Little Doe eyed Mason was found wandering in the mountains of Montana, and taken to a shelter by a hiker. Here he is as a pup wagging his tail at the camera.
The shelter wanted him to go to rescue and lucky for Mason, local Akbash owner and fan Peggy was there to take him home for foster!
She took Mason to obedience class and in her excellent care he blossomed into a fantastic young fellow!
Here is the handsome guy, in an engaging pose captured by a professional photographer.
Mason caught the eye of Dale, who lives in Virginia, and who was searching for a rescued companion Akbash dog.
We all decided Mason would travel to Virginia, and be adopted by Dale. His transport was undertaken, in the middle of last winter, by a dedicated group of volunteer transporters, with Montana's Tina as coordinator.
Weather delays led to a few unexpected stop overs with transporters along the way from MT to Colorado. Everyone said Young Mason was a model house guest!
He rode well in the car also thanks to Peggy's having gotten him used to car rides.
Here he is in transporter Joy's car. Joy noticed Mason did not potty or drink water the whole way despite rest stops. He also caught site of the city and crowds in Denver and was barking and growling out the window. Ahhh typical Akbash type behavior, when you see something new that makes you nervous, you must bark and growl at it to let everyone else know there may be a problem! Also never do normal things like eat, drink, or go potty, when you are a bit unsettled. After the hand off to Dean in Colo, Mason had clearly recovered an appetite, Dean wrote to let everyone know Mason was doing well "A big baby, had a nice dinner, one cow, a gallon of water.. and off to bed..."
Mason had a bit of a weather delay stay with Dean, and he sent us the following observation after seeing the now very tall leggy Mason run.....
this kid has LEGS, let him run this morning in field, poor rabbit crawled under fence right next to him after i let him loose, big mistake, it is a 1 acre fenced field... he can get across it in about 8 seconds.. lucky for the rabbit it can do it in 7.9 seconds, never have seen a rabbit pray before...have seen dogs smile before but not that big a grin.."
Mason was Dean's first Akbash dog guest and he declared Dale a lucky adopter!
Here is Mason having been loaded up for the cross country portion of the journey with well known rescue transporter "Trucker Tom" .
All the dogs ride together in the cab with Tom.
I remember Tom telling me a funny little story about Mason. Mason was staring out the front window of the truck concentrating on the view when all of a sudden a big white dog came into view! Mason caught sight of him and jerked his head to the right, then left, Mason had the big guy covered! Whenever he moved, Mason traced him.... ready.... hee hee, It was his own reflection!
Mason rode all the way to virginia with Tom and was met by his new dad Dale for the final hand off!
Mason checks out his new yard and seems to like it, based on the huge smile!
Likes his new gigantic water bowl too!
Mason and Dale enjoyed hiking together and Mason learns to rock climb.....
And wade in the water
And of course enjoy the comforts of home...
"Dale's Mason 2010- sept 24 2011"
Tragically young Mason was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia a month ago and passed last week.
Thank you to everyone that participated in Mason's rescue and travel to his home in Virginia. He got to see the world in his all too short time here on earth, and will be remembered always by those who new him! We love you young Mason!
Mason's link can be found in the "In Memoriam section"
3 comments:
So sad about Mason... he had one of the sweetest faces I have seen on an Akbash. My condolences to Dale and I am happy to see that Mason had a happy full life with Dale before passing away.
And thanks to all the volunteers who helped Mason get to his happy home. Your help is and will always be appreciated and invaluable.
Mason made the breed proud as he charmed his way through obedience class. He never met a person he didn't like, and he was always eager to train. He loved the one-on-one time. Mason grew from a puppy--uncertain about the world--
to a young adult that took pleasure in his world.
With thanks and gratitude to Dale & Janet from Mason's Montana Foster....
So sad to lose such a beatiful friend.
So sad to hear of your loss.
JayDee
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