Nothing Butt Huskies

This blog is going to be about the lessons my Huskies have taught me, about the truths I’ve learned about Huskies, (that the books don’t tell you) and their individual personalities and the journey I’m beginning with Kodi.

First some background:

Since 1972 I’ve owned a total of four dogs. Three of them have been Huskies.

The first was a little Husky and Shepherd mix named Kelly. She started out as an indoor dog, being house broken until the Agnes Flood hit Jersey Shore and my Grandparents had to come stay with us, along with their standard poodle “Pokey Joe”. Kelly was moved to the back yard and garage.

She was my confidante during hard times at home, while my parents were contemplating divorce, during a time when physical abuse had escalated along with the tension in the house, when my Grandfather passed away. Her dog house became a safe refuge for me when the tears came and she was always there with affection, making me feel I had a purpose.

When my parents divorced in 1977 we couldn’t take her with us when we moved, so my mother took her to the SPCA while I was at school. An SPCA newsletter a month later had a picture of Kelly on the cover, she had gotten a new home.

I had a beautiful pure bred German Shepherd named Heidi for a short time right before I was married. When I married we were offered a home and didn’t know until after we accepted that we couldn’t have dogs. I had to relinquish her to the SPCA. I have never forgiven myself.

In 1993 I adopted a Siberian Husky/Shepherd/Wolf mix from the SPCA. I stopped to see the beautifully marked dog I had glimpsed from the street and when our eyes met, as corny as it sounds, I knew she was meant for me.

Echo was an incredible animal. We bonded immediately. She was my soul mate. She seemed to read my mind, learning what I expected so easily and quickly, listening and obeying me without fail. She was an incredible companion.

I have never known another dog as gentle and tender as she. She treated the cats as if they were her babies, so tolerant and loving. She greeted every child who saw her with a wagging tail and kisses, accepting their hugs and affection eagerly.

She had been ‘bumped’ by a car as a stray when the SPCA had picked her up. She had nerve damage in her hind quarters, but we walked every day, we played and ran and she soon showed no signs of her injury.

Over the years we experienced many things together and grew ever closer. As she aged, she required medication to help her control her bladder, for inflammation and later, pain medication, as she developed degenerative joint disease and nerve root damage in her lower back.

I became her caregiver, where she had been mine for so many years, keeping me company, easing my depression, licking my tears when I cried and being there for me as I was diagnosed with bone and joint diseases, becoming disabled. She required assistance to potty in the yard and to get up and down stairs.

I became increasingly concerned, as she needed more and more help and was having difficulty getting up off the floor, until one day we looked at each other and she tucked her head under my chin and somehow I knew.

I held her in my arms, as she was put to sleep, as she rested her head in the crook of my arm and we said goodbye. She was 15.

After losing Echo, though we have two house cats, I felt empty, alone, lost. I was terribly depressed and distraught. I had become an ‘indoor human’, never leaving the house other than to shop for groceries, not really seeing anyone, not using my power chair out and enjoy the fresh air.

I told my husband I thought I really needed to have another dog, not to take her place, but to allow me to move on, to have an animal companion that could get me outside again, fill my days with something more than housework and chores.

We brought home Kodiak, “Kodi” for short, in February 2008, when he was 7 weeks old. After a myriad of health problems such as round worms, coccidia, a bladder infection, fever, low red blood cell count and chronic diarrhea, we have a happy healthy pure bred Siberian Husky puppy.

He’s got a fun personality, is very energetic and not shy about demanding attention. He’s my constant companion, anywhere I am in the house he’s there. If my husband wants to take him outside to potty Kodi will look for me as if to see if it’s okay.

We walk (he walks, I roll) twice a day when the weather permits and when it’s not too humid to be outside for a ’snow dog’ we play in the yard a couple of times a day.

We’re working on learning obedience commands, though he’s very intelligent, he’s also very stubborn. It’s taking a while. He’s protective of me and the house, which is great when I’m here alone or with my son.

I’ve decided I’m going to ‘owner train’ him to be an assistance dog for me, even if we only master picking things up off the floor for me and closing doors behind me, that would be a huge help. Since he’s my constant companion, it only makes sense that we be there for one another.

And so the sharing of our journey begins…