Tasha, the sweet girl with many stories of adventure, found her forever home on February 23, 2002!

The story begins...

Tasha's first mom, heartbroken because she couldn't keep her but wanting to find her the best family possible, came to us for help. We posted Tasha on our site. A young woman, intrigued by Tasha's story, contacted the mom and after a few long phone conversations, Tasha's mom decided the young woman would be able to provide Tasha with the love she needed and drove her from New York to New Jersey to meet her new family. Two weeks later, Tasha's mom spotted Tasha on Petfinder, up for adoption! She called the young woman to find out what was going on, and the young woman told her it was a big mistake and that everything was fine. A few months later, Tasha's mom spotted her again on Petfinder! Distraught, she called us and once again asked for our help. She was worried sick and thought that if she called the young woman again directly, she would again be told some story and be prevented from getting her back safely.

The plot thickens...

One of our volunteers offered to do a little sleuthing. She found an acquaintance who offered to pose as a potential adopter and "spring" Tasha. Another volunteer, in the meantime, lined up a home in West Virginia with a family for whom TOTTSHR had just approved an application; Tasha's mom exchanged long phone conversations with the family and she agreed to bring her down to them. In the meantime, our matchmaking volunteer—with her relentless perseverance and her expanding Rolodex of contacts—found someone from Great Dane rescue to do the family's home check.

And climaxes in a happy ending...

Tasha's mom headed down to West Virginia, where Tasha was to meet her third, and final, family. She now lives in West Virginia with Rob and Tricia, human brothers Gavin and Logan, and human sister Christin. She also shares her home with a canine sister named Lady and a personal exercise trainer kitty named Peek A Boo, who keeps Tasha in shape by engaging her in a good game of chase.

Tricia sent us this update on 2/4:

"Hello! Tasha is doing great. She has adjusted completely. She is such a little cutie and full of so much entertainment. She is still in love with her tennis balls, but we have found that she LOVES her dollies. She carries them everywhere. We have gotten quite a bit of snow this winter, and does she love it? You betcha. She feels right at home and is showing us tricks on how to move through the deep stuff. She rolls around on her back in it, digs in it with her nose and loves it when you throw her snowballs so she can catch them. She is a doll. She and Lady are buddies now. They wrestle and play tug of war daily. They even sleep together. Usually Tasha uses Lady as her pillow. It is adorable. I will have to get a picture of it and send to you. Speaking of pictures, a couple of weeks ago, we got about a foot of snow and we had Tasha out playing in it.

She has definitely become a major part of our family and we would never give her up for anything. Thank you so much for bringing her to us. She has our hearts always. As do you and Tails of the Tundra. We owe you so much for allowing us to give her our love and open our home. We just hope that she is as happy here with us as we are with her.

I am going to close for now but not forever. This summer will be Tasha's first time to Texas. I will make sure to take pictures of her at the beach for you. *Don’t worry, we will keep an air conditioner strapped to her furry lil back* heehee.

God Bless you and yours always, and please keep in touch.

Trish"

Tricia sent us this update March 17, 2006:

Hello Tails of the Tundra. Thank you for your email on the update of Tasha. I wish I had better news to give to you all, but unfortunately on the night of Thanksgiving we were awoken to our home being on fire. I woke up around 2am to my throat burning and I woke up my husband and told him that I thought there may be a fire in the house. Tasha and our Lab/Mix Lady were sleeping in the bed with us and came down stairs with us as we searched the main level of the home looking for the fire. My 7yr old son had fallen asleep in the living room that night and Tasha went to him and kept nudging him to wake him. My husband and I were running from the dining room to the kitchen looking for the fire. The entire main level was filled with smoke. We looked out the front window and realized then that the entire front of our home was engulfed in flames. My husband grabbed our son and wrapped him in a blanket and handed him to me to leave out the back door while he went to get our two other kids that were sleeping upstairs. The children and I were heading out the back door when we saw the fire had made its way into the home and was taking over the living room. I went back into the home to help my husband get Tasha, Lady and our cat Peekaboo out. Peekaboo was upstairs and there was no way to get to her as the fire was working its way up the stairs. Tasha came running out and I followed her as my husband was fighting with Lady, who didn’t want to move an inch. Tasha came down the back deck and went tinkle and ran back inside the house. My husband grabbed her collar and was crying and begging her and Lady to come. Neither of the dogs were coming. At that time, the fire had completely taken over the living room and the window blew out. My husband had no choice but to leave, as the entire home was going up in flames. We stood there for 15-30min watching as our lives were being destroyed. A neighbor had taken us to his mother's home 2 blocks away and we watched from there as the fire dept battled the blaze to save our home. As my husband was heading back to the home to speak with the fire dept about getting our vehicles out of the garage before it went up, we saw Tasha running down the road. As if she was searching for us. She looked so lost. My daughter and I ran after her yelling for her to come. She came to us and that’s when we noticed that she had suffered burns from the fire. We took her to a friend's home to watch and care for her. A few hours later, we were searching around the house looking for Lady and our cat Peekaboo. Peekaboo was found under a blanket in the basement. She had inhaled a lot of smoke and had burned her kitty whiskers but was still alive. We took her and Tasha immediately to the vets were they were both treated. Tasha had burns on her back. It looked as though something had fallen on her and burned all the hair and and skin on her back end. And her paws were burned and blistered. Tasha and Peekaboo were treated promptly and are recovering nicely. Tasha's burns have healed and her hair is growing back. Peekaboo has recovered completely. As for our Lab/Mix Lady, we have yet to find her. she was sighted in the surrounding neighborhoods but we have yet to find her and bring her home. We are in the rebuilding process. And we hope to have Tasha and Peekaboo back in their own home again. We are currently renting a townhome in the same subdivision until we are able to return home. We are so lucky to have all come out alive and with our pets. Tasha has been such a blessing to us and I've never been so happy to see that silly dog run like the wind. She is truly a survivor.

Update November 26, 2006:

Tasha is doing well. She has recovered fully and her burns have healed completely. She is still missing her best friend, Lady, as we all are. She hasn't lost her spirit and is crazy as ever. She cannot wait until the rebuilding process is over and she can move back to her home. Once we get new pictures we will make sure to send to you. Thank you again for everything and our hearts and prayers are with all the puppies from Tails of the Tundra.

Hughes Family and TASHA!!!