Amazin' Grace.."Gracie" as we call her.. was found by my daughter, Jennifer, crawling, pulling herself by her front legs, across the road about a mile from my house. She didn't know what "it" was but didn't want it to be hit by a car so she pulled over, got out and went over to it. It was almost unrecognizable but she realized it was a tiny dog, a shih tzu. She picked her up, called her sister, Elisabeth, who is a dog groomer, and said "I'm on my way and I need help". This little dog who once had long hair, was so matted it was hard to tell the front end from the back except for her head which was completely bald from the hair having been pulled (from mats) entirely out. We spent the rest of the afternoon shaving her to the skin, bathing her in special shampoos. This pitiful little creature had a real will to live. Elisabeth took her to our vet that evening and amazingly she was in fairly good health. Her heart sounded good, her color was good and she tested negative for worms. Her eyes were cloudy but not from cataracts as we had expected.. they are dry and she will probably need drops for the rest of her life. He feels she is about 7-8 years old. She is very tiny, weighed only 4 lbs and will probably not be more than 7-8 lbs full grown. He said to "feed her anything she wants". Mistake!!! The first night she inhaled a whole boneless chicken breast. For breakfast the next morning, she ate boneless pork loin. And, for the next four meals that day......!! She is now eating some dog food as well as "people" food and drinking very well. She is certainly one "amazing" little Shih Tzu.

We will, at some point, when she has gained weight, grown some hair and we are sure that she is completely mended be looking for a VERY special, loving, forever home for this sweet little girl.
I have put her story (and pictures) on my web site because I want people to know what can happen to these wonderful animals. We don't know if "Gracie" was lost or her owners just didn't care. Dogs are completely dependent on their owners. We need to care for them as we would our own children... know where they are, don't let them run loose (or tie them out), keep them clean and groomed and well fed.. and love them as they love us.. unconditionally.
We will continue to put updates on Gracie. Below are some pictures of her "before". Hopefully, it won't be long before you can see some improvements. It is only by the grace of God that this precious little dog is living, eating and bestowing her sweet puppy kisses on everyone around