Misha

Baxter and Misha

A little over 4 years ago, I had to let my first Pyrenees Nanook go after we had been together for 9 years. I had gotten her as a 12 week old puppy, so we had quite a history. Pyrenees have a typical lifespan of 10-12 years so in those terms she was "up there" but I felt robbed that she didn't live longer. Baxter was without a canine sister for the first time since he came to live with me. We did okay for about 6 months then I started looking at Petfinder searching for another Pyrenees. I had it in my mind that I wanted an older female Pyr since seniors dogs in need have a difficult time finding a forever families. I found an 8 year old female named Jane in Connecticut through the Great Pyrenees Rescue Society.

I read that the rescue did some transport, so I filled out an application on line. Several days later a volunteer from the rescue called and inquired about my dog search. After some conversation and a few additional emails back and forth I was told I was approved for a dog but Jane was too ill to travel. The volunteer asked if I were interested in some younger dogs and proceeded to tell me what dogs were available. Committed to getting an older dog, I apologized and told her I would keep looking.

The next day, on a Wednesday, I received an email from the woman who runs the Northwest portion of the rescue stating a man was relinquishing his 8 year old female dog and was I interested. Included were two pictures. I looked at the pictures and thought to myself how blank her face looked. "Yes", I told Terry, I would drive to Portland and pick her up on Saturday.
 

Misha and her bath

When I arrived in Portland, Terry brought me to where she was keeping Misha. She had not eaten much that day but decided to have a snack when I arrived. After she ate I took her leash and walked her around outside. She was aloof and not remotely interested in me and didn't respond when I was petting her. We decided I would take her to "foster" and have the option to keep her if everything worked out. Misha hopped in the back of the car easily and we were on our way. She slept the entire four hour trip home. She was nervous coming into the house for the first time, I was assuming it was because it was a new place. I had already set up her bed in the living room and she just knew it was for her. She looked around for a few minutes, crawled in her bed, and slept for the next three days. I could only assume she already felt safe.

Once she started feeling more comfortable she began to eat and go outside routinely. She was slowing coming around to ask for attention and was responding to some petting. As I was able to scrutinize her closer I began to see that she was matted, dirty with feces on her rear, and infested with fleas. She was overweight and it was obvious that her knees were bothering her. I found out later that there was some evidence that the family had left her outside with very little attention. They free fed her which was why she was overweight. I emailed Terry and told her I was keeping her. It had been less than a week. The next order of business was getting her cleaned up, on a healthy food, and work towards dropping some of her weight.

Misha enjoying the sun!

It didn't take Baxter long to bond with her as he gets attached to siblings easily. It took a little longer for her to learn how to play with him but they finally were able to wrestle together. We were finally a pack. Misha has lived even longer than I expected and has been significantly healthier than Nanook. Then she started stumbling on our walks and started to sleep more often. She really disliked Whitman when he came but his presence sparked a feistiness in her and she suddenly seemed a little younger. But that didn't last long and she started to struggle standing up. She was now almost 12 years old. I knew it would be difficult for me to get her in the car if she needed vet care-or worse that dreaded pink solution- so that's when I contacted Dr. Kate Cutting of Doorstep Vet.