As she approached the row of glassed-in rooms, Pat Burke noticed a gathering of people outside one particular enclosure.  They were laughing and pointing at the lone dog sitting before them.  One woman remarked, “No one will ever adopt that dog.  He’s just too funny looking.”  

Funny looking was the same description Pat had been given over the phone when she inquired about a particular dog featured on the rescue site.  With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she moved toward the enclosure.

Unlike all the other dogs awaiting adoption, Mo’s picture showed only his button nose and dark brown eyes.  When Pat requested additional information about the dog, whose abbreviated picture had been on the website for several weeks, she was told only that he was a stray rescue, not quite ready for adoption.  She was about to see why.

Life as a Stray 

No one saw it happen.  A bag containing two puppies had been abandoned at the edge of a Stockton, California, field.  By the time the farm workers discovered the bag, only one pup was alive.  The transient workers fed the pup scraps from their lunches and taught him a few commands in Spanish.  When the harvest ended and the workers migrated elsewhere, the pup was again left on his own.

The following year, the returning migrants found the pup still there, alone but alive.  They again fed and watched over him throughout harvesting season.  At season’s end, when trucks were loaded with produce and leaving for market, the pup wandered into harm’s way.  He was hit by a truck and sent flying 18 feet through the air.

He was taken to the Humane Society for emergency treatment.  When the veterinarian saw the matted, skinny creature lying on the table, his first thought was that the little dog would probably need to be put down.  Miraculously, a careful examination revealed serious bruising but no broken bones.  

However, the dog had other problems.  He had never been vaccinated, bathed or groomed. Nor treated for fleas.  Every inch of his long hair was matted to the skin.  Even his tail was matted to his back leg.  In his current condition, he could tolerate a bath but not the kind of work required to untangle or remove the mats from his wiry terrier/poodle mix coat.  

Once he was strong enough, he was transferred to a rescue organization on the peninsula.  Small dogs find homes quicker than larger dogs do, so even though the pup still needed grooming and time to recover from his ordeal, his partial photo was posted.

Someone Special

It should have been easy for Pat, a lifelong dog-lover, to adopt.  She was mature, owned her own home, and had a steady income.  She had been searching websites and making inquiries for months.  

But when she visited shelters, she found herself hearing a number of reasons why she was not a good match for various needy dogs that caught her eye.  He’s too big for you or she requires a lot of attention were common refrains.  Pat began to wonder if the shelter workers were responding this way because of her crutches.  

Maybe that is why her heart wrenched when she saw the little dog behind the glass enclosure being laughed at and ridiculed.  “Mo looked like the canine version of a human who had been homeless for many years,” Pat remembers.  “He looked like a mop with reddish white knotted fur all over his body.”

Pat was no stranger to special needs -- her own or those of others.  She taught middle school special education classes.  Her previous dog suffered from paralysis and required a doggie wheelchair attached to his back legs that allowed him to walk.  

She asked to meet the dog in the picture, the funny-looking dog behind the window.

Mutual Admiration

Some of the dogs Pat had encountered “went nuts with fear” because of her crutches.  Not this dog.  His bruised hind quarters were too pained to support his weight so he dragged himself over to Pat.  Using her crutches, he pulled himself up to her lap.  Pat was told that he would need to be socialized but he understood Spanish.  Pat spoke Spanish.  She wanted the dog, whom she would name Mo.

This time Pat did not meet any resistance about adopting.  She believes the shelter workers, who treated Mo well, were relieved.  Pat was told that Mo had a grooming appointment the following week.  Did she want to leave him until then?  Pat envisioned more people laughing at Mo’s appearance and said no!  “This was a lovely facility,” Pat recalls.  The rooms were designed so that people could enter and spend time with individual dogs.  “At least six people passed while I was in the room but no one else entered.  They just said 'that poor ugly thing.'  No one would even pet Mo!”  

Pat believed that Mo was “clearly looking for a human companion.  If you looked into his eyes, he was obviously beautiful.  He had soulful eyes.”  Furthermore, “if being funny-looking and having trouble walking is a reason not to pick somebody, I’d be in trouble,” she jokes.  

A Fresh Start

“Adopting an older dog is like adopting an older child,” Pat notes.  “You have to be prepared because you don’t know what traumas they have endured.”  Mo wailed all the way home.  Pat soon discovered that he hated confinement.  

Surprisingly, he had no fear of people.  Pat credited the field hands with having socialized Mo by feeding him, treating him with kindness and rescuing him after he was hurt.  After nearly two years of homelessness, what Mo feared most was being abandoned. 

The rescue organization advised Pat to keep Mo on a leash at her side for the remaining two weeks of her summer vacation to allow them to bond.  Following Pat’s first day back at school, she returned home to find Mo had managed to shove his head through the metal bars of the kennel, causing a cut just above his eye that required a trip to the vet.  A few days passed and a neighbor complained that Mo’s cries inside the house could be heard all day.

After the kennel incident, Pat kept Mo contained in one room while she was at work.  He had food, water, a comfortable bed and toys.  Still, Mo would scratch and chew his way through doors.  The veterinarian diagnosed Mo with separation anxiety and tried a number of “cures” including a raw diet and prozac.  “The prozac made Mo awkward and accident prone but it did not reduce his anxiety,” Pat recalls.  There was also the kong with treats scented like mother’s milk.  Since Mo had been separated from his mother too early, the scent had no effect.

Several months passed.  Pat worried about Mo, who would sometimes hurt himself trying to escape from whatever room in which she had left him.  With a heavy heart, Pat called the shelter and said the adoption was not working.  Mo seemed miserable.  The dog could not be left alone and Pat could not stay home.  The shelter worker comforted Pat by telling her that sometimes adoptions do fail and that they would try to place Mo with a retired person the next time around.

Pat’s heart broke at the thought of relinquishing Mo.  She sat with him and told him that she was sorry; he would be going to a new family where he might be happier.  The next day when Pat returned home, Mo was sitting calmly by the front door.  She called the shelter and requested another day.  The next day she requested another week, then another month.  

“It’s as though he understood our talk and knew he wanted to stay with me,” Pat says with a smile.

Settling Down

Miraculously, Mo’s destructive behavior improved but his anxiety remained.  When Pat returned home from work, Mo would jump up and down to greet her -- sometimes for as long as 40 minutes!  Pat’s adult son provided the name of a dog trainer.  

The trainer advised Pat to be consistent and provide structure.  Mo feared containment, be it a kennel or a solitary room, so Pat gave him free run of the house when she left.  She established a bedtime routine if she was going out at night.  First she took him outside to relieve himself, then fed him and put him to bed with his nightlight on.  He came to understand the ritual and be calmed by it.

Mo’s other great fear is the dark.  Pat thinks it is because he had to hide from predators after dark when he was on his own.  He sleeps on Pat’s bed at night.  When she turns, he turns so that his body is always on the same side of the bed.  

Mo suffers from psycho-motor seizures, most likely the result of a head injury after being hit by the truck.  He takes medication and gets blood work every 3-4 months to adjust the dosage.  He also required eye surgery to remove ingrown eyelashes.  Pat was warned that Mo will likely suffer from hip problems resulting from his injuries.  “That’s the only area of his body he won’t let me touch,” Pat remarks.  

Because of Mo’s history, Pat purchased pet health insurance when she adopted him.  There was a 30-day probation period.  Mo suffered his first seizure on day 27 so his seizures were considered a pre-existing condition and subsequent medical costs are not covered.  Still, Pat recommends pet insurance for anyone adopting a formerly stray or older animal.

Enjoying Domestic Life

Despite their rough beginning, Pat and Mo are a good match.  Pat is now retired and living in a condo that faces the Richmond Marina.  She and Mo have access to paved trails that extend for several miles.  Many people in the surrounding condos also have dogs so Mo has no shortage of friends.  

He also loves to play with his toys.  “Aside from trying to escape, he’s never been a destructive dog.  He doesn’t chew on shoes or furniture.”  He is a bit obsessive about his toys though.  Pat likes to play a game with Mo by moving his toys to different locations in the home.  He finds each one and returns it to its rightful place.

Pat describes Mo, whose estimated age is four, as a “smart survivor and a great companion.”  Mo would probably say the same about Pat if he could speak.  “He does everything but speak!” Pat says with a smile.