20/11/2025
Pasha's Story ๐
โOpen wide!โ the vet said, and Pasha gave her that patient, oversized grinโthe same one he has used to quietly weather every storm in his life.
If youโve been with For Belleโs Sake Rescue for a while, you know Pasha. He came to us seven years ago, a two-year-old Armenian Gampr whose world had shattered when he witnessed his owner die by su***de. He arrived shut down, deeply traumatized, and on high alert. He didnโt want food, touch, or companyโjust distance. Just safety. Just silence.
In time, we learned heโd been fed an exclusively raw diet, and once we matched that, the shift began. He ate. He watched us without that intimidating wolf like gaze. He slowly, quietly decided we werenโt a threat. And when we finally posted him for adoptionโฆ the โbreed expertsโ descended. Fanatics. Opinions, demands, argumentsโchaos. Even an LGD rescue demanded he go to them and argued his breed, regardless of our finding his breeder. But in that chaos, we gained more pieces of his history, and those pieces helped us understand how to support him.
After adoption, Pasha did so well he earned his Canine Good Citizen. And thenโjust as suddenlyโhe was returned. Why? One day during turkey hunting season, gunfire echoed at the wrong moment. Pasha froze, overwhelmed by the kind of memory you donโt shake off. When his adopter reached for him because he wasn't coming when called, he growled and air-snappedโnot out of aggression, but fear. Trauma resurfacing in the only way he knew to communicate: *I canโt handle this right now.* --- My heart broke for him because I know that feeling too well.
He came back to us, and I promised him he would never be misunderstood again. We developed a quiet, steady language between us: I learned when he needed space. He learned when I needed the grounding weight of 130 pounds of floof leaning gently against me. The bond we share is built from the same raw truthโPTSD doesnโt vanish; you learn to navigate it together.
For years now, he has been the soul of the property. He strolls the fence lines, befriends every rescue dog who comes through, watches the livestock with calm authority, and lives a peaceful life. A good life.
Until this week.
We noticed a lump on his jawโmaybe an abscess, maybe a tooth, but our vet is concerned it could be a fast-growing tumor. X-rays are scheduled, and another vet is prepared to take next steps as soon as we have answers.
Pasha, as always, shows no sign of pain. He carries discomfort like armor and moves forward with quiet strength. But heโs our boy, our guardian, our companionโand we owe it to him to fight just as fiercely for his physical health as we always have for his emotional wellbeing.
We love him more than words can hold. Weโre scared, but hopeful. Heโs still healthy, still happy, still very much *Pasha.*
Please keep this incredible boy in your thoughts and prayers. We are not giving upโnot now, not ever.
