This handsome little devil has no idea that he makes all our volunteers ugly-cry. He just knows he's a happy little bossy-boots who wants to get his way all the time. He also knows he's cute as the dickens and uses it to his advantage.

Look at that face. He knows!

But what little Neo doesn't know is that he was born with a serious heart condition. One of his valves is so severely damaged that surgery is not an option at this time. There is only one facility that is doing this type of vascular repair in the nation (thankfully, only 8 hours away), and they say he is too small. We have no idea whether he will grow to be a biggie Iggie (over 20 lbs), but if he does we hope they might reconsider.

For now, Baby Neo is happy and running around as a regular bratty IG pup. He is on heart medication to help with the pressures in his heart. At this point, we have been given an estimate of survival of 1-3 years at best. We are committed to letting him live his happy little life until his little heart fails. Baby Neo will continue his medication regimen and hopefully get bigger so he can be re-evaluated for surgery. We are all praying he's got big genes behind that big personality so he can be considered.

Don't let that innocent face fool you; he is an ornery little cuss -- and just a joy for his foster family!

IGRF began as the Rescue arm of the Italian Greyhound Club of America (the AKC parent club for Italian Greyhounds) and later separated into a nonprofit organization to better serve our mission. Our goal is to provide education and support to current owners, and to be a resource for purebred Italian Greyhounds in need of rehoming.

All our dogs are vaccinated and spayed/neutered before placement with new families. We also provide necessary veterinary care for both emergencies and long-term needs of our foster dogs, as well as beginning training so the foster gets a good start on becoming a beloved family member. Our dogs range from seniors that have lost an owner to death or serious illness, to puppies that broke a leg their owners can't afford to repair, to dogs sent to us by local animal control after being seized from puppy mill operations. Every dog lives as a pet in our network of foster homes. There are no shelter facilities -- just a group of representatives and volunteers all over the country who open their homes and hearts to dogs in need.

We ask for financial assistance because the cost of vet care has skyrocketed in the last five years. We have no paid employees in our organization and except for a few minor administrative costs (insurance, postage, governmental filing fees, etc.), all donations go towards providing vet care and medications for the dogs.

Neo makes you ugly-cry

A baby without much time