See Ipo’s pretty, heart-shaped face marking? Symbolizes the  crazy puppy love she’s got ready for you. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris

by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~

Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves, as the saying goes. Ipomoni wears hers on her… face!

To me the heart-shaped marking around her eyes is symbolic of this girl’s open and loving nature. When I met her a few weeks ago at the building supply store where she lived here on the island of Kefalonia (much of the time on a chain) I took her into my arms and right away, with tail wagging wildly, she wrapped her scruffy little paws around my neck and snuggled her cheek against mine.  Melt!

Then every time she saw me thereafter, she would whimper and wiggle and carry on till I held her.

Now Ipo is four months old, and at 10 kilos (about 22 lbs.) she’s still not too big to pick up and cuddle. Her vet says she’ll grow to be a maximum of about 25 kilos (about 55 lbs.). I bet even then she’ll be climbing into laps.

As her foster mom, I get generous doses of her crazy puppy love every day. That is, in between rescuing my shoes, pens, fingers, and assorted other items from her everything-must-be-tasted-and/or-shredded crazy puppy mouth. But hey, puppies will be puppies, even the lovey-dovey ones, won’t they?

Want to be the next lucky recipient of snuggles from a pretty little Greek girl? Location not a problem. Ipo’s travel costs will be covered by Spicy Stories Save Lives.

HAPPY UPDATE: Ipomoni now lives in a loving forever home in the Netherlands with her adopters Irma and Arjan.

Want to help more dogs break their chains? Buy  ‘UNCHAIN MY HEART’,  A FUN NEW ROMANTIC FICTION STORY about freeing a chained dog!  Just $2 and ALL PROFITS go to animal rescue groups who help dogs like Ipomoni.

READ MORE about Ipomoni’s rescue…

Puppy on a chain escapes

Puppy on a chain will never be chained again

Heart marking on puppy’s face symbolizes her loving nature, waiting to give it all to you

‘Don’t leave without me!’ Puppy Ipo will follow foster sister Jorja to a new life

Rescued dogs Ipo and Jorja head to bright new lives in Holland tonight

Patience brings rewards in animal rescue: chained puppy freed, finds loving home

Don’t miss any Spice! Please hit the SUBSCRIBE button above (FREE!) to receive email notification of our new posts.

Here at Spicy Stories Save Lives, we depend on sales of our romantic fiction to rescue and sponsor animals like Ipomoni, and to create  real-life happy endings.

Won’t you please use a couple of bucks to enjoy a fun read, to spice up your life, and to replenish our rescue fund?

We, the animals, and our fellow rescuers will thank you kindly!

Spicy Stories Save Lives proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.

For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla.

We also do in-the-trenches rescues of angels like Robin, Chance, and Tiger, with help from San Diego Animal Support Foundation, and of Marisol and Lisa, with help from Last Chance at Life.

Spicy Stories Save Lives and the author of this article have no affiliation with the rescue groups mentioned above, other than as a volunteer and donor.

Seen our book?  Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.

Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is a career journalist, author, and editor. Her fiction includes 17 novels for Simon and Schuster, E.P. Dutton, Avon, and other major publishers (under the name Kathryn Makris), as well as a teleplay for CBS-TV, and a short story for The Bark magazine. She has written hundreds of articles for regional wire services and for outlets such as National Geographic Traveler, The San Francisco Chronicle, Travelers’ Tales, NBC’s Petside.com, Animal Issues Reporter.org, and Examiner.com (Animal Policy Examiner).