Mila

Update (December 6): She went to her forever home today :) :) :) :) :) :) :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update (October 26): Mila really wants to get out of the shelter before having to endure yet another freezing winter outside. She is such a very sweet girl, a little shy and hesitant at first. But after you pick her up, she just completely relaxes. You can almost fear her sigh with relief and just sink into your arms like she wants to stay there forever. I am so heartbroken when I have to put her back down. She's so small and I hate to think of her having to spend yet another blistering cold Korean winter outdoors. She deserves to be in a warm home, in her own soft bed, with her own family.

Update (July 1): This wonderful little lady has been waiting a very lonnnnng time for her forever home.

Update (May 26): Mila recognized and was jumping up with a big smile on her face. She approached me right away and was licking my hands like crazy and pawing at me to pick her up. So I did and she just sat there totally calm. I had lots of other work to do so I had to put her down after a few minutes. She was pretty sad and kept trying to crawl back into my lap. Mila is such a sweet little dog who would love a human of her own to cuddle with everyday :)

Mila is not a new addition to the shelter; she has been there for years but this past weekend was the first time I ever actually interacted with her. She lives outside actually, with 3 other Poms who are her family members. I don't know much about her or them at the moment, but I know they are all related in some way. I never paid much attention before because the pen they share is at the very back of the outdoor kennel area, behind Zoe, the Beagle's pen. The only time I ever visited their pen was to feed them and clean up but her brothers(?) are very yappy and scared of humans and so whenever I went in, they would always scamper away and hide behind their doghouses.

But this time, as I was cleaning their pen, I noticed Mila and another one of the Poms tentatively approaching me and smelling me. So I sat down and let them sniff me and then tried to pet her. The others wouldn't let me but Mila allowed me to pet her. She started licking my hands and pawing at me to play with her. So I picked her up, very slowly and she settled right in. She actually fell asleep in my lap as you can see from one of the pictures. It was the sweetest thing. I felt so ashamed that I had never bothered to get to know her in the year I've been volunteering at Yangju. But now, I've discovered what a sweetheart she is and she truly deserves a warm and loving home. She has had to spend every sweltering summer and freezing winter outside.

When I was petting her, I noticed baseball-sized mat balls that were rock hard. We decided to trim them out and as we were cutting one, we found dozens more. By the time we were done, I swear she was pounds lighter. Poor girl, must've been SO uncomfortable with those weighing her down and pulling on her skin. She did have pinkish patches and areas that had lost hair because of the strain of the mats :( :( :(

We were fighting with those mats for almost an hour, and she never EVER once complained. She was a little scared of course; especially since I do not know when the last time she was picked up by a person, much less taken out of the security of her pen. But I can tell, by her sweet demeanour, she is going to thrive outside of the shelter. I will try to find out more about her health status, age, back story as soon as I can.

She is a tiny little ball of fur, with such a pretty little face (pictures really don't do her justice) and a coat of fur that is the beautiful shade of red. Please consider fostering this little girl :)