Drove 300 miles today...

[rpcrowe]

I made a round trip of 300 miles today to rescue this little girl...





Mia is a 5-year old Maltese who was in a Los Angeles County Shelter in the High Desert - East of the City of Los Angeles. No one expressed interest in her because she needs some extensive dental work and she was on the shelter's euthanasia list.

However, this little girl is home with us now and we have an appointment with our vet to care for her on Monday. This is my traditional entry photo in which I try to give an honest look at her condition as she was when I brought her home.

I will shoot some more images after she is groomed and after her dental problems are resolved. My wife is bathing her right now but I will wait until after the dental for her "official" portraits...

[Cantab]

Richard, that's a lot of driving for one day! I'm curious how she reacted when a stranger collected her, stuck her probably in a travel kennel then a long car trip. Presumably she's pretty stressed.

I'll look forward to seeing her official portrait in due course.

[rpcrowe]

Actually, she was a little stressed at the start of the trip when I had her kennel in the back seat. I stopped and shifted it to the passenger seat with the door facing me and she calmed down almost immediately.

Judy has washed her and did some initial grooming and I took her on the grass to go potty which she did immediately. Now she's just hanging around me. I fed her and she ate just fine. I think that she has adjusted quite well. She comes up to me when I call her.

Lots of times, dogs dumped into a shelter from a family are starved for affection and tend to bond to the first people that give them any attention.

Whe have one young Malti-poo who has a broken front leg. Obviously she has been mistreated by a man because she is terribly scared of me. I usually don't push dogs to accept my attention. What usually convinces them that I am not a bad guy is when they see all the other dogs coming around me for attention...

[rpcrowe]

Mia's coat was so matted that Judy needed to shave her down considerably. It will be a couple of weeks before the coat grows out enough to even it. She will have her dental work tomorrow and by the time her coat grows out for round two of the photos, the discolored areas around her mouth will have been cleared up.





She has settled in comfortably in our house and is eating quite well. She was a bit apprehensive during the photo shoot but, that will change (I hope) during subsequent shoots...