I just want to document, briefly, the absolute start of things: how Pofi was found and came to be ours more than eleven years ago.
Pofi was rescued by a dog. True story. In late October of 2004, our friend was hiking in Tettegouche State Park on the north shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. Amy, her friend and her friend’s dog, Hershey, had finished their hike and were back at the parking lot preparing to depart. Hershey had accumulated some burrs in her fur coat and so her person was getting a comb to remove them when Hershey bolted from the car back onto the trail head. They followed after her to find her sitting guard over a little pup – cold and alone and likely terrified. No way he had gotten into this predicament on his own and certainly, they could not leave him. Amy’s friend closed the little peanut up in her coat and Pofi and his rescuers headed back to the Twin Cities.
Pofi – found alone in Tettegouche State Park, northern MN, Oct, 24, ’04.
Amy could not keep him, but knew us to be good animal people and heard we had lost our dear Yellow Lab mix, Jesse, earlier that year. We were ready and agreed to meet him – I knew right away he had to be ours, but my husband wasn’t quite sure, so I told Amy we would at least help by getting him vetted at our clinic. We decided even before then and she brought him to us a few days later, November 14, 2004, and at the age of 8 weeks, he became ours furever more.
Snuggling with my furever Daddy man, 11/14/04
First nap with my new furever Mommy, 11/14/04.
We didn’t know what he was or how big he would be (and fast he would grow), but he settled in with us and our trio of Kitty Boyz with no issues. He charmed us from the start and charms us to this day. And while I’m not going to run through his whole life’s history on this Tripawd blog, I will say he grew at a rate that stunned us. Nightly, we’d put him in his comfy crate and in the morning, we’d exclaim that he had clearly grown overnight. To illustrate that point:
Growth Spurt – left, 11/20/04 & right, 02/13/05. Less than 3 months time!
The first photo on left is from our first shopping expedition when I bought him his first name tag and a new collar of my choosing. I also signed him up for the next session of Puppy Kindergarten that was available after his immunizations would be complete. The photo on the right is from class graduation date – him in my lap with me trying to put a grad cap on his head. In the 8 weeks of the class he outpaced all the other dogs in terms of growth, even the Goldens and Labs. He towered over all of them by the graduation ceremony – dwarfed them! It amused the trainer and me greatly…
So, next entry, I will skip ahead to the start of his Tripawd and cancer journey, but I just wanted to honor and remember the incredibly lucky day (for us) that he became our boy.
Pofi???? Has anyone seen Ppffi??? There is NO way that itty bitty Pofi puppy turned into that great big tall and lanky big boy Pofi!!
OMD!! What an ADORABLE pupoy….and soooooo lucky to have you as his furever home! Very nice of Hershey to make sure he got the puppy to his human, so they could get Pofi to you!!
And he really did grow leaps and bpunds! The differences in three .months….BIIIIIIIG difference!
I love that you’ve chronicled his “beginning” here…especially with these precious pictures! 🙂
Hugs to all!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Comment by benny55 — June 19, 2016 @ 6:12 pm
You are so sweet, Sally! It is unbelievable to us that someone tossed him in the woods when he was so stinkin’ cute. He likely came from a musher’s sled dog yard in the area and who knows why he wasn’t wanted. He’s strong as an ox and could have made a great sled dog, but he is gun shy and maybe that was the deal breaker. Their considerable loss…
Comment by hester — June 19, 2016 @ 7:02 pm
OMG .. he’s the cutest!!!! What a precious puppy!!! And my did he grow!!! I cannot wait to read the rest of your story … He definitely hit the jackpot with your family. HUGS! And those ears…. I am in love! Totally!!!
Hugs!
alison with spirit shelby in her heart (and little jasper too – who also has big ears)
Comment by mom2shelby — June 19, 2016 @ 7:33 pm
Thanks, Alison, yes, he does have some EARS, doesn’t he? He went through an “awkward teenage phase” when he was all ears, tail and legs! 😀 I’ll have to look for a photo of your little Jasper to see his big ears
Comment by hester — June 19, 2016 @ 7:52 pm
What a darling pup, no wonder you knew he would be yours furever!
Paula and Nitro
Comment by dobemom — June 19, 2016 @ 8:32 pm
Thank you, Paula!
Comment by hester — June 19, 2016 @ 9:28 pm
I’m in love with Pofi!! I’m sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to hear more! What a sweet pup. I love this story!!!! You could write a book. Would love to know how he got his name. Bless Hershey for finding him!!!!!!!!!!! Please keep us posted.
Much Love
Julie and Spirit Buddy
Comment by juliedarling — June 23, 2016 @ 8:46 pm
Julie, thank you so much! He means the world to us and it is lovely to have everyone’s support and nice comments. I should put this in the blog somewhere, but Pofi is the name of the town in Italy my mother’s parents were from. We had recently been to Italy when he came to us and Ken thought of the name.
Comment by hester — June 23, 2016 @ 9:22 pm