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Ellie came to us in May of 1999 at the Maltese Nationals in New Orleans. She had been a mill dog for five years. We got Ellie knowing we would bring a great change to her life. Little did we know how drastically she would change our lives! She opened a whole new world to us. Watching her develop from a very scared and timid little girl into the bouncy, energetic girl she is today was an extraordinary experience. And an addicting one at that.

Thinking that our family was complete with three dogs (silly us!), some pictures of two boys came to us via email in January 2000. They had just been rescued, and we looked at the one boy and looked at each other and said, Wow! His face was incredible. We both thought we were crazy even considering the notion of a fourth dog, but neither one of us could resist that face! So, Shelby came home to us four weeks later. He was only one year old, and he has brought amazing youthful energy to what is now known as The White Herd. Shelby and Ellie bonded quickly and began to romp and play like theyd been together forever. What a joyous sight!!

While on vacation in August 2000, we took a side trip to visit the rescue we'd gotten Ellie and Shelby from. We had a great visit, and there was one little girl who tugged at our hearts. Sharon was a mill dog for all of her eight years. She only had four teeth left, but boy, was she beautiful! And there was something very different about her compared to most rescues we had encountered, including Ellie and Shelby. There was no fear. In fact, she had to be on someones lap the entire time we were there. She loved being held and loved. We would have taken her home that very day, but we could not, due to our airline. We were reunited with her three weeks later, and its as though shes been with us her entire life.

Emma had a very traumatic start in life. After the mill drop, she and her sister were kept in a crate for a week, then sent to a home. The receiving mom was expecting two sweet little Maltese puppies. She received two petrified, confused dirty millbabies who charged at her and her children. They were put back in their crate and taken to a vet to await new rescue arrangements. The vet found them infested with hookworm and other parasites along with severe ear infections. They were treated and flown to a new rescue. Emma was placed after being nursed back to health, but still failed to respond and come out of her fears.
On December 15, 2000, we and our little ShihTzu, Mol-Li, adopted Emma. She arrived in RI from TX, as a sweet, frightened girl, bundled in her sweater and packed securely in her crate. Her first few weeks were very traumatic for her as well as us. However, she and Mol-Li became friends very quickly. She tried to hide at every chance, but we slowly led her to the "periphery" of our lives and then slowly to the center as the weeks and months passed. Her fears are too numerous to list but she is learning that people can be trusted. She is learning how to accept love and will soon learn how to give it back. There are glimmers of it every day.

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