MIRA

Larry and I had prayed hard for a nice show baby, boy or girl, of our own, and not one we bought from someone else. When the babies were born (c-section), there were 4 of us in the operating room. The vet took out a baby and handed it to someone to get it breathing. One was handed to me. I looked at her and noticed all the white she had, but did not know that she would be our special girl. I only liked the fact that she had the most white out of all the babies. She was born literally 1/2 the weight of the other 4. She was not gaining like the others, but she was nursing, and I made sure of it. I woke every 2 hours to make sure all were nursing. About a week later, I woke and found her in the corner, lifeless. She was limp, acted like she was asleep, very weak. Maybe you have heard of fading puppy syndrome, no reason for it, just happens. I rushed her to the vet, who gave her an IV of Ringers, and an injection of glucose, and told me she would snap out if it in an hour or two. She did not, and she was way to weak to nurse. I tube fed her every 2 hours for 2 weeks. She fought me, screamed and cried, and it wrenched my heart to tube her, but I had to do it to save her life. She was a fighter. About 3 weeks old, she started nursing on her own. About 5 weeks old, she got very sick again, throwing up every 5 minutes, and thinking she had parvo. Took her back to the vet, no parvo, but she must have eaten something, hair or fuzz. I had to keep up with her again, to make sure she did not get dehydrated. At 8 weeks old, the babies were evaluated, and all along I just knew Mira (we already had named her, just because she lived and was a miracle) was going to be a pet, because of her size. Well, my friends looked at the other 4 first, telling me what was good and bad about each one, then they looked at Mira, looked at me and said, this if the one you want to keep, right here! I was surprised. Mira was handed to me right out of Jazz, Mira lived, and Mira turned out to be the pick of the litter hands down. That is the miracle we prayed for. My friends have told me, for all she went through as a baby, that made her a fighter without fear, and that is why she has such a good show attitude.

Here is Mira at 3 days old, I guess I could see into the future somehow!

M=Mira at 6 weeks.

Mira was the first to escape the pen, once the door was opened, the other 4 babies stayed inside. No holding this little girl back!

Mira's first cookie

MiMira at 10 weeks old

MMira at 11 weeks old , showing how long she is getting.

Mira loved to hog the toys.

Here she is wearing her very first top knot.

Here she is at 15 weeks, learning to show off.

Mira loved her first snow.

Here she is, all done up for her first show.

Mira is 10 months old here and growing into a beautiful young lady.

The image of her daddy here.

At a show one day, an artist came up to me and asked if she could take some pictures of Mira for a painting she would like to do for a display she is having at the Eukanuba Cup. This is how it will look after the painting is done.

Here are Mira's last pictures, in her show coat.

Now it is time for her haircut and the start of the next part of her life.

The first to go was the topknot.

Halfway done.

Here is the new Mira, ready for fun and games!

When Mira had her haircut, each color and section was put into separate bags and labeled as to where that hair came from off her body, making over 200 pony tails, to make this hair statue, made by Patrice Marotta.  This statue is made entirely from Mira's own hair, and took Patrice 4 months to make it.  Mira is now featured on her web site,

Patrice's Tiny Treasures

http://patricestinytreasures.com

This Mira doll was made by Yulia Maltseva in Russia.  She saw pictures of Mira, and she makes "dolls" out of synthetic hair, to look like the real shih tzu.  She loved this doll so much, that she now has this doll named "The Mira Doll" on her web site: http://www.art-dog.narod.ru  You will find "her" in the standing shih tzu page.

To go to Mira's show page click on her ribbon.

To go to Cody's, Jasmin's, Star's or Elvis's pages, please click on their pictures.