Mia Black Labrador Retriever Mix Female 2 Years Old ID#2978

Mia and her sister, Maggie are two year old sisters who were surrendered to a shelter in MS because the owner’s son went away to college and they did not have time for the two girls any longer.   Mia and Maggie are both a little on the smaller side but the shelter wasn’t sure if they were pure or mix. They both have been spayed and are up to date on their vaccines as well as are heartworm negative and were given the heartworm preventative shot.  Mia is reported to be well socialized and she gets along well with other dogs and people including kids, and cats.  She is well trained and a really nice dog.

March 15, 2022

It’s been a little over a week with Mia and she is really starting to decompress and trust us more and more each day. Her fur is even starting to get shinier and softer, a small improvement since when she came to us her fur was so dead it took me 45 minutes to brush her and get all the dead fur off! We’ve been giving her salmon oil with her food to help her skin and coat and we think that’s been helping with her fur. Mia has really been coming out of her shell, she gets so excited to see us, even if we just walked away for a few seconds – she comes up wiggling her whole entire body (a nice happiness boost if you’re having a bad day! she’ll always be happy to see her human).

She also went to the vet this past Friday and weighed in at 48.5 pounds, the vet didn’t have any concerns in regard to her health!

We do need to emphasize that Mia could sit on your lap all day if you let her. We are trying to limit this as we want her to be able to do her own thing. We’ve just gotten some great recommendations for some new enrichment activities so we’re going to try to implement and see if that helps her to do her own thing a little bit more. Mia still gets lots of pets, her belly rubs are her favorite! We are also starting to notice that Mia does best with a calm and structured routine. We have a pretty set routine for her now, she wakes up, goes to sleep, eats, and takes walks around the same times each day – she loves her walks! We’ve been walking her with our resident dogs as she gets a little bit confused when she’s by herself, and even when my resident dogs are ahead of her, or behind her on our walks she stops and looks or waits for them to catch up. She’s doing very well with her freedom harness and doesn’t pull that often anymore. Mia needs to take multiple walks per day to get the exercise she needs, which in turn helps her to relax more during the day, and sleep through the night. We usually take 2-3 walks per day, at least 1 mile each – sometimes more. After our walks Mia is more relaxed which gives her the ability to lay down and chew on some bones by herself without having to be on top of us. She loves her bones – she chews on a beef marrow bone, and an antler (we’re even hunting down the dog bone guy at a flea market this weekend to stock up on more marrow bones as they really keep her occupied!). If the house gets a little crazy (too many people, loudly talking, etc..), Mia will start to get a little anxious, she’ll start pacing, and nervously panting as we’re guessing she’s overwhelmed. She was an “outside dog” before coming to us, so it seems like a lot of adjustments at once for this girl, but overall, she’s taking all the sudden changes like a champ and is a true sweetheart.

Mia also gets a little jealous when she’s not the center of attention. If our resident dogs are getting pets or belly rubs Mia will shove herself in between us and the other dog and want the pets all to herself. This, in turn leads to her getting a little overexcited, and she loves to voice her displeasure with some barks – she’s started to find her voice! Sometimes, in this state she will also try to mount our resident dogs, so this is something we’re working on – we are trying to stop her from this with an enrichment activity to shift her focus elsewhere. Another overexcited behavior is a little nibbling, she doesn’t use her teeth, it’s more like a duck nibble – she does this to us, and our resident dog if she wants attention.

The snow over the weekend was probably the highlight of her time with us. She loves it so so so much! She had the zoomies all around the yard, would run and slide like a seal, and do it over and over again! She doesn’t take that much of an interest in dog toys, but she loves water bottles! Any bottle she finds, she claims as her own! She also loves ice cubes; she actually loves all water – we had to go get another water bowl to keep up with the demand for water!

March 9, 2022

Mia has been here for four days now and is starting to relax (as long as she’s near one of us or our resident dog). We received a freedom harness from Brookline the other day and it makes such a difference in her walking.

When we go on a walk and bring our resident dog(s), Mia is a calm, cool, collected, confident dog. However, if Mia is alone on a walk she’s less confident; she stops sometimes, and others sort of looks around. This is similar to what was said about Maggie (Mia’s sister) in her blog, so it seems they must miss each other. We are beginning to think that Mia might do best in a home with another dog. She would most likely do okay in a home without another dog, but if this were the case Mia would be attached at the hip to whomever her new owner is. She is a very clingy dog, she needs to be near us or one of our resident dogs at all times or she gets concerned, and starts nervously panting. She is truly at her best near our resident dogs. Mia also doesn’t really know what to do with toys, the only thing she gets excited about and tries to take are water bottles she finds on the floor. I think over time she’ll learn what a toy is, but it does seem like this is something she would have to learn from another dog.We got her a slow feeder and it’s made a huge difference in how fast she eats her food. Now it takes her a good minute, instead of a few seconds! She’s also gotten the hang of the routine around here! As soon as we pick up her bowl, she runs straight into her crate. Mia eats in there to separate her from our resident dogs. After eating, she comes out and goes right outside to potty. We spend the rest of the night after dinner watching some tv, go outside before bed, and she runs right into her crate as soon as she sees her nightly frozen peanut butter kong! She sleeps very well throughout the night from around 9:00 pm – 6:30/7:30 am. Because Mia doesn’t seem all to interested in playing, we take her on multiple walks per day so she can burn off any energy she might have which helps her to relax more at home. The only other thing she has taken a liking to is an antler chew we have, seems no dog can resist an antler chew!She really is the sweetest girl, she’s a little shy when she meets a new person but after a few minutes she warms right up to some butt scratches and belly rubs. When she sees you she wiggles her whole entire body like a wiggle worm. She would make the very best cuddle buddy!As I write this she’s sprawled out next to me on the couch!

March 5, 2022

Mia arrived today from Mississippi, she’s definitely had a long and stressful past few days and needs some time to decompress. Thank you to everyone involved in her rescue . We knew Mia was small but she seems even smaller when we actually saw her, she’s like a pocket sized lab! She is adorable – she knows how to sit and give her paw – and she seems good with pottying outside although it’s only been a few hours.Mia is a bit nervous still but that’s understandable, so hopefully we’ll see some more of her personality shine over the next few days. We are also hoping that she does okay without her sister, Maggie.

Mia is a lovebug who will gladly let you give her belly rubs for hours, she loves her food, snacks, and she’s currently snuggled up next to me on the couch.