Colorado Great Pyrenees Rescue Community: Dawn's Completed Legacy: Mya Has Found Her Home


Mya and her new family

For anyone who has been following this blog, or who had worked with The Colorado Great Pyrenees Rescue before our doors were shut, Mya is no stranger. When the Pyrenees Rescue was ended, we had several dogs to place, and found homes for most of them in relatively a short amount of time. The last two, Sam and Mya, remained, struggling to find their forever homes. They were "our last dogs". Our last 2 dogs to see their way into forever homes, and enabling us to *truly* close the amazing chapter of Dawn's years saving Great Pyrenees with her rescue. Sam, now "Jack", Mya's former "boyfriend", found his home first. Mya became the true last, and now she has found her place.

A nice man was hiking with his Great Pyrenees on the western slope. He was at a convenience store, where he overheard some people commenting on his Pyr. They more or less said, "Isn't that the same dog our neighbor has?" The man began to converse with them, where it was revealed they felt those who owned Mya didn't care for her well at all. This great person took it upon himself to visit the neighbors, where he offered to buy Mya from them. They agreed, and he took her. His goal was short-term, get this girl out of a loveless home. He next needed to find Mya a true place, so he found Dawn. Dawn took Mya into The Colorado Great Pyrenees Rescue.

Placing Mya was difficult. She is an alpha gal, and no other dog is going to push her around! Her deep bark and strength would reveal itself anytime another dog would antagonize her. So sweet and loving with her humans, we cautiously approached her interaction with other dogs. She wasn't a great candidate for adoption events, and sadly she had to sit a lot of them out if there would be a lot of dogs there. Great with her human, if another alpha gave her guff, she gave it right back. For potential adopters, seeing this huge, loud dog respond in such a manner didn't show Mya's true colors very well.

In the last days, she and Sam would love each other and play and play. Mya just wasn't a fan of the big rescue thing; she didn't really like having to worry about all the other dogs all of the time. In a smaller environment, she flourished. Mya was and will always be a show-stopper. A true Great Pyrenees to the standard, she is majestic and smart.

Thank you, Big Dogs Huge Paws, and thank you to Mya's foster. Having lost our momentum, BDHPs was gracious enough to welcome Mya into their temporary family to facilitate finding her new family. It was hard holding "adoption events" with only two dogs left, and they took Sam and Mya under their wing in order to give them exposure and adopter credentialing. Choosing to move Sam and Mya to BDHPs was a very difficult choice for Ken, as he would no longer be on the front lines for them. It was nice he found people he could trust.

Mya's Success: Big Dogs, Huge Paws

All of Our Old Blogs for Mya

Mya has met a lot of amazing people who helped her along her way. From the nice young man who originally rescued her from a family that didn't want her, to Dawn who welcomed her into CGPR. Ken, Dawn's husband, spent a ton of time, money, and love to care for Mya while the rest of us searched for her family. Not being Ken, I still assume that the day he transferred Mya to her last foster was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. I thank him for his strength and courage. Big Dogs, Huge Paws came in and saw her that final length of her long journey all the way to Missouri.

My heart is warm tonight, and I feel like Dawn can finally rest. If I could imagine a heaven, I see Dawn up there still working and working on finding homes for her Pyrs. Like somehow her 'cloud' was still unorganized, papers everywhere, full of commentary about who was 'right' or 'wrong' for her dog. I imagined her last dogs, when they felt discouraged, being visited by Dawn who would tell them to not worry. I imagine Dawn in the car as Mya was driven to Missouri, kissing her face and saying her final goodbye, as the other Pyrs who left before Dawn urged her on with them, saying "It's time to go now, all your babies have found homes."

As pictured below, Mya was the last Great Pyrenees Dawn was ever photographed with. In addition, the last photo to ever be taken of Dawn. It seems now almost eerie that Mya would be the last one waiting. Like somehow Dawn knew, and her deep embrace was filled with all the wishes and hopes she had for her.

This picture has long been burned into my heart. It's the image I always think of when I look back on the rescue. Thank you to everyone who helped this angelic, loving, beautiful angel. Good luck, Mya. We will never forget you, and we will never stop loving you.

-Shannon