"There's Nothing Wrong With Me!"

Hey All!

It's Mia here! My foster mama vented to me the other day about some things and I've been thinking about them long and hard. And ya know what? I want to say something!

My foster mama loves me and I can see that. She tells me I'm a pain in the rear sometimes but she knows that its just because I'm full of energy. She laughs at me a lot when I'm out and about and playing around and she says she's amazed at how much I put up with from my foster sister Penny some days. What she doesn't know is that I LOVE it! And I love making her laugh and I don't mean to annoy her but I just love being a dog! No harm in that huh?

One of the things she was talking to me about the other day is me finding my forever home. I sure don't mind staying with my foster mom and I try very hard to be a good dog for her. I want to make her happy! But, we both know that I'd love to be able to run around more often in a big ol' yard with lots of squeaky toys to squeak and get dirty and shred (I AM a dog ya know!) And I'd love more than anything to make my foster mama happy. I love meeting all sorts of people and I've been trying to show people my good side so they can get to know me but here's what my foster mama was telling me. She says that some people think I'm intimidating! Or that I'm not pretty and I'm scaring looking because I'm mostly black!

How can that be?? I let my foster mama take all these crazy pictures of me having fun and she tells me just how pretty I am every day and that my coat is so shiny and soft and I just don't can't believe people would think that I'm scary! She tells me that people don't necessarily think I'm not pretty but that I'm not "flashy" like the other dogs. My coat isn't red or totally brindle or fawn or even white with some other color. She says that people pick the dogs with more color first because they aren't as "impressed" with my black coat. I guess no one likes a sleek, shiny coat with brindle undertones you don't usually see in other dogs. What a way to make a doggie feel good about herself huh? But ya know what? I know I'm a good dog and that I AM pretty! I know some day someone will see that and they'll want me :)

Something else my foster mama was talking to me about that seemed to upset her the most was that many people ask her "So, she's been with you for a while. Why hasn't anyone adopted her yet? What's wrong with her?" What's wrong with me?? NOTHING! And my foster mama assures me of that all the time! Like her, I just didn't know that there was a set limit in the back of people's minds that would tell them that "Oh something must be wrong with that dog to not have been adopted yet." It makes both me and my foster mama feel like people think we are lying to them about what kind of cool pooch I am! My foster mama tells me that there have been people interested in me before but many times they can't adopt me because they can't have me where they live. She also tells me that some people have wanted me just so they can leave me outside all the time. I'm not a lawn ornament! I LOVE people and they are so interesting! You can't leave a dog like me outside alone all the time because I might find a way to leave the yard and go find more interesting things to do. I enjoy companionship! Someone else wanted me to be a guard dog too. They didn't want me to have as their running partner or a family member, they wanted me to guard their house and property and be another lawn ornament. I'm sorry, but if we don't have a bond, what do I care if someone wants in your house? If you leave me outside alone or chained up, I'm going to be so excited to see someone, I'll gladly invite them over!

The point to all this is to tell folks that there's nothing wrong with me. My foster mama is good to me and reassures me of this all the time. And you know, I know it too! I don't like to seem conceited, but I do like to have fun and I'm confident and its such a shame that people look at me and make up their own assumptions about why I'm still available for adoption, thinking that I'm some bad dog. Meet me and allow me to change your mind!