ALL DOGS ON THIS PAGE OWNED BY

L.V. FERRERA

S. LUCAS-FERRERA

PHOEBE!

Phoebe's sort of our "miracle" baby.

When she arrived at the airport, she was almost dead.

She was severely dehydrated, in extreme shock and hypothermia and absolutely LOADED with Coccidia.

She could not stand and staggered around until she fell over when we took her out of her airline kennel.

She was 3 months old and only weighed -12- pounds!

We immediately took off for the only vet's office that I knew of that would *hopefully* be open, driving like maniacs with her trying to crawl under the car seat to die.

Finally, she stopped even trying to do that and laid semi-conscious in my lap with her eyes rolled back in her head, her breathing shallow and terribly erratic.

Only the gallant and heroic efforts of the vet who [luckily!] just happened to be working after-hours at the Frederick SuperPetz vet clinic saved her.

After 2 hours of IV fluids, temperature regulation, various injections and transfusions, she was able to stand up and walk.

After they'd seen me run into the store crying and carrying a limp and almost lifeless little puppy, everyone in the store cheered when she finally walked out of the vet's office!

She was still very ill though, and it took months of vet visits and medication to get her back up to speed again.

She is still the "delicate one" due to her near-death experience.

It just makes her all the more precious because we thought were going to lose her even before we'd even really "met her".

"DOGS IN MIDWINTER"

PHOEBE ENJOYING HER VERY FIRST SNOW WITH AUNT IZZY AND UNCLE JACK

Pookie!

Abused and broken, Pookie came here with nothing but terror in her heart.

She'd been beaten, tormented, run through glass doors, chased into fences and made "crate crazy".

She was covered with fresh and healed cuts and scrapes and one of her ribs had been broken and had not healed properly.

She was terrified of everyone, especially men and large, deep-voiced women.

The first time I saw her, I feared she'd break her own neck trying to break free of her leash before I even got a chance to get hold of it.

After 2 years of reassurance that she will never again be hit, kicked or "fly swatted" [that is so reprehensible!] and has a forever, loving home, she's now a happy and [mostly] well-adjusted girl.

In truth, she's the most gentle and obedient of all my kids.

No longer does she totally "freak out" around people and walks happily on a loose lead like a perfect lady.

She still has a lot of physical scars that have healed.

The emotional ones took a little longer but the reward of the wait was definitely worth it.

As suspicious of strangers as she still is, she's *still* "Mommy's" #1 defender..

Knowing what it must cost her to act with courage that she probably doesn't really, fully feel is humbling....:)
 

Originally, this was *supposed* to be my art room where I painted and airbrushed.

Apparently it's main function is now a "Doggy Cinema"

[pardon the photo quality...it was taken by a Logitech 4000 Webcam *after* Djinni mauled it to bare functionality]