Althea began life in
1999 as a puppy at The Greenhill Humane Society in Veneta,Oregon where she was
adopted and named Nikki. After 3 months she was returned because "she
cannot be housebroken and escapes". In July of 2000, she was adopted
a second time by Teri. She was promptly renamed Althea, and rode
in a maroon VW Van to her new forever home, where she was dearly loved by Derreck and Teri and
never had any more potty training or escape issues.
She grew to be a loving,
playful, highly intelligent, yet stubborn friend and companion to Derreck & Teri who took her everywhere they went. She went in the van, she went to the
store, on walks, to parties, to friends houses, camping, hiking, and outdoor
concerts. They rarely went anywhere without her. Her first concert was the Zen
Tricksters at Fern Ridge.
Althea enjoyed many
things, among them were going to the dog park, hiking in the woods, going to
the beach, swimming in creeks, distracting other dogs from chasing things,
playing with her friends (Nari,Daphne,Virgil, Jake,Shebie, Bryan, Leroy among
others) tearing apart unattended recycling containers, eating anything
peanut butter flavored, listening to Particle's first album, dancing to music streams, going on tour, staying in hotel rooms and spending
Saturday mornings in bed with Derreck & Teri. She also enjoyed camping and
show parking lots, especially Phish, navigating shakedown better than most
people. She had no enemies except the vacuum cleaner, squirrels and cats, and
was adverse to having her nails clipped and lemons.
Althea was well
traveled, and along with many trips to Portland, Seattle and the Oregon Coast and
mountains, went on two Phish runs and was along for the ride to many other
shows such as String Cheese, .moe and the Disco Biscuits. She loved to ride in
the van and was extremely well mannered on the road. However, she
did not enjoy the desert so much, as her breed was meant for cool weather.
In 2004, She got her
very own dog, Forbin. Forbin served to both annoy her and be her closest
companion and playmate for the rest of her years.
She had excellent health
most of her life, until at age 10 she got a large tumor on her leg, which was
removed, and from which she recovered fully. After that she continued in good
health for 3 more years, but as she aged, her kidneys gave her problems, she
suffered from vestibular syndrome and eventually the debilitating strokes that
overcame her.
She passed peacefully in
her home in her giant bed with her beloved Derreck & Teri around her after a meal of
Reese's peanut butter eggs and roast chicken.
*** In lieu of any flowers, gifts or cards, please donate to The Greenhilll Humane Society on Althea's behalf at www,green-hill.org ***
