Tyson Bison Doggo

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Our Story

I found Tyson by "accident". A friend of mine (to whom I will be eternally grateful!) sent me a link to a page that has a bunch of pictures of different dogs to see if you can identify the picture of the pit bull, which, in turn, led me to the Pit Bull Rescue Central site - http://www.pbrc.net/ . Just for the heck of it, I browsed through the dogs needing homes in the Seattle area, and one dog caught my attention immediately. She looked so much like my much missed Gina girl did when she was a puppy. Her name was Tyson. (don't ask me why someone named a girl Tyson!) On top of that, her profile was stamped URGENT because her deadline was coming up fast (on my daughter's birthday, in fact, which was less than 2 weeks away). It had been about 7 months since Gina had died and we had decided not to actively search for another dog, but to wait until one came to us. Well, there was just no way that this could be coincidence, and even if there were, I couldn't let her go to her death just 'cause no one wanted her! I contacted her caretaker/foster mom right away and made arrangements to meet Tyson the next day. When we met her, we just fell in love with her instantly, and I could see even more how she looked like Gina! We introduced her to Ginger, who was a bit too forward (AKA rude) for Tyson's comfort at first, and Tyson growled and nipped her. We were afraid that the girls wouldn't be able to get along and we wouldn't be able to take Tyson home with us, but it soon became clear that Tyson just needed a proper introduction before she allowed too much familiarity from another dog. We stood around and talked to Tyson's (soon to be former) foster mom and let the dogs play for a while, then loaded them into the car for a trip to Petsmart to get Tyson a new collar and a new toy just for her. While were there, we also got new name tags for both the girls.I didn't get any pictures of Ginger and Tyson's introduction cause it was kinda too dark and we were busy with the dogs. By the end of the night, all faults had been forgiven and forgotten, the girls were getting along like old pals, and any nipping was completely in fun! By Tyson's third day with us, the girls were acting like they had been best friends all of their lives and were practically inseparable. It was hard to believe there had ever been any question at all of the two of them getting along. You'd never even know that they weren't raised together! Tyson just LOVED her toys, and two of her very favourite games were fetch and tug. She shredded all but one of her first few rope toys and completely obliterated several squeaky toys and tennis balls, but after a few weeks, she seemed to figure out that if she was more careful with her toys, they would still be there for her to play with.

Not too long after we adopted her, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and we soon discovered that the weird (annoying!!), pawing at me relentlessly, thing she had been doing a few times a day was actually her alerting to extremely high blood sugar levels! After talking with my doctor and other professionals, I moved forward with building on that instinct with service dog training, and before I knew it, she was alerting to almost every kind of health issue that cropped up, usually plenty of time before it became a health crisis! Who knew dogs were THAT amazing? (answer.. LOTS of people! LOL)

In her all too brief 10 years with us, Tyson charmed her way into the hearts of just about everyone she ever met, including quite a few people who had previously been afraid of pit bulls, or dogs in general. She was a wonderful breed ambassador, and loved nothing more than snuggling up with one of her humans under the covers after a long day of playing. She loved camping and swimming. In fact, she loved swimming so much that she routinely had to be ordered out of the water and into a patch of sun to warm up, cause her pink parts were turning blue and she was shivering to beat the band!

On February 9th, 2017, our sweet girl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - a VERY aggressive form of bone cancer. During the first weekend in February, 2017, we noticed Tyson was favouring her left, hind leg a bit. At the time, I figured she had just strained it taking the shortcut off the bed (rather than using the chair to help her get down), or overdoing it chasing the laser or doing zoomies. When it wasn't getting by the end of the weekend, I called her vet first thing Monday morning to get her an appointment for it to be looked at, still thinking it was a sprain or strain. By Wednesday evening, it was clear something more serious was going on. Her knee was swollen, she couldn't use the leg at all, and was obviously in pain, such that she had trouble sleeping and I had to give her pain meds. As soon as the vet opened, I called to get her seen ASAP. They got her in that same day, and I feared the worst. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed by her X-Rays, which showed a huge mass in her knee, along with quite a bit of damage to the bone. It was cancer. Not just any cancer - just about the most aggressive form of cancer that they tend to see in dogs, our vet said. In just four days, the mass in her knee had gone from almost nothing there to that. The prognosis was pretty grim. With aggressive treatment - amputation of the leg, along with radiation and/or chemotherapy, they said, it might buy her a few more weeks, or even a couple months. Without it, we were looking at weeks, if not days. We took her to the oncologist, who explained our options more fully. Even though lots of dogs were able to have great lives with only three legs, Tyson really wasn't a great candidate for amputation, because of her age (almost 14!) and arthritis in her other shoulders and knees. Radiation therapy seemed to be the best other option. Unfortunately, the closest place we could get that done was WSU, across the mountains, and all the passes were closed, and expected to be closed for longer than our time window to get the treatment done. So, we decided to do our best to make her comfortable and help her to enjoy however much time she had left the very best she could. What that meant, basically, was to manage the pain until it could no longer be managed. We were expecting a couple weeks if we were very, VERY lucky. As it turned out, Tyson's pittie persistence rose to the occasion, and we were all blessed with an entire two more months with her! During that time, I made the choice to go ahead and let her enjoy chasing the laser and playing tug and all the other things she loved so much, even though I knew it would probably mean less time. It's all about QUALITY of life! Seeing how happy she was right up to the end made me very glad to have made that decision. On Friday, April 7th, we had to switch her from tramadol to a fentanyl patch to manage the pain. We knew this was the last stage, however, we expected her to have at least another week or two after that, as the patches usually are at full potency for a minimum of 3 days, and still are working for around 6 days. Sadly, the effects barely lasted through the weekend, and I knew it was time. Monday, April 10th, the vet made a house call for what would be her final appointment. The family gathered around her to say their final goodbyes, and both Tyson and Ginger ate "chocolate" (carob) doggie cakes, and got lots of extra love and treats. My Tyson Bison died in my arms, held close and knowing she was loved, around 1700 (5pm). She was truly one of the best dogs who ever lived!