“Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?” (Jonathan Safran Foer)
Ally and Viktor have many places they can sleep if they so choose. It always astounds me that they pick what I consider to be the coldest possible places. They’ll often eschew their deliciously warm, protected, straw filled, insulated doghouse for a spot in the middle of the yard directly on top of the snow.
We woke up this morning to a beautiful blanket of new fallen snow. Well, I thought it was beautiful and so did Viktor and Ally. My husband and younger son spent a good part of the morning shoveling the decks, driveway and sidewalk so they weren’t quite as appreciative as the dogs and I.
My older son, who is just back from college for the Christmas break didn’t want to see the pretty snow either. He’s actually still tucked under his covers but his brother kindly left a good portion of the shoveling for him to tackle when he finally decides to get up.
We don’t have much on tap today, just a Christmas party later in the afternoon so we’ll spend the day doing chores, wrapping gifts, cooking, hanging out by the fire and playing with our pups.
I went to the store to pick up some food for Ally and Viktor. While there, I saw a rack full of adorable Christmas themed toys. I should have resisted but just couldn’t. I ended up with two extra items at checkout.
Ally and Viktor love toys. I like to keep a few around for the days when it’s too icy outside to take them for their usual morning walk. I learned fairly early on that walking with enthusiastic huskies on ice is a dangerous thing…for me! A couple of slipping, sliding, falling outings and I decided that if there was a sparkling, icy sheen on the streets we would take the day off. Luckily those days don’t come around too often. If it’s very cold in the morning, there’s usually enough melting by mid-day to venture out. On the few days we really can’t go out to play, I like to offer them a new toy or a nice bone to occupy them with something fun/novel for part of the day. It keeps them from getting cranky, destructive and from missing their time exploring the neighborhood.
You can see them enjoying themselves in the following video
Ally and Viktor are Siberian Huskies. About three years ago, we found a breeder with an excellent reputation in Tennessee and started the process of adopting them. It was a nail biting time since the breeder was well known and popular. We had to be among the first to claim our puppies once they were born. We knew if we missed the couple hour window when the breeder let it be known they were available, we’d be out of luck until the next go round. Luckily we were watching carefully and we ended up among the first in line. The breeder put photos on line. The puppies were just little balls of fur and their eyes weren’t even open yet. We picked Ally and a little black puppy from a different litter we named Ivan. We were all so excited. We knew they had to stay with their mother for a few more months before they could come live at our house but we loved going to the website and seeing the photos the breeder would post. Naturally, we never tired of looking at them and wished we had new photos every, single day!
As it grew closer to the time for Ally and Ivan to come home, we worked to get everything puppy proofed and make sure our house would be safe and comfortable for them. One day we got a disheartening call. Ivan was sick. Unfortunately, the breeder couldn’t say if he would recover and if he did whether he would suffer long term difficulties or not. She told us that one of the other puppies, Ivan’s brother, a sweet looking, white pup was available. His adoption hadn’t worked out (probably due to a financial issue) and he was in need of a home. We were very happy to have him and we had a good time trying to figure out what to call him. After much discussion and back and forth we settled on the name Viktor.
One day in June, we hopped in the truck and headed out to the airport to pick up our new puppies. We got them home, after dark and let them out of their kennels in the backyard. Ally immediately hopped out and “attacked” a low branch on a bush. Viktor wasn’t interested in coming out of his kennel at all. He pressed himself against the back when my husband reached in to get him. Once out, he didn’t want to be put down, he cuddled up on Steve’s shoulder and was content to rest there.
That about sums up their personalities to this day. Ally is the bold one. She’s brave and daring (which sometimes gets her into trouble) and Viktor is more reserved. He’s a watcher. He’ll wait until Ally does something (like jump into the hot tub) before he decides if it’s a good decision or not.
I thought that Viktor would stay completely white as he grew since I’d seen some huskies that had very light colored coats. That proved to be completely wrong. For a while, he seemed to change color on a daily basis. He started getting darker eyebrows (we jokingly called him Groucho Marx) and dark fur along his back. It was a fascinating process to watch.
Ally and Viktor have brought sunshine and smiles into our lives. They’re wonderful companions, exercise partners and friends! This blog is all about them and the amazing way they’ve woven their way into our family and our hearts.
2 Snow Dogs 