Pasha

Pasha (April 12, 2009-June 22, 2013)

Pasha came into our lives right after the unexpected death of our previous Samoyed, Nikolai. Our breeder brought the mom and all four puppies over before their eyes were even open! After they were weaned, she let us keep all four as we made a determination which one would be ours. It was a hard choice, but “Black Boy” (he was a boy and had a black ribbon to set him apart from “Blue Boy”, “Orange Boy”, and “Pink Girl”) came out on top. We will never regret that decision, even though it has resulted in such hurt and pain just a four short years later.

Since the breed hails from Russia, we have endeavored to find pronounceable Russian names for our Sammies. We settled on “Pasha”, even though people often thought he was a girl with that name and the fact he was cute and white.

Pasha was instantly a member of our family. The breeder said, “A bored Samoyed is a destructive Samoyed.” We never gave Pasha the chance to be bored! He loved his bully sticks and his floppy toys. They gave him enough to do and to chew that he never once took after anything he shouldn’t have. We trained him into the invisible fence, but he probably only wore the collar for maybe ten days in his whole life. He knew that he was to stay with his “pack” unless we took him out to visit.

But then things started turning bad. He was showing a lot of pain in his front legs. The orthopedist at the UMN Veterinary hospital told us his ulna and radius were growing at different rates and dislocating his elbows. Our breeder was horrified that one of her dogs would have such problems and wanted to replace him for us. By this point, there was no way we could do that. He had a double ulnar osteotomy when he was just a young pup to stop that problem. The left leg ended up mostly OK, but the right one was never quite right. It turned out like you see on a basset hound, which is fairly evident in the picture I have posted.

Pasha was the recipient of several surgeries in his short life. He had a blocked intestine and had to have a resection and he had the ligaments repaired/replaced in both rear knees. But the big one came last November.

He was showing more and more pain when he walked and it seemed to be isolated to the right front leg. The surgeon told us she could fuse it and while he would walk funny, he would be pain-free. So we went ahead with it. By the 8-week point though, something was terribly wrong. He had developed a MRSA infection in the wound channel. The MRSA wouldn’t allow the bone to fuse/heal and since it had settled into the implant screws, there was no way to get rid of it. So the bone won’t heal because of the MRSA and the MRSA won’t go away until the appliance comes out, but the appliance can’t come out until the bone heals. We carefully administered antibiotics three times a day and changed his bandage daily, to no avail. He was so sweet! I know it hurt so badly to have us scrubbing on those wounds, but he never complained and never fought us. We considered amputation, but his left front was not strong enough to take over for both legs.

Then about a month ago his rear legs started to fail, shaking terribly if he stood for long. This ramped up exponentially to the point that we had to carry him everywhere and pick him up and help him lie down. It was so painful to watch him. He never once complained, though, trusting us to do right by him. In retrospect, we now remember seeing evidence of the rear leg problem starting well before the surgery. Did the MRSA and/or surgery accelerate it? I don’t know. But it was the rear problem that caused us to make up our minds to do the hard thing and let him go.

And today, June 22, 2013, Pasha went on his last car ride and peacefully left this world. Our pain is beyond explaining. Everywhere we look we see reminders and memories of the wonderful creature who brought so much love and joy into the lives of each of his family-members and of every person he met. In many ways he was like a special-needs child in that he made up for the lack of physical ability with an increased ability to love.

Pasha, like most Samoyeds, didn’t even know how to growl; everyone is a friend. He was so extremely gentle. You could take the juiciest piece of steak and hold it out to him. He would gently come grab it. If you didn’t let go, he didn’t pull or snap or try to chomp harder. He would wait for you to let go, signaling that it was his. We didn’t teach him that. Nikolai was the same way!

Pasha loved his walks. Debbie would give him “the look” and he would instantly know it was time for a walk. He would go with her to change into walking clothes and then escort her to the door. He would spend time during the day trying to catch Debbie’s eye in hopes he would find her giving him “the look”! As the orthopedic problems progressed, the walks became fewer and shorter, finally culminating in the purchase of a “little red wagon” so we could take him with us on walks.

Pasha loved going to Colorado. I’m sure he was a “mountain dog” at heart. It was hard to get him to lie down in the car because he loved looking out the window…even if it was for 15 hours! He loved the smells in Colorado and loved taking walks around the ski area. He was always a “rock star” whenever we would take him into a public situation, attracting all kinds of people with his infectious smile and wagging tail.

He was my “pool boy”! Every time I went to the pool, I only had to ask, “Do you want to check the pool?” and he was heading for the door like a rocket. He would dash down the steps and then run circles between the cover control and the cover, just waiting for me to move it so he could bite at it. Then he would follow me to each thing I did, looking carefully at whatever I was doing as if he was trying to learn. Finally he would go check out the lavender plants to see what might be hiding there.

He was Debbie’s scrapbooking helper. From the time he was little, he would go in the craft room with her while she worked, usually hanging out under the desk. As he got older, he would recognize that she was headed that way when she would grab her computer and head downstairs. He couldn’t wait to join her.

Debbie called Pasha her “Sous Chef”! Whenever she was cooking, he sat on the rug underneath the sink. He was especially conscious of when the menu contained eggs, steak, pork, or chicken! Debbie would work around him and an occasional tidbit would always find its way to his waiting palate.

There were numerous times when I would just sit in the waning sunlight with him on the driveway right by the grass. Especially when he was young, he would root around at unseen bugs and then finally come lay down by my side and watch the world go by. We would sit there until the bugs would finally drive us in.

We would love to come home and see him sitting out on the grass just watching the world. He never barked, but he watched. We could tell when he recognized our car. He would then watch for the garage door to rise and then escort us into the bay, eagerly awaiting the driver’s door to open so he could put his front paws up to greet us.

But mostly, he was our friend. He loved being with his “pack” and couldn’t stand to be left in one part of the house alone. If we were in separate rooms, he would find a place to sit that would make him equidistant from each of us. If we were together, say in the bathroom, he’d be right there with us. If Debbie and I hugged in his sight, he would shove right in the middle, wanting us to pick him up and have a group hug! Even in the past few days, when the shakes made him afraid, he would want to be held and comforted by us. When Debbie would help him, she would hold him in her lap and sing hymns to him. He loved that. Just early this morning in bed, he struggled to a semi-sitting position and was shaking all over. I sat up, took hold of him, held him close, and whispering in his ear, laid down with his head on my shoulder. He was snuggled in close. He calmed down and slept there with his head on my shoulder and his soft fur against me for over an hour. I hope never to forget that feeling.

Why does this hurt so much? I can only think that it is because a dog never thinks of himself, but rather constantly gives. There are no relational problems, no slights, no hurts…only love and joy. And with Pasha’s last breath, that love and joy left us today.

And it hurts to the core of our being….

So if you are a praying person, please lift each member of our family up to our Lord. The Word says He is near to the broken-hearted, and that is what each of us is.