And this is where the problem in our household comes in and why we need to rehome her.
While Maera will happily greet children at the door or coming up the stairs, she is generally afraid of them. She absolutely will not tolerate them grabbing her, sitting with her, hugging her, etc. Maera will treat children like any other dog. It is unpredictable. If a child startles her, she will bite at them and then retreat to safety. This issue is why we are needing to rehome her. Our household has two young children, and she cannot remain around them.
Maera is looking for a new home that can provide her a safe environment free of children and possibly other at-home dogs (at least, no females). In that setting, she will thrive and be a wonderful companion. She is extremely eager to please, and she follows her established routines almost religiously.
Unfortunately, if she cannot be rehomed then she will likely meet her end as a result of behavioral euthanasia. I am hoping on a prayer to avoid this for her.