Bear’s Story

When Lance picked up Bear in the Wake County Animal Shelter in 2003 she was only few month old.  Having a blue teddy bear in her mouth and waiting for her forever family, the decision for Lance was simple. He named her Bear and the search was over for both. Bear found her forever home and Lance found his companion.

Bear quickly became everyone’s favorite puppy in the neighborhood, always wanting to get to know people, dogs and other animals (she was friendly even with the cats who were not ready to make friends). By the time she was 1 year old she was Lance’s running partner.  Over the years Lance and Bear trained for many marathons, running as far as 16 miles at the time until she was about 9 1/2 years old. 

At that time, Lance and Marija felt a hard bump on Bears stomach when she was getting her belly rubbed.  Bear was diagnosed with a cancer that needed to be removed right away.  The surgery was done in a small vet office in the area. Unfortunately due to the post surgery complications, recovery become life threatening and Bear was rushed to VSH (Veterinary Specialty Hospital) in Raleigh, NC where she had to spend next 5 days in the ICU. This was long five days for everyone both emotionally and financially (ICU $1,000/day). Fortunately enough, Marija and Lance were able to pay for the needed care and Bear made a full recovery.

As years went by and Bear become a senior dog, she slowed down and she required different care than the care when she was younger. She developed arthritis, her liver and kidney functions slowed down over the years, and she even had a gallbladder infection that required her to have another surgery. During all this period, Marija and Lance were able to provide for her proper care so she can continue to run, play, and swim. This included monthly supplies of supplements, medication and different therapy treatments (eg. cold laser therapy, etc.) to assist her in her daily activities.

Through this journey there were multiple veterinarians who spoke to them and explained that there isn’t a week that goes by that they overhear a conversation between dog parents when they’re told about the estimated cost for the procedure their fur-baby will need to undergo or medication that they would benefit from and the parents saying that they’ll need to make a choice of either doing the procedure and getting the medication for their fur-baby, or providing for their families. 

After 15 years of loving and playful life Marija and Lance made the difficult but right choice to help Bear transition on to her next adventure on the other side of the rainbow, in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her mom and dad, and in her own bed. This is when they remembered all the conversations with the veterinarians and this is when they decided to create Bear's Paws in the effort to help families have an option to help pay for their fur-baby’s treatments, without the worry about taking funds away from taking care of their own family.

Bear loved every dog she encountered, and trained over 20 dogs who came to stay with us over the years.  We are honored to continue Bear's legacy by helping relieve some of the financial decisions needed to be made by loving family, so they can have many more years together with their dogs.