In the spring of this year, we received a frantic call from a man making his way back from easterly Washington with a very young Great Pyrenees dog with him that he had just rescued. He was charged with emotion having done the admirable thing of picking up the dog and securing it in his van and was now faced with the reality of what he would do with the starved, dehydrated, smelly, unruly animal he had found in the woods, tethered to a tree. The dog was expectedly nervous, had obviously never been loved or cared for by anyone and definitely had no manners nor house training. He also appeared to be suffering a severe ear infection.

It was after dark when he called and we knew the trip to Sequim by ferry would not be feasible that night. We also require that all animals be spayed or neutered before we accept them. We asked the good Samaritan if he could find a veterinarian who could neuter the pup before we took him and if he could at least keep him overnight. We called our good friends at Scrub-A-Pup and asked if they would be willing to be the intermediary for this transfer and also give the pup a groom and a bath. As usual, they were eager to help and met the fellow at their shop in Edmonds. They all fell in love with this baby who was do dirty and unloved yet so trusting. They did their magic with his fur, but every bone in his little body showed. A healthy Pyr should weigh about 110-120 lbs. and this guy weighed barely 70. They kept him at their shop in daycare for a few days and showered him with love and attention.

They brought him up to us on a Sunday and we introduced him to the other dogs. The meeting went well and he was soon part of the pack. He was even taken under the wing of Maxwell, the alpha dog, which is usually not the case. Max sniffed out his ear problem and spent lots of time trying to help him with it.