mamma mia

Mia can break out of any wire crate. She has eaten sections of plastic crates. I can only use a Furrari kennel now. She loves it. I guess she feels safe since she cannot get out of it. ;-)

Mia destroys Kong toys within a week-nothing against Kong, but they need to meet my Mia. I am glad they last a week at least. No other toy has lasted more than an hour with my Mimi!

Mia has eaten my daughter's cords for her I pod, cell phone, camera, and computer. We have been through several screen doors, too.

Mia is a high anxiety dog that only settles when running with my neighbor or running agility with me. Many day cares won't take her as she is very nervous at first and barks incessantly. The wonderful people at Pawz Inn in Madison Heights have bonded with Mia and she gets excited any time I say Dennis or Tamee's names. Dennis will pick Mia up and hold her like a baby when she first gets there so she will settle down. Then she plays like a mad woman all day long and is great with any size dog. Tamee and Dennis are the best! (shameless plug, I know!)

So, as for destruction, Mia has accomplished many great things. Her biggest issues are her anxiety, though. She barks and cries if I walk down a block she has not been on before. She needs to jump a small swinging door at the vet over and over before they can take her into the back for nail trimming. They say she is the only dog they have known to need to expend that kind of energy to handle a new experience. Mia was saved from a back yard where she was chained from 2 months to 14 months of age. It took 2 months of carrying her into my home and listening to her scream in fear to teach her that a house is a safe place to be. She still barks and screams in new places, so I don't take her shopping much. It is too stressful for me...

I do have to say our furniture is still good and, unlike my pit mix, Mia has never chewed the upholstery in my car! (I don't mention that to her as I don't need to give her any new ideas.)

I love Mia and would not dream of giving up on her, but she is my most challenging foster dog in 2.5 years of fostering. Since we have had her, at least 100 dogs have been through our home and Mia has mothered every one of them. She is a great dog!

I work in rescue and have 3 rescued dogs of my own. Actually I adopted two of them, but Mia-picture attached-adopted me. Mia is very high energy-can spring over a 5 foot fence with relative ease-and as obstinate as the bully breed I was told she was supposed to be. She is not a rottie, but is just as loving and goofy as they can be. She is not a doberman, though she often looks like one. She is not a Manchester Terrier, though her energy level certainly screams Terrier/Terror every day. When given jobs to do, Mia is a wonderful companion. When bored with energy to burn-look out!

Mia was hospitalized for eating a blanket. The whole blanket was gone. She managed to expel it on her own, but the vet was ready for surgery. (She chewed it into fairly small pieces, believe it or not.) That was in our first two months of fostering her.