OMAHA, NE — If ever a dog deserved a second chance, it’s Ellie Mae. By the time the team at the Nebraska Humane Society had clipped off most of her filthy, smelly matted hair, the shih tzu dog had also shed almost half of her body weight.

Here’s how terrible it was for the poor little dog: The thick, yearslong buildup of matted hair had cut off the blood supply to her legs. The people who found her took her to the Humane Society clinic in a green storage tote.

“We had no idea what she weighed,” Nebraska Humane Society spokeswoman Pam Weise told Patch. “It was like there was another dog on top of her with all that hair.”

No one alive even knew Ellie Mae existed until a couple of weeks ago.

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The house cleaners were finishing up their job at a dead woman’s house, getting it ready for the next resident. Not only was the pooch physically fragile, she had been through the trauma of losing her owner.

“It had to have been traumatic,” Weise said. “It’s probably the only home she’s ever known.”

After shaving the 9 pounds of matted hair, the clinic team found a remarkably healthy dog. Veterinarian Dr. Amber Horn said that before the buzz of the clippers began, her main hope had been that “we can save her legs,” according to a post on the Humane Society’s Facebook page.

The skin under the hair was pink and healthy.

“You’d expect to see maggots or parasites and different things cocooned in there, but her skin was perfect,” Weise said.

Ellie Mae had been well fed, too. Her post-shaving weight is 11 pounds, perfect for a dog her size and age, which the shelter puts at about 12.

Weise and the others at the Nebraska Humane Society don’t know much about Ellie Mae’s previous owner, but what they think is that the woman did the best she could as her own health failed.

She could manage to feed her companion, they think, but regular grooming like nail-cuts and haircuts that give shih tzus their distinctly proud and quizzical look were beyond her means.

Ellie Mae’s 7-inch-long toenails, which were encrusted with hair, feces and grime when she came into the clinic, were trimmed. An infection in one foot has cleared up. While she was under anesthesia, vets corrected a hernia. Overall, Ellie Mae is in good shape now.

“She has a bit of arthritis, a bit of muscle wasting,” Weise said, “probably because she had been immobile.”

Ellie Mae is reclaiming her life and her dignity.

Twelve hours after her surgery, she was up walking around and “moving pretty well,” Weise said.

And she’s also very pleasant, true to the nature of the highly social breed.

“She’s a sweetheart, an attention-hog,” Weise said. “She’s just darling, very nonplussed. “She’s very happy to be with people hanging out.”

And the people are happy to hang out with her.

“It was a drastic change for her to have a lack of hair,” Weise said. “We worried she might have been a little chilly, so we put little coats on her.”

Best of all for Ellie Mae, she’ll go to a new home in Omaha next week. The notice the Humane Society posted on Facebook saying she was ready for adoption attracted a long waiting list. Her new person is a woman who lost her shih tzu dog not long ago.