Love Letters from a Pyr Parent

Misha a few weeks new to our home

If anyone knows me they know me as Whitman's mom (that may become a "Foster Family to Adoptive Family" story all on it's own) or a volunteer who helps with the blog, but even before that I became a GPRS Pyr Parent.  I don't think most people know about my Misha as she was in rescue for less than a few days before she found me.

After losing my very first Pyr Nanook at the age of nine,  I felt a bit "robbed" that I didn't get to see her age beyond that.  So when I started looking for another Pyr, I was looking for seniors, eight or older.  On Petfinder I found a dog named "Jane" in Connecticut who needed a foster through the National Great Pyrenees Rescue (NGPR).  I didn't know the distinction between NGPR and Great Pyrenees Rescue Society (GPRS) at the time, but I filled out a volunteer application to foster as I had been fostering for another local rescue for years and was familiar with the process.  I received an email from a GPRS volunteer, Yi-Hsuan Wu, who indicated Jane was too ill to travel but there were quite a few younger male dogs in need of a foster/adoptive home.  Having my heart set on a senior, I politely declined and asked her to let me know if any older female dogs came into the rescue.



How I like to tell it is, that not more than a day or so later, Terry McCabe emailed saying the rescue was receiving an owner relinquish-an 8-year old female-and was I interested in fostering her?  I replied saying I could drive to Oregon to pick her up over the weekend, only a few days later.  When I arrived to pick her up, the agreement was that I could foster her to see how she blended with the family before deciding to adopt her.

Ready for dinner

When I met her she was unimpressed as she had no idea who I was.  She wasn't interested in attention and was more interested in sniffing the grounds (a gesture of avoidance I've just learned).  She was matted, overweight, and she had feces on her rear end.  She slept in the car for the 4 hour ride home and then 3 solid days after in her new bed.  Her new brother Baxter loved her immediately and they became fast friends.  I emailed Terry a few days later and said she was going to stay.

Misha's smile

It took months before she would wag her tail when I would come home; I was uncertain if it would ever happen as she wasn't one of those dogs that showed great excitement when I would come home.  She would ask for attention politely and would only show great interest in walks and meals.  Even when she met people on her walks she would politely stand for a pet but would remain aloof.   I definitely knew she was happy here and that was all that mattered; she knew she was home and that we were hers-she could never hide her smile.   Her Pyr paw was epic; as she learned how to use it to get me to open the door to let her out in her yard or back in the house again.  Certain he would kill us, she hated the mailman; he wore an orange cap which she could see coming from 2 blocks away.  She loved to lay outside after dinner and just enjoy the fresh air.  And she and Baxter would play!  She was with us almost 4 years and lived until she was almost 12 years old. There are so many other things I could say to paint her picture but blog experts suggest a word limit on posts and you may have already stopped reading.  Just know she was loved.

Siblings!

Today I had to let her go.  She had developed some breathing issues and at her age I was not about to put her through any invasive tests to find out why.  It could have been lung cancer or something else.  She was also having trouble walking; she no longer had muscle mass in her back legs, suffered from arthritis, and had a hard time keeping her body upright.  She went peacefully at home in her bed, surrounded by those who loved her.

She may not have spent days or weeks in an animal shelter but her story was the same as a great deal of rescue dogs.  They are homeless and without a family.  I feel fortunate that with the effort of GPRS rescue and volunteers, she and I were brought together and that she didn't have to experience being homeless for very long.

Thank you, Yi-Hsuan Yu, Terry McCabe, and all of the other volunteers with GPRS and NGPR!

Safe and peaceful

Marie