Sasha’s Story: A Journey of Inspiration and Love Unveiled

In 1995, I moved our family across Lake Washington from the Shoreline area to Redmond...aka Microsoftville. 

And while our relocation benefitted us greatly--twice the house on six acres of misty wetlands as well as the highly regarded Lake Washington school district.  First and foremost to my boys was the fact that we could finally get a dog!  As a child growing up in Shoreline adjacent to the growing I-5 corridor, every dog I ever owned became road-kill.  Four or five in total.  We weren't much into building fences back then. I didn't want my children to experience that same recurring heartbreak.

Once we achieved statehood at our "McPonderosa"--mere days after moving in--we acquired a black lab who was aptly named Blackberry after the principal flora overgrowing our rural acreage. A stellar dog, but horrific owners. Like some of you, I grew up in a 50's household that never bought dog food (table scraps only) or consulted with veterinarians. And our dogs always slept outside. It wasn't the best of times to be a canine. Wish we had done better! Hindsight is usually 20/20.

Zoom ahead to 2007, when my wife and I, in joyful anticipation, headed down I-5 South to meet a Klamath Falls, Oregon, human wound care specialist widely known for helping both the employed and homeless to consistently heal their wounds, oftentimes without compensation to her. She also successfully bred and raised German Shepherds for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to employ in the field, From the most recent brood at the time, six were adopted by the DEA, leaving one pretty girl behind. She was adopted that day and was to become our first German Shepherd, Sasha Girl.

Ten Years of Bliss and One Day of Trauma

There's a song that says all good things must end someday. And our loving, playful, caring, and loyal protector, Sasha did. In the summer of 2017, after spending the day swimming with her brother and half-sister in our fishing pond, Sasha was unable to stand. as her tongue and lips turned blue. Being deprived of life-giving oxygen. we rushed her down Union Hill to the animal ER. But tearfully the most the vet could do was perform CPR. Sasha crossed over as we kissed her good-bye. One of the worst days of our lives. She had been afflicted with spleen cancer which did not make its presence known until it hemorrhaged and she started bleeding out.

But Sasha is still with us today in spirit. A few years later I departed an innovative biotech company in Petaluma, California, where I had worked for over 10 years and rolled out their animal health division, creating famous wound-healing brands including MicrocynAH and Vetericyn, for dog/cats/horses and beyond. All this time I worked from my rural Redmond home...so much jowl time with my dogs: Sasha, Rogue and Sir Finnegan.

 

I departed Oculus Innovative Sciences (subsequently, Sonoma Pharmaceuticals) with the intent to semi-retire and write. And since I adore canines, I figured I best open a doggy daycare of sorts, named Sasha's Pet Resort, of course.  Within the first couple months of our existence, we became respectably profitable.  Ka-ching, ka-ching I reckoned!  An easy road to fortune.  But lo and behold, Mother nature had a different forecast.  It was called COVID-19.  And it decimated Sasha's business and revenues.  We lost about 70% of our clients.  Customers were staying home from work along with their school-age children and dogs.  From plentiful resources, we now found ourselves swimming upstream and would do so for over the next five years. Again, not what we had planned.  Meanwhile, I continued to invest my personal nest egg into funding Sasha's.

Come Understand Better the Advances in Canine Products

In the last quarter of 2024, Sasha's finally broke even!  A first!  And an event which encouraged us to pivot by way of extending our brand.  I figured that in addition to building upon our daycare and boarding brand, that we could also profit from our shortcomings we experienced over these past five years in business, assisting others to learn from our mistakes by minimizing them.  And to enjoy the benefits of great products we have benefitted from over the years.  I'm happy to answer any questions you may have regarding doggy daycare/boarding facilities and how to make them safer, more pet friendly and more profitable. Just email me at danm@sashaspr.com.  I'll do my best to get back to you within the day! I enjoy sharing my experiences to help make your doggy facility the best ever!

Dan McFadden/owner/Sasha's Pet Resort and Gracie