Change of plans

[Jade]

On Monday, I had a very interesting experience. I had left early in the morning to get my errands done to enjoy the rest of my day off, and when I got home and got out of my car, a magical beast was heading right for me: a beautiful, black and white, blue-eyed Siberian husky. I started talking to her, as I tend to do with most animals that engage me in that way, and she came right up to me, and pressed up against my legs. I gave her pets while she stayed pressed up against me. She was very sweet and soft and pretty. So I took my groceries into the house and called for my husband, while she sat on the other side of the door touching noses with my shih tzu. We decided to walk her around to see if anyone would recognize her.

We walked down the block and coming around the corner was exactly who I would hope to see - two ladies who walk their dachshund at least 2x a day around the whole park. So I asked them if they recognized her right away - they said no, they had seen her running this morning. They said that unit 14 has huskies, but they didn't think it was their's, but to check after checking at the office to see if they recognized her.

So we trotted her down to the office and asked the manager if she recognized her at all. She said no, and another lady who was there too said she didn't recognize her. One of the maintence guys walks up and says "That dog's been running loose all morning." The manager reluctantly said she could call the humane society to come pick her up, or we could put up posters. We told her we were gonna go the poster route first, no need to put her in a shelter, she had been so sweet and complacent so far.

So we walked over to unit 14 and no one was home (it's 10am). So we took her home and decided we would walk her around again between 4-5pm when everyone was home/getting home to see if anyone recognized her. I put up an ad on craigslist describing her and where she was found, and checked other missing pet sites to see if anyone was looking for her. In the evening we walked her over to unit 14 again and someone was home, and we asked her if she was missing a dog. She noped but couldn't stop commenting on how beautiful the one we had was.

So, we continued to walk her around asking everyone we saw if they recognized her. It was split half and half with nopes and "Unit 13-15"s, but unanimous on the "what a beautiful dog!" comments. So we brought her home, made her a bed in the bathroom, and she slept there most of the night, with a few whines and scratches on the door, but could have done much more damage than she did if she was anxious enough.

So all day yesterday I spent combing lost pet sites and getting very familiar with them. No one looking for a female husky. A few looking for male huskies, and lots of female shih tzus too (sort of weird because I have a male shih tzu) but nada. I didn't want to put her picture up and start posting it everywhere because I knew it was just asking for someone to snatch up a gorgeous female, potentially unspayed purebred dog.

Here are some of the odd details about this whole situation:
-She is wearing a collar, but it looks older than her. It's a very old nylon collar that has a hole cut into it to make it small enough for her, and it's at the limit to how tight it should be. How worn and weathered it is makes us think she was probably an outside dog, which is pretty normal for a husky actually. No tags though
-Despite this, she smells good. Like, clean, as if someone shampooed and groomed her within a couple of days. Her nails even appear to be neatly trimmed
-We live in a trailer park outside the city limits, about 1/4 mile off a 4 lane highway. If she doesn't belong to anyone in the park, she had to have traveled a bit - unless she was "let go" at this part of the highway.
-She knows the command sit, and she knows what "no" means, but she doesn't seem to respond to or recognize any other relatively common words or commands. ("good girl" "outside" "potty" "eat" "hungry" "food")

So after another full day of hoping to find someone looking for her, and losing hope, this morning I took her into town to have her checked for a microchip. Beep - a hit. So many mixed emotions! She's a very sweet dog and has actually assimilated into our house with relative ease. But, it was always my ultimate goal to reunite this dog with her family, if they wanted her back. I rushed right home to look up her microchip number and it turns out it was never registered - which means someone adopted her from a shelter, likely, and just never registered the chip. But, this sort of confirmed for me what we were beginning to suspect... that no one was looking for her. There are many, many more "found" dogs and people trying to rehome their dogs than there are people looking for lost dogs, sadly. And letting a dog go is definitely not unheard of - especially one like a husky that would have no problem surviving the elements in Colorado, it would just be a question of finding food.

So... this dog has fallen out of the sky, and at this point it appears that we are the only ones who want her (well, other than all the people we asked yesterday who said they would take her if we couldn't find her home ), and we're happy about that, but weirded out, because here's the thing: Almost exactly 2 years ago, at the beginning of Feb 2014, our 4 year old German shepherd Dexter went into heart failure and we had to put her to sleep. This dog... looks so much like her sometimes. Her temperament is the same, her face and eyes are very much the same. Her coat looks like Dexter's when she was a puppy. But really it's her face, her size and stature, and her bearing. We keep doing double takes and giving each other weird looks because it's like the ghost of Dexter past. And then when she opens her eyes, it's extra shocking because they are so blue (Dexter's were brown).

We've been talking a lot recently about adopting another dog, while still sort of mourning Dexter, and also being anxious about whether it would be the right thing for our 9 year old shih tzu. I was definitely beginning to lean to the side of "he would prefer a friend I think". We wanted to adopt an older dog (since they have trouble being adopted) and since it would be his speed. We thought this dog was 1.5-2 maybe at first, but she's so mellow and low-energy (especially for a husky) that we now think she might be a few years older. Her teeth are pearly white which suggests youth. But I guess we'll never know...

Anyway.... thanks for reading. I'm still definitely willing to accept that this might be someone else's dog who is just visiting us for a bit, and that's cool too. But, if we had adopted a random dog from the shelter, we'd be so lucky to have it relax into being here with us as quickly as this one has. And, if we were to go drop this one off at the shelter right now, another dog would have to go to take her spot. So, she'll stay with us unless her real family steps up to claim her - but as of yet, they have not been eager.



We've been calling her "Sweet Judy"

[Matt1]

A wonderful story and nice synch i have to say. Dog looks beautiful, thanks for sharing!

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

AHH! What a cutey!! :O
She's so adorbs!!!

An Angel appears to angels!  What a great world we live in

This was a great post-nap story, thank you for sharing it Jade!

[1109]

So dazzling, I love those blue eyes. Now I want a dog..

[isis]

DEAR JADE,
FINDERS KEEPERS. DON'T LET ANYONE TAKE HER FROM YOU.
LOVE ALWAYS,
THE ONE INFINITE CREATOR

[Jade]

Thanks for the perfect confirmation, OIC. It deserves another pic of those icy blues.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

Look at that face mask! Ahh  

I'm not a dog person but that is a beautiful dog!  I just wanna cuddle and pet her!

[Ankh]

Now I wanna dog too! I agree with isis. Finders keepers! And it could be the re-incarnation of your previous dog. Keep us posted with how it goes!

[AnthroHeart]

Huskies are the most beautiful.

[AnthroHeart]

It might not be Texas but here's a good song.



Another good song by Restless Heart is "Why does it have to be?"

[Jade]

Judy is doing very well; last night, she did not cry once while we were sleeping. I bought both the dogs a couple new toys last night, because she seemed very excited but apprehensive about them, not really understanding them. Butters has a lot of soft plush toys that I didn't want to let her just start destroying, although she hasn't been destructive with any, even the couple of toys we did give her.

We think we may have taught her to play "fetch" last night. She watched Butters do it a few times, and then chased the toys with weird fox-hops down the hallway. It was very awkward for her. I also bought her a rope+tennis ball toy, which she didn't even recognize as anything at all... she has shown no interest in it. She just seems like such a blank slate, and she is just like an extremely well-behaved puppy with an off-switch, because she actually sleeps a lot.

She acts really weird with being petted, too. She seems to have not been shown a ton of affection - I have watched her slowly learn that pets come from the hand, which is controlled by the floppy arm, which can be controlled with a wet snout. And I've also watched her learn to be jealous of pets, because at first she didn't care at all that Butters would be pet near her. As she got more and more fond of affection she's started putting herself between us more. She goes into a total trance when she's being pet, unlike any dog I can think of - Butters for instance, gets really excited and wriggles around so that you scratch him all over. Dexter liked pets of course, but she was constantly absorbing every bit of stimuli from the environment around her and processing it, which resulted in ADD behavior. This dog closes her eyes, starts drooling, and eventually melts into a puddle on the floor.

She has shown us a few hints at being abused, unless she's naturally just a completely submissive dog. But she's flinched a few times at inconsequential things (the toys), and seems to be triggered a bit by being grabbed on the collar. Yesterday when I took her to get her checked for the chip, we had an incident when I put her in the car. She went nicely into the back seat, but then stuck her nose and a paw up on the console to go to the front seat. I gave her a "Nonono" (gentle, not a big deal but I was about to drive a 40lb dog 10miles in my car alone, I wanted her to know to stay in the backseat). She then thought I was saying no to being in the car, so she then came back out to try to get out. Then my "nos" were a little more insistant, but still playful, and I grabbed her by the collar to redirect her back into the car. She cried out and collapsed - she was half out of the car but she just collapsed and flopped so hard that she landed in the driveway. I felt terrible, but I guess I just have to be especially gentle with her. We also NEED to get her a new collar (Kile has been hesitant because he feels like a jerk doing that so fast), but I should probably do it in the next couple days. The one she has will probably need cut off, it's so tight I don't think I can unhinge it without really hurting/choking her.

She ate twice as much yesterday as she had the past two days, which is good, because she is a little bony in the hips and could stand to gain probably 4-5lbs or so. I thought maybe she wasn't liking the organic dog food (btw my dogfood bill is about the get absurd) but I think she may not eat because of anxiety, which would make sense since Butters is exactly the same (and incidentally, so am I ;p) She ate a good meal in the morning yesterday, and then CHOWED DOWN when I got home from work last night - which is exactly what Butters does every night, goes on a hunger strike until the "release" of the joy of me being home is so overwhelming he's suddenly starving). So, I think she's settling in quite nicely.

She's just so sweet and gentle, although the new stimuli are overwhelming for her and she gets overexcited at times (taking a treat, playing the the toys). I think she had to compete for another dog because she is quite grabby. She also has growled a couple of times at Butters when she was in a vulnerable position (on her back, near her food, with a toy) so we're just being really attentive and guarding most of their interactions. Butters is doing extremely well, though. They want to play but because she has showed just the slightest bit of aggression towards him we've really tried to keep them a bit mellow with each other, so I think they are a little confused, but they will grow to know each other in time. We were very worried about Buddy because when we got Dexter, he was almost 3, and he threw the biggest fit. He was depressed for MONTHS. He would just stare at the wall, not eat, not play, give us long sighs, it was pitiful and the main reason we haven't gotten another dog. I think this is just much easier to handle than the hyperactive, irresistibly adorable puppy we brought home last time.

I'm still scouring all the lost and found sites, looking at all the pictures. But the happier/more comfortable she gets the less anxious I am about finding her owners (who I feel should have made some effort to find her at this point), because while I don't think she had it bad per se, I think this will be a great situation to help build her confidence and become an aware dog.

Neat picture my husband took of her last night:

[isis]

I think she sounds due for a very long, if not a permanent, collar-break. I'd cut the too-tight collar off pronto & then get her one of those harness type of leashes (that don't go around the neck / don't require a collar) for when needed:

http://www.1800petmeds.com/images/produc...12_420.jpg

[Jade]

Yup, I'm definitely getting a harness - it's what my other dog has, and just makes the most sense. She's actually really, really, really good on a leash though, so she hasn't been choking herself or anything.

I think I can probably convince my husband it's the right thing to do, today. I tried to take it off of her almost immediately after we found her, and it was the one time she did anything close to growling at me, so I left it.

[Jade]

Judy update!

Judy has been with us almost exactly one week now. She has still been very very sweet, hasn't actually hurt Butters yet (relief!), and is adapting more and more. We did remove her collar (immediately after I posted actually) and she's mostly without, unless she goes outside. We did find out one thing about her... she has either an injury or a deformity, on her foot. When we first found her and were walking her around, it was obvious her back feet were tender, I thought she must have come a long ways, so we let her rest. Turns out, even a short walk will get her limping - upon examination of her back feet, her right foot is missing two nails, and part of one of the pads. It's hard to tell if it's an old injury or a deformity - though Kile says it feels like the two toes without nails are fused together.

So, she's not a sled dog, and she's not our future backpacking sherpa, but she's so beautiful and sweet. We keep upping the age we think she might be because 95% of the day she is so mellow. Unfortunately, though, she has had a couple of panic attacks - but taking her on walks to let out some of the nervous energy seems to keep them at a minimum. The problem, being, her little gimpy foot gets uncomfortable very fast. Kile said a dog missing a pad on the bottom of its foot is basically walking bone-on-ground, which WOULD hurt. We might look into getting a little booty for her, if that would provide any relief. She doesn't chew, lick, or gnaw on it - or seem particularly obsessed with it at all. She just sometimes carries it for relief during a walk.

The interesting synch regarding that is that about 2 weeks ago, Butters started presenting an injured foot on his hind LEFT leg. The other day by the end of our walk, one was carrying one foot and the other was carrying the other. Oy vey. Butters is mostly healed with his, though. Hers I think will always need special help.

The only thing I'm even worried a bit about is how aggressively grabby she can be with toys (and treats, but I think I figured out the trick to that one), she'll grab a toy so violently right next to Butters, especially if Butters comes close. They really want to play together (and have a little bit, and have snuggled some too), but it's still a bit scary the way she likes to "play". The other thing is I feel bad about her panic attacks. They usually start in the evening, which has made me consider more possible theories for who she is and how she came to be (she's SO mellow all day, and then gets really wound up and spazzy and pacing in the evening, which makes me think she may have just spent most of her days in a kennel all day. Which would be why, during the day, being outside of the kennel makes her so content. But then it's definitely like she's expecting someone to get home in the evenings, like her "release" is timed for that moment.) We took her on two walks yesterday, though, and she had no panic last night at all - just mellow and cucumber cool.

Now it's probably time to start detaching myself a bit from the Colorado Springs lost pet circuit, because it is a bit encompassing, trying to match lost and found pictures across the different websites. It's a good/fun service but there are many people doing it, and also it can be quite sad at times. Keep your pets locked up, friends! And a microchip costs like $30 if there's any chance you might lose it, it's worth it. Just remember to register it.... so many found dogs with chips that weren't registered... very sad. And if you find a dog or cat, almost all vets/shelters (I went to the vet at Petsmart) will scan them for free. The microchip is a little grain of rice with a serial number on it - the owner then has to manually register the number with their info in a database. I think maybe some people just don't understand exactly what microchips are capable of - not much, they are just a permanent name tag basically.

[Ankh]

Oh Jade, you don't know what you have done to me! Listen to this:

I grew up with a dog. It was a mixed race of an elkhound, husky and something else. His name was "the Ball". When I moved out to my own place, I got myself my own dog who was also a mixed race between retriever, collie and of course an elkhound.

Couple of years later, my mom got sick and had to be admitted to a hospital, but she had this puppy at that time, who I had to take over. It was a pure breed elkhound, and a most beautiful and intelligent dog I ever met. My mom and I sometimes wondered though whether that dog was an re-incarnation of our former dog, the Ball.

Anyways, long story short, I met my ex-husband and moved in with him in 1999. But my ex-husband is allergic to all fur animals, especially dogs. So I asked my mom if she could take Baggio back to her, which was about 4 years after I got him from her, but she couldn't. She was still too sick. So I sold him to a hunter in northern regions of Stockholm who would hunt elk with this dog. This dog, Baggio, was so cool and smart. He never reacted to any sounds, and was probably a perfect hunting buddy.

Long story story short, I hope that he got a good life, which I think he did. But my mom and I still talk about him from time to time. And my mom regrets that she couldn't take him back. But when I remind her that she was still not healthy at that time, she understands that too.

I grieved that dog for many, many years.

When my ex-husband and I divorced after 13 years together, I did not want to have any new dog! What has been, is in the past;

Buuuuut.... dear Lord, after your post, I suddenly remembered everything, and there were feelings again, and then there arose a strongest desire and wish, to once again get myself this sort of companion!

Aaaand, the most interesting part, is that I want only a husky! Yeah, I had mixed breeds, and also a pure breed elkhound - and believe me, elkhound is AWESOME! BUUUUT, still I always wanted to have a husky! I had a desire to have a husky in the past, but it just got intensive enough now, in order to actually do something about it.

I read a lot about huskies in these past days since I read your first post (I even shared your story with my daughter that day!), and considered pros and cons about having a husky. They are indeed very active dogs who need a lot action, but on the other hand we are a very active family, who never sit still or resting on a couch, watching TV etc. This morning, I also talked to my boss about having a dog with me to work every time, and she said yea! That would be even healing to some patients!

SOOOOOOO, my dear sister, I'm looking for a freaking siberian husky now - thanks to you!

Besides the jokes, thank you so much for this inspiration, my sister, even if you might not have meant it. I haven't felt this alive for a long time!

Enough about me now. What I wanted to comment about your last post:

My first dog, the Ball, limped on one of his back legs. But he didn't miss any of his pads or nails like Judy does. But some who lived in the same area that we did, told us that his former owner slammed the door behind him but his leg got stuck in that slam, so he broke his leg, and no one took him to the vet to fix it, so it grew back in a wrong way and he has been limping since then. It got more worse during cold or wet days. I think that your idea about having some sort of shoe for Judy might function very well! If not, let us know, so maybe we can help to think what to do about it too.

Then about panic attacks and howling. Does Judy howl too when she is having those panic attacks at the afternoons? Our Ball did. He was taken by those cruel men when he was living in the streets (after being thrown out on the street by his former owner), and taken to those large places where they kill homeless dogs. Fortunately for our Ball, my mom and dad got involved in him and took him back from this place after I told them (he was a street dog where we lived until then), and ever since then until his death, he lived with us. BUT after he came home to us, after being at that horrible place, he had panic attacks for couple of months. He also howled in such a deep and traumatic way that even my mom, who is usually a rather cold person, got tears in her eyes when that happened... So, what I am trying to say is that it is very probable that Judy had traumatic experiences or childhood; so just love her, be with her and have patience. The howling and panic attacks will stop. You just need to give her love and your company, and attention, which is what you already do!

How about her activity level? Are you guys keeping up with her huskian energy or is she not that energic as huskies usually are?

Please, keep us posted with how it goes with Judy! And if you want, I will let you know when I find my own husky girl too! But until then I will have to live my life through you!

[isis]

Thanks for the Judy update!

Wondering/lamenting why it's so common for people to abuse animals/life (& why I'm pretty much stuck on a planet packed full of people capable of this) is something that could easily keep me up all night if I let it.

It's so hard not being able to know someone's story bc they can't tell you even if they wanted to. I didn't know dogs could have panic attacks. I hope Judy's story isn't too tragic, even if that's how she wanted/planned it, & I hope she heals from the trauma she's more than likely endured.

& I really hope Butters doesn't get hurt!

If you & yours decide to find someone else to have her I'd definitely get it & wouldn't cry too much for her/your loss. Her purpose could have been to just be with you temporarily so that you'd post about it to inspire Ankh to get a Husky.

The other day by the end of our walk, one was carrying one foot and the other was carrying the other.

That probably would have had me laughing hysterically. My sense of humor is weird I guess but I'd be imagining people noticing both of them limping & then suspecting I abuse my dogs.

Hers I think will always need special help.

Might want to try gofundme.com if the special help she needs is expensive.

[Jade]

Ankh, I am so excited for you!!!! And I'm thrilled to help be inspiration! I have actually, almost never, been without a dog companion in my life, so I can only imagine what the difference would be like, and how exciting it would be to get a dog after such a long break. I will definitely keep you up to date on Judy so you can live vicariously. I look so forward to seeing pictures of your new husky!!!

Then about panic attacks and howling. Does Judy howl too when she is having those panic attacks at the afternoons? Our Ball did. He was taken by those cruel men when he was living in the streets (after being thrown out on the street by his former owner), and taken to those large places where they kill homeless dogs. Fortunately for our Ball, my mom and dad got involved in him and took him back from this place after I told them (he was a street dog where we lived until then), and ever since then until his death, he lived with us. BUT after he came home to us, after being at that horrible place, he had panic attacks for couple of months. He also howled in such a deep and traumatic way that even my mom, who is usually a rather cold person, got tears in her eyes when that happened... So, what I am trying to say is that it is very probable that Judy had traumatic experiences or childhood; so just love her, be with her and have patience. The howling and panic attacks will stop. You just need to give her love and your company, and attention, which is what you already do!

She actually does not howl, but she whines incessantly and paces, and her eyes get far away and wild and it's hard to distract her. It's likely that she did spend time in a shelter (the place where they kill homeless dogs, must be a much more common thing here ), since she has a microchip that no one registered - shelters usually chip dogs when they get adopted as standard procedure now, so the unregistered chip tells me that this is likely her 3rd home at least, so it's impossible to know really what has happened to her.

She started to have another panic fit last night (after her walk) so we sat with her, and together surrounded her with white light/love energy. It worked! We stopped her fit before it started. So yes, it is just more patience and understanding that we don't know what kind of trauma she's been through - in the least, someone that she loved likely abandoned her, which is terrible enough. She also very likely spent time in a shelter, which is actually common for dogs here but I didn't consider thoroughly, for her, what even just -being- in the shelter must be like. But, that is why we didn't just immediately take her, because we knew that it's never ideal to drop an animal off there.

How about her activity level? Are you guys keeping up with her huskian energy or is she not that energic as huskies usually are?

She's actually pretty mellow, surprisingly, for the most part! I'm not sure if it's her lameness, or that her previous owners didn't exercise her very often so she doesn't have much muscle tone. She does get a bit winded after a run (Kile HAS been running her twice a day). She's also been putting on a bit of healthy weight already, we can see a difference - she was very skinny. So I'm prepared for her energy level to change (read: go up) once she's a bit healthier.

   The other day by the end of our walk, one was carrying one foot and the other was carrying the other.

That probably would have had me laughing hysterically. My sense of humor is weird I guess but I'd be imagining people noticing both of them limping & then suspecting I abuse my dogs.

Naw, it was very silly. Neither of them were even hampered by having to use 'only' three of their legs instead of four, they kept up a good speed (and it was about 8 houses from home). And it didn't re-aggravate Butters' injury again, or anything.

Might want to try gofundme.com if the special help she needs is expensive.

That's actually a pretty good idea and would be a legitimate reason for a Gofundme. I just saw a couple days ago someone talking about buying booties for their service dog, and a full set cost them $200(!). It might be unlikely to find a single dog booty for purchase lol, and even so $50 would be a lot for something she could potentially chew up and swallow in a moment.

BTW this post of yours isis gave me the "You have already liked this post" error, which happens with your posts more than any I think

[Jade]

Ankh I had a neat synch I have to share with you! When I was searching "husky" over and over on craigslist last week, I kept hitting a link for a Facebook group called the Rocky Mountain Snow Dog Club, advertising group meet-ups and mushing lessons, etc. We got quite a big snowstorm for Colorado over the past couple days (over a foot!) so the group is now overflowing with happy, happy snowdog pictures. This morning, someone shared this handsome picture of their Baggio (a name I have certainly never heard before today).




Such an amazing picture, the snowflakes are so defined on his forehead that it looks like he's wearing a crown of stars!! (can click for higher resolution)

[Ankh]

What a beautiful dog, Jade! Baggio is the name of a former Italian soccer player:



Good looking fella, wasn't he?

I would like to have either a black and white husky with odd eyes, like this one for instance:



Or a grey and white, also with odd eyes:



But blue eyed huskies are also pretty awesome:



Such beautiful dogs!

Jade, are you going to meet up with that Rocky Mountain Snow Dog Club? Sounds like lots of fun!

[Night Owl]

Thats just so nice. this dog looks spiritual too. Definitly looks like the OIC to me!

[Ankh]

I have encountered many obstacles lately in regards to my decision to get a Husky. My mom was very negative about it, which I didn't think that she would as she loves dogs too. My ex in-laws with whom I have a very close connection are negative too. And last night, one of my bosses was still at work when I came to my shift, and she told me that they are still not sure if they can let me to take my future-husky-to-be to work! *wow* That was very confusing to me! I told her that in that case I need to choose between work or dog, as I can never let my Husky-future-to-be alone at home. She didn't realize that it was that serious, so she asked for more time to talk this thing through with her supervisor... Dang! It's not going to be easy, this one!

But despite these catalysts, each time I think about my husky-to-be, I get happy... And it fills my heart with love, and light. Who knows, maybe my Baggio is out there somewhere, stuck in a huskian body, looking for me too?

Interesting sync happened last night too. My mom called me about a tragedy that has happened in our family. She was crying and was very confused, not knowing what to do next etc. I spent a lot of time talking to her at different times, bringing her into the state of calmness, and also telling her one thing over and over again: "We have to take one step at a time right now. And right now this is what needs to be done - xyz. So, I will do this. And you have to do that. When that is done, we will see what happens next. But for now, there is no point of wondering about gazillions different things." And my mom seemed to listen to me and agree (she never does it in normal situations). But then, when I came to work with my mind already scattered around all over the world due to this family tradegy and future-dog issues, and then my boss dropped that bomb that it might turn out that I can't take my future-to-be-husky at work, my mind collapsed too. I should follow my own advice right now, and that is to take one step at a time, which is to wait for the final decision from my bosses, but I just... can't think what will happen if they say no... I so love my job and don't want to go anywhere else. But on the other hand, if they say no, then I really need to choose between my work or a dog... Jesus Christ! And when I have these thoughts, my logical mind hits the breaks and tells me to take one step at a time. Have patience. Wait. See what they say before the catastrophy explodes in my mind... But it is still all so difficult to not to think about, and just "shake it off" until...

Jade, sorry for "hijacking" your thread!

*end rant*goes back to third density space/time*

[AnthroHeart]

I can't get a husky now because of Loki, my wolfdog. He attacks other dogs he doesn't know. But he's a marshmallow to me.

[Jade]

Jade, are you going to meet up with that Rocky Mountain Snow Dog Club? Sounds like lots of fun!

Maybe! I had intentions to, but with her gimpy foot, I don't know! But a deep part of my heart when I was a child was very fascinated with mushing, so it would be an awesome thing for me to experience for sure.

I have encountered many obstacles lately in regards to my decision to get a Husky. My mom was very negative about it, which I didn't think that she would as she loves dogs too. My ex in-laws with whom I have a very close connection are negative too. And last night, one of my bosses was still at work when I came to my shift, and she told me that they are still not sure if they can let me to take my future-husky-to-be to work! *wow* That was very confusing to me! I told her that in that case I need to choose between work or dog, as I can never let my Husky-future-to-be alone at home. She didn't realize that it was that serious, so she asked for more time to talk this thing through with her supervisor... Dang! It's not going to be easy, this one!

But despite these catalysts, each time I think about my husky-to-be, I get happy... And it fills my heart with love, and light. Who knows, maybe my Baggio is out there somewhere, stuck in a huskian body, looking for me too?

Interesting sync happened last night too. My mom called me about a tragedy that has happened in our family. She was crying and was very confused, not knowing what to do next etc. I spent a lot of time talking to her at different times, bringing her into the state of calmness, and also telling her one thing over and over again: "We have to take one step at a time right now. And right now this is what needs to be done - xyz. So, I will do this. And you have to do that. When that is done, we will see what happens next. But for now, there is no point of wondering about gazillions different things." And my mom seemed to listen to me and agree (she never does it in normal situations). But then, when I came to work with my mind already scattered around all over the world due to this family tradegy and future-dog issues, and then my boss dropped that bomb that it might turn out that I can't take my future-to-be-husky at work, my mind collapsed too. I should follow my own advice right now, and that is to take one step at a time, which is to wait for the final decision from my bosses, but I just... can't think what will happen if they say no... I so love my job and don't want to go anywhere else. But on the other hand, if they say no, then I really need to choose between my work or a dog... Jesus Christ! And when I have these thoughts, my logical mind hits the breaks and tells me to take one step at a time. Have patience. Wait. See what they say before the catastrophy explodes in my mind... But it is still all so difficult to not to think about, and just "shake it off" until...

Jade, sorry for "hijacking" your thread!

*end rant*goes back to third density space/time*

This is certainly not hijacking! This thread is about potential, somewhat surprise doggies coming into your life, so totally on topic. This is obviously a big catalyst for you! With how intense it has gotten so suddenly, I would certainly not doubt that Baggio is waiting to come back to you. Obviously this is a big test for you to not get frustrated! I'm sure your boss will come around, and is it possible that your mom is maybe a bit jealous because she wants a doggie too, or just more bothered by the tragedy that happened recently to be excited about the dog?

Either way, you shouldn't let anything stop you, because this is obviously a big event and important for you. I understand, if I hadn't had a dog in many years it would be HUGE to get another one. Even Judy is that in a bit, because we have wanted a second dog to replace Dexter but we spent two years mourning her instead. Finally another dog forced its way in! So even if you think events are conspiring against you, if Baggio wants to come back, he'll find a way.

I wish lots of good luck to you!! Feel free to consider this thread yours too so we can keep up to date about the husky situation!!

[Jade]

Judy and Butters' relationship is progressing well. She has minimized her snarls and snaps, and has started to be more relaxed in general (she was already pretty mellow!). They have a lot in common, one big thing being that they both enjoy toys, a LOT. They just still haven't figured out how to play with them, together. So right now they are just in various states of lying with their toys and touching each other, or having a toy between them touching both of them - weird, toe-in-the-water interactions that are terribly adorable. Like this morning, when they had created a conjoined toy pile and were just hanging out together on it.



Not pictured: every toy in the toy pile

[Ankh]

I still haven't found my Husky. But lately, the little one and I have been looking into Alaskan Malamute which are not so far away from Huskies...

It's late here now. Almost midnight. My little one want me to be a little bit awake in the night when she goes to sleep so that is what I am. But I found some cute Malamute puppies tonight, and if I feel in the same way that I feel tomorrow morning when I wake up, I am going to call them to see if there are any puppies available, and if we can go and see them soon...

But I still haven't had any clear answer from my bosses whether I can have my future-to-be dog with me at work or not, and that sucks!

Anyways, here is the picture of Alaskan Malamute puppies which is a much more pleasant thought than what my bosses say  :

[Night Owl]

have you considered rescuing one from an animal shelter?

[Jade]

Ankh look at those sweet faces!!!! You need to call them and go see them just to roll around in the puppy pile. Omg.

On the Judy front, I ordered her a bootie! I found a company called Therapaw that makes booties specifically for dogs with paw/pad injuries. I ordered one, which was $30, totally manageable! It should be here in a couple of days. I hope it helps her.

[Eddie]

Recently, something like this happened to me.

In early January, I decided one morning to drive over to the Daniel Boone National Forest, to hike on a trail that I had seen on a map, but never been on myself.  It took me a while to find it...it was in a very rural, isolated area, deep forest, and the access point was not well marked, so I drove past it, and had to backtrack to find it.  Finally I found the trailhead, and parked my truck, and gathered my things for a long hike.  As I was doing so, an emaciated, starving Walker Hound walked up to me, wagging his tail. 

I started my hike, but decided I should try to capture the hound, and take him home and feed him, and see if I could find a home for him.  He had two collars on; one, an orange nylon collar with no tags or identifiying marks; the other, an electronic shock collar.  I suspected that he had been abandoned by his owner; this sort of thing happens often with coon hounds.

The weather was very cold, well below freezing.  I was many miles from any town large enough to have a store that sold dog food.  I managed to catch the dog (who by that time had trotted quite a way up the mountainside, way into the woods), bring him back to the truck, and tie him into the bed.  I drove about 20 miles into a town, found a store with some dog food, and bought a bag, along with a dog bowl, and fed him.  It was obvious that he hadn't eaten in a long time, and was probably near to death by starvation.  I could count all the bones in his tail; I haven't ever seen a dog so thin and bony.  After feeding him I countinued on home on a secondary road.  I was afraid that he'd die from the cold air, in the back of my truck.

So I got him home.  He had a sore on his back, and the end of his tail had been abraided or cut off; he'd had a really hard time of it.  I can show you a picture, but it doesn't convey how thin this dog was, or how near to starvation:





I built a shelter for him out of some spare straw bales.  He went right in:



(To be continued.......)

[Eddie]

 
The weather continued to get colder.  I fed him six times a day, not just dry dog food, but seared fatty lamb, venison, all kinds of good food, and he inhaled it quickly. 



The third day, the temperature dropped down to 12F (-11C), and it was too cold, even with the blankets we had put in the straw shelter, and over the opening, so I had to go out and buy a $100 dog crate so we could keep him in our garage.  He was such a sweet, good-natured dog.  He would just go into the crate without complaint.  Despite his emaciated condition, he was still strong, and would drag me around when I walked him. 

Our local animal shelter is closed on Sunday and Monday.  On that Tuesday morning, I called the animal shelter, and after discerning that they wouldn't euthanize him, I took him to the shelter.  They held him for the required 5 days to allow the owner to claim him, and when that didn't happen, they put him up for adoption, and showed him on their web site.  I am happy and proud to say, that he was adopted on the first day he was eligible for adoption.  He had managed to gain some weight and the first family that viewed him took him home.  So there is a happy ending!

[Jade]

Yay Eddie!! Good rescue!!! What a poor baby, obviously close to death... glad he's safe and warm now.

On the other hand... the Judy tale has taken a very, very sad turn. Kile was out walking her this morning (as he does twice every day) and a young girl called out to him. He turned around and... it was Judy's owner. She lives extremely nearby. They had a very, very happy reunion, when the young girl then said to him, "My aunt won't let me have her anymore. You can keep her." ??? So now it's just very sad. Judy (actually, her name is Crystal...) is very confused, obviously, and poor Kile is tormented because he thinks we're torturing her by keeping her within sniffing distance of her old home. But, they don't want her, and probably couldn't afford to feed her either with how skinny she was. But, it's just so sad. I guess bittersweet, because we thought that nobody loved her, but someone does love her, and was obviously just relieved to see she has a home and someone taking care of her - she said she had seen Kile walking past a few times and finally just caught him.

Anyway, I am just very sad for Judy/Crystal that such a thing had to happen to her, and sad that the young girl doesn't have enough autonomy over her life to be able to keep her best friend. The "someone bathed her and let her go" theory seems to stand, now. Kile told the young girl to come visit her anytime.

This poor dog, though. Very confused now. Please send some comforting thoughts her way if you can.