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I got my
little buddy, Maverick from a sled dog kennel in British
Columbia Canada.
My first
experience with him came in 2002. For my 50th birthday, I
wanted to spend a week mushing sled dogs and entering a race. I
had found an outfitter in Princeton, British Columbia, Canada by
the name of Nakitsilik Outdoor Adventures that offered what I
was looking for. There were 27 beautiful Siberian huskies at
Nalitsilik. Maverick was one of them. While he was not in my
race team that year, I did run him in a team.
During the
following year, I communicated frequently with the outfitter,
and was invited back in 2003 for three weeks. During this time,
I worked as a tour guide in exchange for the opportunity to
simply enjoy mushing and working with the dogs. That year I
drove (2,500 miles one way!) so I could take my own two dogs
from Tennessee, Chinook and Chelan. I had raised them from
puppies and had trained them here in Tennessee with a cart (I
call my dogsled on wheels). I really wanted to see how they
would do with well-trained, established sled dogs. Chelan and
Chinook did exceptionally well. By the end of the first week,
Chinook was running lead in my race team along beside another
lead dog that was in the movie, Snow Dogs.
The way
the kennels were set up, the dogs were in large pens with
anywhere from three to six dogs in a pen. Typically, they were
grouped according to the teams they ran in. Chelan and Chinook,
my two dogs, were in a separate pen to themselves. The dogs
were not on chains and seemed to socialize quite well in this
environment. About the third day I was there, there was a fight
between two male dogs, Blue and Maverick. We immediately
broke them up, but not before Maverick had been bitten in the
face. The owner decided to separate Maverick and put him in a
pen all by himself which was right next to my two dogs. She
explained that she had had a lot of trouble with Maverick
lately. No matter what pen he was in, another male dog would
pick on him and they would fight. His eyes had become cloudy
and he could not see very well. He had become very irritable.
She could not understand why the other dogs always wanted to
fight with him and he with them. He had just had his 8th
birthday. She said that when Maverick was a young dog, he had
been a show dog.
As I
continued my stay, I became very fond of Maverick. When I would
go out to spend time with my two dogs, I would always give him a
lot of attention. He really responded to me. I would put him
in the pen with my dogs and they appeared to get along great. I
just fell in love with the little fellow. I nursed his injured
face, and as often as I could, ran him in my team. Laurie, the
owner, noticed how well we related to each other. She did not
know what to do with him, and offered for me to take him home as
a gift. I was really excited about this possibility. Maverick
was registered by the Canadian Kennel Club. The only hurdle was
convincing my wife, who had stated several times that the four
we had were plenty.
The last
weekend before I was to return home, Vicki, my wife, was going
to be there with me. She had flown to Washington State to visit
her mother and came up to BC Canada see the kennels, etc. After
a time of discussion (A LOT of discussion) she agreed for
Maverick to return with me to Tennessee.
I drove
the 2,500 miles home in four days. Maverick had very yellow
teeth and awful breath. We decided to take him to our
veterinarian, Dr. Paula Schuerer, to get his teeth cleaned,
hoping this would improve his breath. I also wanted her to look
at his eyes, as he was about blind. So we took him in. Dr.
Paula is a close personal friend in addition to our vet. After
she got him anesthetized, she called us and told us what she had
found. He had several rotten teeth. His mouth was full of
serious infection. She had pulled one tooth with just her
fingers. She had to pull five teeth. She put him on a strong
antibiotic for the infection. She stated that there was no way
to know this without anesthetizing him and getting in there and
seeing it. This was no reflection on his previous owner, but
explained a lot of things. The reason Maverick had been so
irritable was because he was sick and felt bad. Too, the other
dogs, smelling the infection and realizing he was sick, attacked
him and picked on him. Finding this infection in his mouth
answered a lot of questions.
We got
Maverick home and he continued to improve. It wasn't long
before he was a totally different dog. His eyes were very
cloudy, and they began to improve as well. His face, unbeknown
to us previously, had been swollen from the infection. He now
took on a different look as the swelling went down.
As for our
relationship, Maverick is VERY attached to me. We have a fenced
in back yard that is adjacent to our driveway. When I leave in
the morning, Maverick is right there watching me leave. When it
is time for me to come home in the evening, he waits by the
fence watching the driveway for me to arrive. When I drive in,
he gets all excited. He is usually the first one I see when I
get out of my truck. When I scout the yard on PP (poop patrol),
cleaning up the yard, he strolls along right by my side. We are
very attached to EACH OTHER. We have a very special
relationship, Maverick and I.
This past
January, I went back to Canada with all three of my dogs for
another three week stint. Laurie could not believe how good
Maverick looked. She also commented on how focused he was on
me. Whatever I would be doing, whether feeding the dogs,
watering, hooking up a team to take out, taking a tourist on a
tour, Maverick always kept his eyes on me. My main team last
year consisted of my three dogs plus eight more from the kennels
there for a total of eleven. Maverick ran and pulled very well.
This past
Spring, my little Siberian Husky buddy, Maverick, and I trained
to be a Pet Partner therapy team. This past Saturday we went to
an assisted living facility, not far from our home, called
Benton House. The residents in this facility, while feeble, are
coherent and quite alert for the most part. They each have a
room that includes their own bathroom, a kitchenette, bedroom,
and a sitting area. There are also common areas such as the
dining area, lounge, and an activity area. It is very nice.
Visiting with Maverick and me was an eleven-year-old youngster
who is really into dogs. His family has been friends of ours
for years and he was visiting “my dogs” for the day.
We began
our visit in the activity area. There were several residents
there awaiting our visit. As always, Maverick brought smiles to
the faces of the residents. He went from person to person,
allowing them to pet him. Many told of the pets they had when
they were young, etc. He happily took treats from the
residents. We had been there for quite some time and were
preparing to leave. Susan, the activity director who was
guiding me, said, “Before you go, we must visit Mrs. Johnson,
she needs some encouragement.” This was fine with me. We
proceeded down the hall and knocked on Mrs. Johnson’s door. As
soon as the door opened and she saw Maverick, this small elderly
lady shrieked with joy. Immediately tears began running down her
face. She stooped down as best she could and embraced my little
canine buddy. She hugged him and hugged him. Maverick knew
exactly how to respond. He immediately returned the affection.
After the exchange of introductions, made our way to the couch.
I sat beside Mrs. Johnson and Maverick sat between us on the
floor. As we visited I learned the story.
Mrs.
Johnson had been a dog lover all her life. When she was
younger, she would take in all the strays, feed them, restore
their health, and find homes for them. Today, we would say she
was “rescuing” them. When she reached a point in life that she
had to go to this senior adult facility, she took her dog with
her. The dog had lived in the room with her. However, anytime
she went outside with the pooch or even down the hall, she had
to have him on a leash. He never got to run or play. She
reached a point of realization that the dog would be happier
with her grandchildren, running and playing. So she gave him up
to her loving grandchildren to keep for the well being of the
animal. Although she felt this was the right thing to do, since
his departure, she had been very depressed, lonely, and
discouraged.
It seemed
Maverick knew exactly what to do. He would sit there and lean
against her. When she would stop petting for a moment, he would
lay his chubby little paw gently on her hand as if to say,
“Please pet me some more.” We visited quite a while. Mrs.
Johnson was overjoyed. Needless to say, it made my day as well,
and also made a lifelong impression on an eleven-year-old
youngster.
I guess
this is why I do this stuff! The world is full of “Mrs.
Johnsons” just waiting for someone to stop and say, “You’re
important and I want to spend some time with you.” And a dog
can say it so much better than I can! |
