Finding Pallas

It was rough losing Mazy. For nearly 10 years, she was my best friend and became my partner’s little girl. She was my first pet as an adult and we still miss her to this day. Losing a family member is rough! We needed time to grieve for our departed dog-child.

For the next year we lived a nomadic life but once we found our pet-friendly home in Spokane, Washington we decided it was time to adopt our next best friend and companion.

My partner and I know all to well the need to adopt dogs rather then buy a purebred. So many of our furry friends end up at local humane societies, shelters, at neighbors houses, or wandering the land on the own.

My partner Fil first noticed “Athena” on petfinders.com. She had what appeared to be a miniature German Shepard head, with forward facing, 1/2 drooping ears. She has natural eyeliner – with a wisp off of each eye that made her look so feminine! She was a definite possibility and we kept her in the back of our minds while we continued our search.

For two weeks we looked at several dogs. We spent time walking some other candidates but they just didn’t feel like the right match. So, Fil called the ad on petfinders about Athena. The women, Stephanie, who was fostering Athena at the time tells us that Athena was her brother’s roommate’s dog. When the roommate moved away Athena mysteriously ended up at her house! Having 5 dogs, Stephanie let Athena stay in her yard & fed her with her other pooches, but she couldn’t obviously keep her.

Hearing Athena’s story Fil set up a time for us to meet her in a nearby park. We drove up the first Saturday of last October and we agreed if we hit it off, we would probably come back with a dog. It was scary to think of having that responsibility again but we did it before; and just remembering how much love & richness Mazy brought to us we knew that we had to do this again!

We met in a park – Athena came right over to us – and rolled over – letting us rub her tummy (little did we know she was also pregnant!) I knew the instant that I looked into her eyes that she would be coming home with us. She was curious, yet timid and just wanted to sniff you and let you pet her.

We assured Stephanie we would take good care of her then got all the background information we could on her and then went on our ways. We distracted Athena while Stephanie drove off and instantly Athena jumped into our car and away we went.

We renamed her Pallas and let her hunker in with us for a week before bringing her to the vet. During her appointment at the vet clinic we were told Pallas was healthy, but pregnant! We weighed the pros & cons of letting her have a litter, and what a hard decision! But knowing and seeing how all the shelters are 100% full all the time, we decided to relieve this world or more doggies, and give Pallas a nice life.

It was a rough 3 weeks. Pallas little skinny body thought it had puppies still, and she was depressed and lethargic – looking for her “ghost puppies.” We were worried! She was not getting out of bed, we had to bring her food & water and I was concerned she was losing the will to live! I’d never seen a dog so depressed. So, we called our homeopathic vet and gave her a few remedies in hopes that she would come out it.  Slowly she did come around and got better.

3 1/2 months later Pallas has really started to blossom!  She is a different dog. She loves to play & run and is a super skillful chewer.  She went from never touching any toys to loving chewing on all of them! From Day 1, she has always loved and needed plenty of cuddle time and she lets us know if it has been too long. Our bond with Pallas has grown so deep! We love her and consider her to be our new doggie-daughter. She will continue to grow & change, to get more comfortable, and to communicate her needs to us.

Please adopt a pet! There is so much need for loving, forever homes for adoptable pets. As humane society said to me as I brought Mazy home for the first time, “All dogs really need are two walks a day, food, shelter, water, some attention and love!” This stuck with me! I CAN make the time to help my dog be happy, loved, & healthy. Now, I have to go cuddle with Pallas…she is letting me know it been too long.

-Tim Wichland, 1/18/2014