<- Valkrys May 27, 2009
Up at 5am, dress, take the dogs out for our morning social howl and luvin’s. Yukon seems a bit more clingy than usual, so I pet him and hug him a lot. Normally he is the aloof one, getting in his petting then going off across the deck to lay down and watch. Demon is usually the one trying to lay in my lap as much as possible, and trying to avoid being nibbled on by Freya. Freya takes up her usual place on my left, snuggling up and giving me that look when I use the hand that is petting her to pet another dog. Both boys lay down next to me and roll on their backs to get their belly scratched. Big smiles all around!
I love huskies! They are always smiling when they are happy, which for this bunch seems to be most of the time now. Their happiness makes me happy. I love to see them play and having a good time. I’m so glad we were able to get them out of that small yard, and in to a place where they can run and run and play to their hearts’ content. Yukon, Freya and Demon love to play ‘Chase me!’, and are ever so delighted when I join in. They think it is the greatest thing in the world that a person knows how to play dog games.
I haven’t mentioned yet that my dogs love peanut treats called “nutastic” or somesuch. I get them at Kroger as it seems to be the only place that carries them. We use them for obedience training to great success and the dogs come running when they hear the jar shake. They also love buscuits, which they get at least twice a day to help supplement their vitamin intake. All that is, except picky Valkrys. She turns her nose up at buscuits, but loves peanut treats. At 18 years, I guess she is entitled to some eccentricity.
Reminisce time again. When my son was only three and a half, Valkrys saved his life. She was just under a year old when it happened. It was sometime around nine at night when Jim and I were sitting on the couch in the den on the lower portion of the split level we owned in Pasadena, MD. We had put James to bed less than a half hour before, and were getting in some relaxation before going to bed ourselves when Valkrys began to whine. I got up thinking she had to go out, but she didn’t go to the backdoor as usual. She ran up the stairs, not even stopping by the front door. I started up the stairs after her, wondering what on earth was wrong, but when she made a bee-line to my sons door and began digging at the floor beneath it, I cleared the last few stairs in a leap.
As I reached the door, I could smell the smoke! The knob was not hot, so I yanked open the door to see a spark of flame just starting to climb up the wire plugged in next to my son’s head. He was sound asleep on the bed, so I was across the room before I even finished looking around. Snatching him up, I handed him to Jim and told him to take him outside while I put out the fire. Using the blanket from the bed, I smothered the flames that were starting to catch the wall, and used a plastic toy to lever the transformer out of the plug that was still smoking. It was a VERY close call! Since that moment on, Valkrys has been our Heroine, and has held an honored place in our household. She has had a good life, with all the comforts we can give her, and she has been a great and smart dog. We will miss her very much when she passes on. How she came to us that stormy night, and how smart she really is will be stories for another day.
Up at 5am, dress, take the dogs out for our morning social howl and luvin’s. Yukon seems a bit more clingy than usual, so I pet him and hug him a lot. Normally he is the aloof one, getting in his petting then going off across the deck to lay down and watch. Demon is usually the one trying to lay in my lap as much as possible, and trying to avoid being nibbled on by Freya. Freya takes up her usual place on my left, snuggling up and giving me that look when I use the hand that is petting her to pet another dog. Both boys lay down next to me and roll on their backs to get their belly scratched. Big smiles all around!
I love huskies! They are always smiling when they are happy, which for this bunch seems to be most of the time now. Their happiness makes me happy. I love to see them play and having a good time. I’m so glad we were able to get them out of that small yard, and in to a place where they can run and run and play to their hearts’ content. Yukon, Freya and Demon love to play ‘Chase me!’, and are ever so delighted when I join in. They think it is the greatest thing in the world that a person knows how to play dog games.
I haven’t mentioned yet that my dogs love peanut treats called “nutastic” or somesuch. I get them at Kroger as it seems to be the only place that carries them. We use them for obedience training to great success and the dogs come running when they hear the jar shake. They also love buscuits, which they get at least twice a day to help supplement their vitamin intake. All that is, except picky Valkrys. She turns her nose up at buscuits, but loves peanut treats. At 18 years, I guess she is entitled to some eccentricity.
Reminisce time again. When my son was only three and a half, Valkrys saved his life. She was just under a year old when it happened. It was sometime around nine at night when Jim and I were sitting on the couch in the den on the lower portion of the split level we owned in Pasadena, MD. We had put James to bed less than a half hour before, and were getting in some relaxation before going to bed ourselves when Valkrys began to whine. I got up thinking she had to go out, but she didn’t go to the backdoor as usual. She ran up the stairs, not even stopping by the front door. I started up the stairs after her, wondering what on earth was wrong, but when she made a bee-line to my sons door and began digging at the floor beneath it, I cleared the last few stairs in a leap.
As I reached the door, I could smell the smoke! The knob was not hot, so I yanked open the door to see a spark of flame just starting to climb up the wire plugged in next to my son’s head. He was sound asleep on the bed, so I was across the room before I even finished looking around. Snatching him up, I handed him to Jim and told him to take him outside while I put out the fire. Using the blanket from the bed, I smothered the flames that were starting to catch the wall, and used a plastic toy to lever the transformer out of the plug that was still smoking. It was a VERY close call! Since that moment on, Valkrys has been our Heroine, and has held an honored place in our household. She has had a good life, with all the comforts we can give her, and she has been a great and smart dog. We will miss her very much when she passes on. How she came to us that stormy night, and how smart she really is will be stories for another day.
Got home late after going out to dinner, and the dogs couldn’t wait to greet me. I changed from my work clothes to something I wasn’t afraid to get muddy, as it had been raining and the dogs were covered in mud, especially Samantha. She looked so silly with mud all over her face! I could tell she had been digging after moles or gophers in the yard. James and I took the 4-pack for a walk down to the bridge, back to the edge of the backyard grass going the other way, back to the bridge, and back to the fenced yard. It was a good mile or more, and the dogs were happy with a lot of their pent-up energy spent sniffing and trotting and generally being dogs. They were very happy after a long draught at one of the three water buckets. When they had finished drinking, I took Samantha to the kiddie pool and washed down her paws. She was not happy with it, but stood still while I washed the mud off her paws one by one. She was more than eager to leave the pool when I was done though.
I stayed outside with her until her paws dried and all of them, including the old dogs, got their treats and biscuits/bones. We all decided to turn in rather early, and I brought Samantha and Freya in to my room. G’kar refused to leave, plopping himself in the middle of the room rather stubbornly, and Valkrys had already fallen asleep in the corner, so I let all four of them sleep in my room.
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