It has been a crazy couple of days. My sweet husband planned a camping getaway for the long weekend and it turned out to be more of an adventure than we had planned. While on our way to Eureka we found a dog on the side of the road, just outside of the Shasta Trinity National Forest. We stopped and my heart broke. She walked to the front of the car and just stared at us. It was hot and she obviously had not eaten for days. She was emaciated, probably anemic and clearly dehydrated. She was covered in ticks, foxtails and so many mats that that her skin was being pulled. Her paw pads were sore and the nails on her dew claws were beginning to dig into her pads. To top it all off, she was in heat. We were in the middle of nowhere and this poor pup was in serious need of some help.

So, we did what I would hope most people would do and put her in the back of our two door honda civic. This may not seem like such a big deal, but this is not a little dog. This is a great pyrenees. Standing on all fours, her head comes about up to my hip. So really, it was like having a full sized (rather skinny, and hairy) human in the back seat along with all of our camping gear. We were not sure exactly what to do, so we took her to the nearest Petsmart (it was about a 2 hour drive from where we were). The nice folks at Petsmart gave her a shave and started picking out some of the foxtails that were burrowed into her skin and we picked up some doggy essentials. We then started the long drive home with the pup, who we now refer to as Shasta, hanging her head out the window enjoying the ride.

There were no nearby homes to take her to and the shelters were all closed due to the holiday weekend. We decided to go ahead and stop on the way back down and camp so we could give Shasta and ourselves a break from the car. She was great at the campsite, no barking, great with kids, large groups and other dogs.

She did really well on the leash and enjoyed exploring the campsite with Charlie. Bay the time we decided it was time to go to sleep she passed out in our tent and snored all night long.

The next day we continued our trip and made it back to our little condo. Shasta got to meet our two fat cats, and they actually go along pretty well. We let her take a nap and I continued to pick foxtails out of her skin, 100 and counting. After a nap we took her for a walk in the dog park and everywhere we went shasta made friends. She trotted through the park and never wandered too far away. After a nice walk we took her back to the condo and gave her a bath, I did not end up nearly as wet as I thought I would. I think she enjoyed the pampering. Then it was another nap and more foxtail picking.

Finally, it was off to Monterey so Shasta could stay with my parents until we figured out what else to do with her. Shasta is one big lady, and while I didn't think it was a problem, my husband insisted that 900 square feet was not enough room for two people, two cats and a Great Pyrenees. Shasta and my niece had a little slumber party on the living room floor. Priya thought she was in heaven, I think Shasta did too.

Finally, Tuesday arrived and I was able to get Shasta to a veterinarian to check for a microchip and call the shelters in Red Bluff. No one was looking for her. We are still waiting to see if a family is missing one sweet dog. The vet pulled out another foxtail from her ear, gave her antibiotics for all of the infection left from the foxtails in her skin and medicine for her ears. I had her tested for heartworm (negative) and she got a rabies vaccine. So now we wait.