Our Fur Baby: Pepper

After writing about Soku and Sammy I had to write something about our fur baby Pepper.

We were living in Burlington and enjoying our downtown, carefree lifestyle. I grew up with lots of dogs and was also enjoying how effortlessly the house stayed clean (ha! Those were the days). I don't remember how it first came up but we started talking about a dog. We agreed it should be a dog with hair so it wouldn't shed and it shouldn't be a water dog (like a lab) because their coats can feel greasy.

Next thing I know Dada of Ma'at points out a dog on Petfinder.com who is a boxer/lab mix. She failed our dog requirements, but she was so cute we had to go check her out.

We walked into the shelter (Good Karma Rescue in Montpelier) and her litter mates immediately attacked Dada of Ma 'at's shoelaces and destroyed them instantly. Pepper just hung back and watched. We knew she was the perfect dog for us.

I had recently been laid off from my job at the start of the Great Recession so I got to stay home with her to work on training and bonding.

There were lots of naps with her on my chest when she was a puppy...just like I did later with Big Bro and Lil Sis when they came along. 

It was hard leaving her behind for the first time with Grandma and Grandpa too when we went to see Barack Obama inaugurated as President of the United States.

She came everywhere with us and we went on multiple walks a day. Oh how fast she grew! The picture above shows her each month between December and March of her first year. Even when she got big she would still take the occasional siesta on Dada of Ma'at on the couch.

She is the best family dog imaginable. She is so patient and forgiving with the kids. She isn't the center of our attention these days like she used to be (Truly sorry Pep!) but she is a much loved member of the family.

Sleep Deprivation

In my sleep deprived state, due to Lil Sis's restlessness between 3 and 5am, and Sammy getting up at 6, I thought it would be fun for Big Bro to write today's blog. Here is what he came up with.

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Once upon a time Big Bro and Lil Sis goed to Candyland.

Big Bro and Lil Sis rode their bikes to Candyland.

And then they saw Cloudy Bear and Cloudy Bear was being mean to the gummy bears.

Big Bro and Lil Sis blew Cloudy Bear back home.

Now they sawed the gumdrop peppermint trees.

Big Bro and Lil Sis went to Peppermint Forest.

And that's the end.

Sammy's Story

Nini called the other day to say that one of the elderly people she cares for was dying and his 7.5 year old king poodle, Sammy, needed a place to stay for a few nights. He had been barking after being left alone in the apartment of the assisted living facility while his owner was in the hospital.

Sammy came home the following day with Nini. She brought him over briefly so I could meet him. He's a sweet, handsome boy, very good natured and docile. He's not trained in basic doggie manners but would do well if someone took him to dog training school. I tried briefly clicker training him to sit and he took to it easily.

The following day Sammy had a proper introduction to Pepper first. Nini and I introduced them outside and they were both wagging their tails. From there we took him inside to introduce him to the kids. They did very well together and I wasn't worried about conflict between kids and canine. 

However, Sammy is a medium energy dog, whereas Soku was low energy and Pepper is also low energy. He was a bit much for Pepper after they had been hanging out for a while. Pepper was here first so she is my priority. Unlike Soku, Sammy is a middle aged dog who will live another 5-7 years.

Sammy is a sweet, goofy boy who still acts very puppy like in a lot of ways. He would do very well with a family that has the time and energy to train him and integrate him into the family. He also has a skin condition which has him taking $130 worth of medication each month. He needs someone who can commit to his medical needs too. If any locals are interested in Sammy let me know. He deserves a loving, forever home. Nini will be fostering him for two weeks.

Estate Sale Dog

 In the summer of 2011 my husband went to check out an estate sale. There he saw an old wood stove that he wanted to bid on for our maple sugaring hobby. 

At this Estate Sale there was an old Husky wandering the property. The auctioneers announced that he was available along with all the other household items. My husband came home and told me the tale and how he felt bad for the dog. He noted how 18 month old Big Bro had gotten along well with the old dog. So I suggested we go back. My husband still wanted to bid on the stove and I wanted to see the dog.

He was arthritic, mangy, matted, and a bit aloof. I asked one of the family members about him. His name was Soco. He belonged to the elderly couple who had passed away. None of the adult children could take Soco because he was an alpha dog and didn't like the dogs the children already had. If no one took him, he was going to be put down.

The next day I went back with Pepper to see how the two dogs would interact. Soco was a bit grumpy when she got too close to him while he was napping, but they seemed to do ok. Pepper is the most docile, submissive dog so the fact that he was an alpha wasn't an issue.

We brought Soco home and showed him the grounds. We quickly rechristened him Soku because we didn't want him to be named after an alcoholic beverage (Southern Comfort) That night he paced and whined and howled all night long. No one could sleep. We tried putting him in the basement to at least have some distance from the whining but the old boy just got himself caught in odd places as he tried to escape so we had to keep rescuing him. Needless to say, it was rough.

The following day I brought him to a groomer who knew him. It took her all day to wash and comb him because of how stressed he was. But it revealed just what a handsome and majestic boy Soku was.

With him cleaned up we let him stay in the living room the second night, but he still howled and paced. I spent a good part of the night downstairs with him trying to get him to relax. He would rest for a short while, but then would return to howling and pacing.

 

The following day, unbeknownst to us, he pushed open our broken screen door and disappeared. After driving around frantically to find him, I came across him over a mile from our house trotting on the road back in the direction of his former home. He had a keen sense of direction, or perhaps it was just luck.

By the 4th day the howling and pacing still hadn't ceased. I was desperately calling all the local vets for advice and to see if anyone would medicate him so we could all get some rest. No one would do it, and his appointment with our vet wasn't for another 10 days. It was a hellish first week, but finally Soku relaxed and started to integrate into the family. We took him to the vet for the first time in years and treated him for his Lime disease. I think he realized, once he started feeling better, that living with us wasn't so bad after all.

In fact, it was Pepper that I started feeling bad for. We would take both dogs on walks but Soku got all the attention. That dog could turn heads of people driving down the road. They would slow down just to shout "beautiful Husky!"

Soku certainly wasn't an easy dog and he never totally dropped his grumpy persona. I can't blame him for it since at the ripe old age of 15 he lost everything he knew and had to start over. He was also going blind and deaf and had also been only minimally cared for for many years. I like to think we at least gave him a better home for his last days.