SAANICH -- “If you wake up and don’t want to smile” — like the Fleetwood Mac song starts — just spend a little while with the dog called Stevienix.
“When they’re big dogs they kind of need really big names,” Genn says, smiling at the mountain of white fur — the Great Pyrenees — sitting beside her.
Before Genn named this Pyrenees after Stevie Nicks, she had another one named after her favourite band, Fleetwood Mac.
“To have one called Tiny at one point might be fun too!” Genn laughs.
Although Fleetwood Mac (the dog) got his portrait signed by Mick Fleetwood (the drummer), Stevienix will never sing like her namesake. The dog’s voice-box was cut out by a previous owner, before Genn rescued her.
“So she has a really kind of raspy ruff-ruff,” Genn says.
Which brings us to the small sign in their front yard. It says, “My name is Stevienix. I sorry for barking.”
“There might be a leaf that flies by that [Stevienix] might need to warn us about,” Genn laughs, explaining what prompts the dog to bark.
Pyrenees are bred to protect. So ever morning at 5 a.m., Stevienix wakes up Genn’s husband and asks to go outside. Then Stevienix assumes her post on the driveway, where the vigilant guardian also serves as gregarious greeter.
“If she know you, she will bark and bark until you wave at her and come over,” Genn says.
When Stevienix isn’t befriending the mailman or the garbage guy, she’s leaping into the backseat of their car to charm all the people they pass.
“People just laugh because she has a really funny face,” Genn says.
A giant fluff-face that Stevienix pokes out the back-window, her fur blowing in the wind. Like the Fleetwood Mac song, the dog seems to say, “Open your eyes and look at the day, you’ll see things in a different way.”
“We’re having fun when we’re going to not fun appointments,” Genn says.
Genn drives with Stevienix to the Cancer Clinic, where she says she’s treated by a group of angels, before being greeted afterwards by a big, furry one.
“She’s the first face I go to when I come out. It just kind of takes [all the pain and worry] away,” Genn says. “I don’t think I could go through this without her.”
“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” you can image the dog singing from the window. “Don’t stop, it’ll soon be here.”
“She makes me smile,” Genn laughs, before touching her mask. “I’m smiling under here!”
Which means Stevienix accomplished her mission. The dog returns to her post, confident that, like yesterday, she’s made today even “better than before.”
