Over the weekend, I took a picture of my favorite little dog-boy Apollo, the Powder Puff Chinese Crested that we adopted about 18 months ago and posted it on FaceBook. Got lots of nice comments about his perky cuteness.

As pretty as he's become (one friend suggested he's the Veronica Lake of dogdom and I can't help but agree!), the biggest changes have been to his personality. He was a fear-aggressive, starving dog who couldn't bond with people or other dogs when he got here. Now he's the favorite of everyone who visits and is everything you'd want from a companion dog: lively, funny, affectionate, cuddly, devoted, obedient. He's even given himself the job of being Official House Squirrel Chaser. He keeps us all laughing all day.
This is now. But back then, would you ever in a million years have believed the dog below had that kind of potential? This was Apollo soon after he was rescued and placed in a foster home.

Covered in red mange (some tiny chunks of his ears had to be amputated), and almost on death's door, he did not look very lovable back then. That's an understatement. AGH!

Inside every abandoned dog, no matter how ugly and scruffy, beats the heart of a sentient creature who can be nurtured back to health to fulfill his true destiny as a loving companion pet. Next time you toy with the idea of adopting a stray, follow through. There is no joy like the joy of rescuing animals in need.

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