On the day before Thanksgiving, I was walking through the county pound, checking on dogs that might need to be rescued. I came upon the startling sight of an elderly Great Pyrenees standing forlornly in a kennel. That night I sent her information to my friend who volunteers with Great Pyrenees rescue, knowing the dog was probably too old and skinny for the county pound to consider adoptable. Sure enough, a few days later my Pyr rescue friend e-mailed me to say that the old girl needed to go into rescue, but all of her group's foster homes were full, and could my group possibly take her in? I volunteer with an all-breed animal rescue group in. As it happened, this friend had donated a number of kennel panels to my group, and one of our volunteers had just recently finished building three spacious, sheltered kennel runs on my group's new property. What better way to thank her than to rescue this dog and house her in the kennels she had made possible? I named the dog Mrs. Bumble, after the abominable snowman in the holiday classic cartoon "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
For the breed, she was actually quite small, weighing only 78 pounds. You could see every bone in her skinny body because she had been groomed and shaved almost to the skin just before she was brought to the pound as a stray. All that was left of a Pyr's usually luxuriant white coat was a poofy head and a tuft at the end of her tail. She had sores on her hip and knee joints from lying on hard surfaces, then licking the calluses raw. As soon as she came near anyone who would hold still, she leaned her big head against their leg. It was impossible to keep from scratching behind her ears. We worked hard to put weight on her, but had a difficult time tempting her appetite. We cooked chicken, rice, macaroni with butter, and eggs to mix with her kibble and canned food, and served it to her warm. I found that if I sat down with her and held her bowl between my knees, she was more willing to eat. We soon realized that she was unhappy out in her kennel run, and let her stay in our treasurer's office most of the time.
Mrs. Bumble came to one of our weekend off-site adoption centers in a pet supply store three different times in the month of December, two Saturdays and a Sunday. She received a lot of attention and had many admirers, including a generous and kind man who donated a bath and brush for her at the store's grooming salon. But by the end of the Sunday before Christmas, she still had not been adopted. Every Sunday evening, we pick one cat and one dog to submit to the local paper's "Adopt A Pet" feature in the Accent section. We write a small description of the pet and send their picture. Other shelters and rescue groups also submit animals, so we never know if one of our pets will be chosen for the feature. Our wish came true on Tuesday when Mrs. Bumble's bio and picture were published in the paper, and the calls and e-mails poured in. Our inquiry manager sorted through the inquiries and found a home that seemed perfect: a lady whose elderly Great Pyrenees had passed away about two months prior, and whose house felt empty with only one remaining Pyr to love. Her application was pre-approved that night, and an adoption counselor made special arrangements to take Mrs. Bumble to meet her at the pet supply store the next day, which was Christmas Eve. It was true love at first sight. The adopter's granddaughter had come along, too, and was more excited about this new, huggable addition to the family than she was about Christmas morning. Mrs. Bumble was loaded onto a soft dog bed in the back of a Mini Cooper, and driven home for the holidays.
We heard from Mrs. Bumble's new owner the very next weekend, when she stopped in to tell us how wonderfully she was doing. She and her new "brother", a young male Pyr, were already the best of friends, and loved to prance around their yard together, playing gently. Her appetite had also improved greatly, and she was now eating like a horse. Apparently, Mrs. Bumble had a wonderful holiday in her new home.
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