Red Stick German Shepherd Rescue
UPDATE: Milo's skin is finally healed, and he's ready to find his forever home. This little guy has shown us he has a heart of gold. He is confident and happy, with all the fun-loving playfulness of a year-old adolescent. He's great with other dogs, cats, and kids. He's already crate trained and house trained.
While we've long known Milo was great with older kids, Milo recently met a baby for the first time, and this little dog was smitten! He didn't want to let the infant out of his sight and became very nurturing. He wanted to follow the baby home and was very sad when it left. We think he'd love to have small kids in his life and bond very deeply with kids, as they all grow up together.
Milo is very affectionate with people. He loves to be in a lap or next to a person. He's been incredibly sweet and endearing in his foster home, and we know he's got a huge amount of love waiting to give to his forever family.
Meet Milo, who was found by Animal Control tied to a tree, abandoned. He was adopted as a tiny, healthy pup from Companion Animal Alliance one year ago -- and he still bears the microchip from that prior adoption. Instead of his adoption being the start of a happy life, he ended up abandoned and suffering.
He has one of the worst cases of demodex we've ever seen. When we met him at the shelter, right after he was picked up, he was covered in blood and oozing sores. It looked like he had tried to scratch off of the side of his own face.
The shelter's vet was going to euthanize him, for humane reasons. Milo was in agony. Fortunately, the shelter staff called us and asked if we would consider coming to get him . A kind RSGSR foster family stepped up to help him, and we got him to safety, just a few hours later. We saw that despite his pain, his spirits were high, and he was ready to be brave--he hadn't given up on life yet.
Once he received the pain medicine he desperately needed, he relaxed and seemed relieved to be able to curl up on a soft blanket and sleep. He'd tried to stand up nearly the whole time he was at the shelter, to avoid laying on the concrete with his raw skin. He was exhausted and seemed relieved to finally be able to just let go.
His foster mom tenderly gave him his first of many baths, to see what was under all the dried blood and filth. Then Dr. Kristen at Cypress Lake went to work treating his skin. She assured us he's going to be just fine -- his skin problems are very treatable. It's a bad case of demodex with secondary infections--painful and itchy, but not life-threatening. He's going to seeing her every week for treatment and medicated baths for at least a month, maybe longer.
Through all this, Milo acted like a little hero. He kept wagging his tail, always looking for the best in people. He remained friendly and upbeat. He seemed to know we were trying to help him and has been so grateful for it.
Milo's rock-solid temperament isn't a surprise. It turns out we knew his mama, Dolly, when she was at CAA exactly a year ago. We helped find her a foster home, and she was eventually adopted through Yelp. She had arrived at the shelter with a litter of cute pups. They were all adopted by the shelter, shortly after being weaned. Milo was one of those pups. He's got his mama's temperament -- she was a GREAT dog in her foster home.
Milo's just a year old. Dr. Kristen will help Milo make a full recovery. He'll likely lose all his hair as part of the healing process, but it will grow back. He'll transform back into the cute, adorable pup he's supposed to be.