So, I finally have a chance to sit down and share the good news with everyone!

As some of you already know, we've been debating getting another sibe for Drogo. A few different possibilities fell through, so I ended up contacting Heather's breeder in Ohio. We initially planned on getting another puppy, but the breeder called back and explained she had a young adult female in desperate need of a good home.

"Stairway to Heaven" (or Gracie) was born on June 26, 2009. She's the product of very sound and stable breeding, the daughter of two champion's. She was purchased by two females who bred and showed huskies. To make a very long story short, they ended up parting ways and their dogs were left outside to fend for themselves. After a very long and costly legal battle, the original breeder was able to get Gracie back and was horrified to see the condition she was in. Thin, completely covered in ticks and her beautiful coat was brittle and drab, tinged with red from sun damage. She was pregnant and ended up losing all of her puppies from the stress and condition she was in.

She explained she was a very sweet and gentle dog but needed to go with someone who had another sibe, considering she's been around them her entire life. After talking it over with Dwayne, we decided to make the 13 hour drive to get her. Upon arriving, we quickly discovered she was in heat - not something we were expecting considering the breeder made no mention of that being a possibility. She was extremely skittish and scared of us. We were there for about 3 hours and towards the end, we were able to pet and love on her. She actually felt comfortable enough to lay down at our feet and fall asleep. You could easily tell she had a very sweet and gentle disposition but due to her life experiences, she was very cautious and fearful of anything new.

She was a champion in the car ride home, either sat in the back quietly or slept. Introducing her to our cat was a BREEZE; we couldn't have hoped for a better interaction. She was very unsure about the cat and wanted nothing to do with him. If he tried to approach her, she'd just walk away. She seems more comfortable around him now but still pays him little to no attention. Her initial interaction with Drogo wasn't as pleasant; she would snap and fuss at him if he got too close. Drogo obviously loved her immediately and wanted nothing more than to play. I was nervous that she'd be mean to him forever (yes, I know I was being overly paranoid and sensitive) but I kept telling myself that she's in a brand new environment with a hyper puppy AND she's in heat - her reactions to him are normal and she'll be fine with time.

It only took a day and she warmed right up to him. Drogo is relentless sometimes; he wants to play CONSTANTLY and he just won't leave her alone. I'm surprised how tolerant she is of him. She's slowly adjusting to our place but is still very fearful of Dwayne's children. It's been 5 days and she still won't willingly come into the living room when they're in there. They know to ignore her and she is coming around slowly, but it's going to take patience and work. I think she might have been abused by children at some point; it doesn't take her long to warm up to adults but children are another story.

She's very leery in public situations; we had to stop at PetSmart on the way from Ohio because we needed to buy diapers and she was nervous in the store. I'm not sure how long she was left outside with little to no human contact but I'm assuming it had to be for awhile. When she was younger, she went to dog shows quite often and placed; I don't think that would have been possible if she was always this fearful. She must have went through a very rough time after her owner's split, poor thing.

She will be spayed once her cycle is over and after that, we will be working on her socialization. We plan to introduce her to many different situations so she'll learn that new doesn't mean scary. It's strange to see her in comparison to Drogo who was properly socialized pretty much from day 1. Drogo almost seems confused on her reaction to certain things that scare her. I wish he could tell her that there's nothing to be afraid of now that she's with us and everything will be okay in the end.

Here are a couple of pictures: she's only 7 months old in the first one. The second picture was taken today. She's a beautiful girl and will be even more so once we get her healthy again. Oh, even though her name will always officially be "Stairway to Heaven" on her papers, we've re-named her common name from Gracie to Navi.

Incredible dog! That's one nice addition there. I'm sure she'll open up to her new life in no time.

Auntie Navi <3 We can't wait to meet her.

Congratulations! She is absolutely stunning, a very lovely addition to your growing fur family!

Congrats! What a wonderful ending to a long difficult time for her - she's going to be SO loved! Thank you for rescuing her!

She'll come around - our girl was fearful of many things and once she saw that her brother was ok - she calmed down. Same thing with a few dogs I dropped off for fostering. It awesome that they're getting along after just one day! yay!

Congrats on your new addition, she is beautiful! I'm glad to hear she is doing better with you guys, and major kudos to you guys for driving all the way to Ohio to get her

She is so cute! Congratulations on your new addition.

Thanks guys! We are very happy to have her. Will definitely keep everyone updated on her progress. She's laying beside me in bed right now passed out, she loves to snuggle.

She's gorgeous! Congrats!

She's stunning! So glad she's in a good home now. That's just terrible what she went through.

Wow! She is beautiful! Congrats!

You did good in more then one way. Bless you.

Congrats on the new addition! She's quite beautiful You did so much goodness in saving her!

She is adorable! So glad she found a home with you. And I like her new name too.

oh nice! very good looking husky you got there congrats

Congrats! She is a head turner! And so glad you saved her

Wow! Beautiful dog!
Thank you so much for rescuing.