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There were only 3 that had not yet found a new home, 2 of them were females with dark colouring and blue eyes, and the third was white with black patches, brown eyes and male. Since I preferred a male he was the only choice I had. Within a few days, we, my husband and I, had gone through the much needed discussions of adopting a dog, a puppy. The breed never came up in the discussion, ignorant that we were about such things. The biggest point of discussion was that this was for life, no way was I going to bring a dog into my life and toss him around if I decided that I couldn't handle the responsibility, and a dog of any breed is a huge responsibility. That decided and committed to we went to buy our new puppy. On the way home we stopped to pick of food for him, as I said we were ignorant, it didn't occur to us to be prepared first. My husband went into the shopping market and I held my little husky as he shivered and began to cry. And then the sweetest sound I have ever heard, next to my own babies, came from this little white ball of fur. He was crying a howl. Now for those of you who have heard a husky puppy cry/howl you will understand. I looked this little baby into his beautiful big brown eyes and said, "He Sings the Blues". And thus came is name. And 10 years later he still sings just a sweetly now as he did that night in my arms. When Blue was about a year old, and after I had done tons and tons of research on Siberian Huskies, it became evident that we needed to find him a companion. Siberien Huskies need companionship, they are not happy alone. We had made a decision when Blue was a puppy to have him neutered, so it didn't matter whether it was a female or male. Siberian Huskies need company, all the time, and with both my husband and I working, we were leaving him alone far too much. We went to our local Animal Alert foundation, put our names on several adoption lists and waited. It took several months and a lot of screening but we finally got a call to go to the Animal Control where there was a "silver husky" that was to be "put down" the next day. We rushed over, and not knowing what silver meant, we didn't know quite what to expect. We didn't expect what we saw though. This poor, sickly, skinny, sad, terrified, anxious 7-8 month old "dog". He was white, sort of, if you looked through the dirt. But he certainly didn't look like any Husky we had ever seen. My husband did not want anything to do with him. I sat with the woman, in the office and heard "Shadow's" tale. He had been living with abuse his whole life, physical, emotional and probably drugged. She said he had no personality, and this was a very sad case. He had been abandoned to the street when the owners were arrested for drugs. A woman found him and took him in and called Animal Control. He had a name, Shadow, how they knew that I still don't know. While I was talking with this woman, my husband took him out for a walk, and just as he was returning the woman and I came out of the office. The changed look on my husbands face, after enjoying running with Shadow, and the thought of this poor animal being "put down" just because he had been terrorized his short life and no one else wanted to "take him" was enough for me. We adopted him. At first it was hard for him, Shadow, being in a new home, with a playmate, Blue, and people that cared, rather than abused. He must have been punished big time for licking cause he will not give kisses. Actually, he was most likely hit and kicked for just about anything and everything. He hated to have anyone near his face. We kept his name, not wanting to add to the trauma he was already going through, although most times I call him Sadow...just for me. But he is appropriately named, Shadow Puppy is there always, everywhere. And as for not having a personality, wow.. did they misread this guy... he is wall to wall personality. He is so smart, and so funny, and so fast and so sweet, and so tender, and so sensitive.... well you get the point... my lil Shadow Puppy has personality PLUS. As for the adjustment with Blue, it was a little shaky at first. Blue had been The dog of the House, it had been His territory, and now, here is this street smart Husky/Shepherd trying to run the house. They still haven't figured out who is the boss, and they, being dogs, will compete for that Alfa position for the rest of their lives, it's their nature. But there has never been a serious fight between them and where you find one you will always find the other. The bond is strong and true. We did get Shadow neutered, after a couple of months of settling in, which certainly helps in the dominance area. I think Shadow may have some wolf in his genes, which is probably why the previous owners got him as a puppy. They probably thought they were getting a cool dog and when they found out how much work it would be, they just let go. I tell Shadow every day, how grateful I am to have him in my life. He still doesn't give kisses away, but slowly he had started to lick our hands or arms when we are giving him his belly rub. He lets me get close to his face now when I snuggle up to him and scratch under his neck, but I have to coo to him, the whole time. How gorgeous he is, how smart and what an outstanding dog he is. He has become my dearest friend. On January 3rd, 2004, we adopted another little husky. Her name is Niki. Niki is a gift from our daughter in laws mother, who got her when she was about 2 months old, but now under different living arrangements cannot keep her. What a gorgeous little girl she is. We don't have any pictures to show you yet. I am sure there will be lots soon. As we get to know each other we will share more about our new little Niki Girl |
