Christine

Christine is a really funny little dog, our best guess is miniature dachshund with maltese – a little thick dachsie body with short little dachsie legs and feet but a maltese coat and ears. She came into a shelter VERY fat (16 pounds, now a trim 10 pounds), with terrible teeth, dry eyes, open sores all over her back, and hips so damaged that she couldn’t stand on both hind legs for more than a second without one collapsing. And of course, her toenails were so long they were curled into her pads – but they were painted purple. Once we discovered that her huge belly wasn’t a dire medical problem (just fat) we fixed her teeth, got her on allergy and arthritis meds, and took her to the opthalmologist. She wore a shirt for months until she was comfortable enough to stop attacking her back, as well. She’s feeling so much better now! She runs up and down the halls when it’s time for something to happen, trots laps around the yard when told to go outside, and then spends as much time as possible in a lap.

Christine lost all but one tooth so her tongue is out pretty much fulltime – that’s messy but functional and gives her a distinctive look. She’s still not convinced that she should use the outside facilities when inside is so much more convenient, but her ODH mom is determined to prevail. Maybe a girl wearing purple toe polish wasn’t expected to have house manners? At least a girl this cute can make us smile enough to almost balance it out.

Update:  Little Christine spent nearly a year in her ODH home, snuggling as much as possible with other white curly dogs when she couldn’t be in a lap – she wasn’t that picky, she’d curl up wherever a nice hotwater bottle effect was welcome.    She was greatly loved and is much missed by all who knew her including her dog buddies.