Sasha
December, 1992 – August, 2005

Sasha was the first pet I ever had.  She entered our life one day while I was shopping for that “special” gift to get my husband for his birthday.  There was a new mall nearby and I walked around aimlessly trying to find that right gift.  I found myself in the pet shop.  I was looking at all the puppies in their individual cages, either huddled together, or cowering away in the corner, and then I saw Sasha.  She was sitting up and looking at all the people without a care in the world.  She was just sitting there with this long pink tongue hanging out of her mouth and looking at me as if to say, “I’m bored, isn’t there anything to do around here?”  She took my breath away.  My husband always wanted a dog and I knew Siberian Huskies were his favorite.  If I had put some thought into getting a pet, perhaps visiting a local MSPCA would have been a better idea, but it just happened -  I bought her.

I was never sorry.  Sasha grew on me over the years.  She was a very active dog when she was younger and would run and jump over the furniture in the house when she wanted to play.  She loved to go for walks.  We would take her with us everywhere, even on visits with our families.  They thought we were crazy, but she kind of grew on them also.

When Sasha was nine years old, she went out to do her business and had trouble getting back up the stairs.  We brought her to the vet. and was told she had a bad urinary tract infection.  She had to stay at the vet’s for some more tests just to be sure nothing else was wrong.  We found out she was a diabetic, and also had thyroid problems.   We were shocked!  We were taught how to give injections and I became her caretaker.   

For the next three years, Sasha had her moments and would have to have her insulin adjusted from time to time.  But she just kept that attitude of hers, just like when I first saw her at the pet store.  She wasn’t afraid of anything.  Over this past year, she started to slow down.  Her walks became shorter and I could see that her illness was starting to wear on her. 

Several months ago, my husband took her for a walk and she was attacked from behind by a pit-bull.  It grabbed hold of her tail and had it’s foot on her back and wouldn’t let go.  Finally with the help of a neighbor, she was pulled away.  After a few shots and some large doses of antibiotics, she began to heal but as the months went by she was moving around even less than before.   Sasha could no longer get up the stairs by herself and needed our help.  She began to become less interested in her food and we would try all kinds of tricks to get her to eat something.  She began wetting whenever she tried to get up.  We knew it was time to say goodbye. 

Sasha was like my first child and my best friend.  She will stay forever in my heart.

Sept/05