Monster Misa: (The Real) Monster Misa Turns 4!

I can't believe today is Misa's 4th birthday! It seems like yesterday when I brought her home. She actually was a gift for my 21st birthday, the weekend after I turned 21 I drove up to Philadelphia to pick her up and it was love at first sight. I actually ended up spending most of my birthday weekend with her even though I probably should have been out celebrating. Currently the birthday girl is lying in bed, her favorite spot snuggled up next to her lamb baby I bought her... guess she was too much of a party animal today!

Only animal lovers understand the bond between owners and their pets. After I lost my first dog, Kuma, I was beyond devastated and I couldn't imagine ever getting another pet because I never thought I could love another animal as much as I loved Kuma. However, after months of coming home to an empty house I started to change my mind. But, it was such a struggle to find an Akita breeder. Throughout my childhood I was surrounded by Akita's and I knew I would never own another breed. They have such a strong personality that sometimes they even feel human, however Akitas are hard to come by and Akita breeders can be very picky on who they want to select as owners of their pups. At two different points in our hunt, we actually considered flying to both Colorado and Canada to look at puppies. It was a miracle that we ended up getting in touch with a breeder in Pennsylvania who was willing to sell us one of his liter. Misa was actually born on my late-grandmothers birthday and we took it as a sign that she was meant to be ours.

Immediately after bringing home I knew we were in trouble because Misa was quite the trouble maker. I have NEVER been so exhausted as I was those first few months because she was constantly into everything and when she was teething she would chew on anything she could get her hands on. No joke, there were times when she finally fell asleep and nobody would get up or move from where they were sitting in fear of "awakening the beast." She definitely earned the Monster Misa nickname those first few months, and probably continues to earn it to this day but thank god she has calmed down a bit (phew!). There really is no comparison to my first dog, Kuma, because their personalities are complete opposites but it has been such a fun adventure with Misa and I fell in love instantly (clearly since I even named my blog after her, aha). So I wanted to share a few photos of my pride and joy with all of you as proof that she once was a tiny monster in training who grew to be the cutest monster ever.