Ivan

Meet Ivan — He Survived. Now He Deserves to Belong. <br/><br/>We don't know exactly what Ivan's life looked like before he came to the shelter. We suspect this sweet boy may have been living in a homeless encampment, but whatever his story was, his condition told us that life had not been kind to him.<br/><br/>The smell coming from his little body was almost unbearable. It took numerous baths before we could finally get him clean, and we couldn't even tell whether what covered him was human or animal waste.<br/><br/>But underneath all of that was something even more heartbreaking.<br/><br/>Ivan was starving.<br/><br/>He was so terribly emaciated that his foster mom couldn't simply give him a big bowl of food. His little body needed time. She fed him small meals numerous times throughout the day, carefully monitoring him around the clock and helping him slowly put on the weight he desperately needed.<br/><br/>And through all of it, Ivan just wanted to be loved.<br/><br/>He also arrived suffering from cherry eye in both eyes, a condition common in his breed. He needed surgery, but first he had to become strong enough to undergo it. His first surgery unfortunately wasn't completely successful, so Ivan had to go through it all over again, this time with our eye specialist.<br/><br/>Two surgeries for a little guy who had already endured so much.<br/><br/>Today, Ivan's eyes are healing wonderfully. Because his condition went untreated for so long, his journey has taken time, but the difference in this boy is incredible.<br/><br/>And now we get to tell the best part of his story:<br/><br/>Ivan is ready for a family of his own. <br/><br/>Ivan LOVES people. Give him ear scratches or belly rubs and you will have a friend for life. He loves his chew toys, knows how to sit, and is fully housetrained—he will actually sit by the back door and bark to let you know he needs to go outside.<br/><br/>He experienced some separation anxiety when he first came into foster care, which isn't surprising considering everything he had been through. But as Ivan learned that food would keep coming, people would come back, and he was finally safe and loved, his confidence blossomed. He has improved tremendously.<br/><br/>Ivan could be perfectly happy as your one-and-only dog or with the right canine companion. He does wonderfully with small dogs and females of all sizes. He's especially fond of the ladies! With male dogs, Ivan prefers to be the top dog, so a calm, non-dominant male and a slow introduction would be best.<br/><br/>Ivan is full grown and isn't going to get any bigger. His future family will need to help him maintain a healthy weight because of his knees and the needs of his breed—which is almost hard to write after remembering the painfully thin little dog who first came through our doors.<br/><br/>Ivan came to us filthy, starving, uncomfortable and unsure of what would happen next.<br/><br/>Today he is clean.<br/>His belly is full.<br/>His eyes are healing.<br/>He knows what a gentle hand feels like.<br/>He knows someone will come back for him.<br/><br/>But there is still one thing Ivan doesn't know:<br/><br/>What it feels like to finally be home.<br/><br/>Somewhere out there is the person who gets to give this boy the ending he has been waiting for.<br/><br/>Ivan survived the part of his story that broke our hearts.<br/><br/>Now we're looking for the family who will write the part that puts it back together.<br/> <br/>****PLEASE READ CAREFULLY ****QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE ADOPTING ANY PET: Adoption should NEVER be an impulsive decision, it must be thought out carefully. Adopting a pet is a 15 to 20+ year commitment. Can we afford to care properly for our new family member? If we're renting do they allow pets here? Is there a pet deposit? Can we afford the pet deposit? What if we get sick, what if our pet becomes ill and has to see a veterinarian? Pets requires routine check-ups, annual vaccines, quality food, many necessities and toys, can we afford this? These are all questions a responsible pet owner must ask themselves. If you can make this type of commitment, please take a moment to email us for an application: friendsofthetas@gmail.com

Meet Ivan — He Survived. Now He Deserves to Belong.

We don't know exactly what Ivan's life looked like before he came to the shelter. We suspect this sweet boy may have been living in a homeless encampment, but whatever his story was, his condition told us that life had not been kind to him.

The smell coming from his little body was almost unbearable. It took numerous baths before we could finally get him clean, and we couldn't even tell whether what covered him was human or animal waste.

But underneath all of that was something even more heartbreaking.

Ivan was starving.

He was so terribly emaciated that his foster mom couldn't simply give him a big bowl of food. His little body needed time. She fed him small meals numerous times throughout the day, carefully monitoring him around the clock and helping him slowly put on the weight he desperately needed.

And through all of it, Ivan just wanted to be loved.

He also arrived suffering from cherry eye in both eyes,

Meet Ivan — He Survived. Now He Deserves to Belong.

We don't know exactly what Ivan's life looked like before he came to the shelter. We suspect this sweet boy may have been living in a homeless encampment, but whatever his story was, his condition told us that life had not been kind to him.

The smell coming from his little body was almost unbearable. It took numerous baths before we could finally get him clean, and we couldn't even tell whether what covered him was human or animal waste.

But underneath all of that was something even more heartbreaking.

Ivan was starving.

He was so terribly emaciated that his foster mom couldn't simply give him a big bowl of food. His little body needed time. She fed him small meals numerous times throughout the day, carefully monitoring him around the clock and helping him slowly put on the weight he desperately needed.

And through all of it, Ivan just wanted to be loved.

He also arrived suffering from cherry eye in both eyes, a condition common in his breed. He needed surgery, but first he had to become strong enough to undergo it. His first surgery unfortunately wasn't completely successful, so Ivan had to go through it all over again, this time with our eye specialist.

Two surgeries for a little guy who had already endured so much.

Today, Ivan's eyes are healing wonderfully. Because his condition we