Now this is much better

Mommy has not stopped laughing since she came back from the evil place that took her away for 8 hours. She came back smelling of all kinds of interesting things and people, including my cousin Thulku the pit bull and of baby. I am very upset she didn't take me wherever she went, but she says that I wouldn't have liked it anyway and at least she left me three nice juicy bones to play with.

This little excursion also came with some rewards for me! You see, usually, at Christmas, I get abandoned for hours with a bone and then mommy comes home and that's my present, getting her all to myself for days until lots of people come over to adore me on granddaddy's birthday. But this year in the family gift exchange, my cousin Thulku's mommy picked MY mommy, which means that I'M the one who got all the presents! Mommy came home with a nice, big, soft cushion for me to sleep on. I love being comfy when I sleep! And unlike some huskies, I like keeping my right to soft things to sleep on, so I don't tear up cushions and stuff. So I got a nice, comfy cushion that's big enough for me and so soft that mommy said that if I didn't want it SHE was stealing it. It's a little warm for my hot husky self, but it's good for lying on a few hours, at least. I also got this weird thing to wipe off my paws that's blue and shaggy and that I just want to eat and some hand-booties for mommy so that she doesn't lose a finger mushing, this winter because that would not be good. All nice me-oriented gifts, as it should be. Mommy is laughing at me and telling me I'm spoiled. I'm just ignoring her from my nice new throne. Mommy says I actually look all tiny, curled up on it, not huuuuuuuge like she knows I am when I sleep in her bed (that is totally mine when she's not around. Just saying).

I also have some very sad news. My cousin Thulku who, like me, is a former shelter dog and who unlike me is elderly and is like bionic spinless Sammy has no hip, has just been diagnosed with cancer. Even worse, it is leukemia and since it is in his front left leg, on the same side as his hiplessness, it cannot be amputated to keep the cancer from spreading. His chances for recovery do not look good and his mommy is very sad. Thulku is an old dog. He is not a very pretty dog and he can be a bit of a grumpy dog, but he is a good dog and he has spent a very, very long time of his life as an abused dog. Unlike me, who has a rather good story, as shelter dogs go, he was one of seven dogs bought from an abusive owner who decided to liquidate her "stock" of dogs. When the shelter came to take the six they had been called for, the mean person said "oh, yeah there's this other dog you can take too and him you can have for free" and showed them to a back room where an old, depressed, uncastrated male pit bull was lying, in bad shape. He moved painfully and he had most probably been used for breeding pit bull puppies irresponsibly. He had quite possibly never known love, was despondant and showed signs of physical abuse. That was my cousin Thulku. My mommy's aunt was looking for a dog and fell in love. She made sure he got the surgery he needed, even went to Ontario to get the best care possible for him. She gave him physiotherapy and, most importantly of all, she gave him all the love and affection a dog needs. He went from a depressed, moth-eaten old mutt to a happy, smiling, stub-wagging (you just can't call that a tail...) family dog. He has had a wonderful two years and I would like all of you that can to spare some good thoughts and hope that he does not suffer and manages to stay with us a long while yet.

Here's to you, Thulku.

Humiliation

Can you believe mommy is going to be sending these out as christmas cards to all kinds of people? It's not fair. To top this off, I, the proud, noble husky, have to wear booties outside. Booties! I mean yeah, sure, I have sensitive feety feets and even scabs and rashes on them from allergies and stuff, but I shouldn't have to wear booties!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long, but life has been fairly boring, recently. Mommy let me keep Jay once a week when she's really really busy so that I can go play with my buddies and right now they're plotting to have my buddies and I mush together! Other than that, I've had a very normal husky life.
Humiliated woos to you all
Louka

Blog hiatus

Well, I don't post very often, but I thought that it was just fair for me to tell you pups that I will not be able to update the blog at all until the end of August. The reason for this is very, very sad for me. Mommy is running away with the circus. Without me. How is this not abuse?

Mommy says that she feels very bad about this, that it's temporary, that she's leaving me in good hands, but... It's my mommy! And she's leaving! For two whole months! And for two whole weeks, I won't even have Auntique to console me! Mommy leaves on Friday and I'm already moping and wailing. The nice landlady and granddaddy have said they'll take me out (granny can't because hip replacements + pulling husky = bad idea) and Jay the dogwalker is going to come and take me on walks with his pack, which is fun, especially since there's another cute husky named Shelby and I like her, but... But...! Auntique gets back in two weeks and then at least I'll have a member of my harem to cuddle and pet and spoil me as I deserve, but I'll still have to wait until August 18th to have my mommy back from the evil circus.

So good luck all you lucky dogs, I'll be moping in my corner.
Sad woos,
Louka

Pleased

This week, even if granny and granddaddy and auntique are all gone and it's just me and mommy, I'm very happy. Firstly I'm happy because I have mommy all to myself, but secondly we aren't exactly all alone. There are lots of strange men coming in the house and breaking the walls, bringing in wires and doing all this stuff mommy calls "renovations". The landlord comes up at least once a day too. All these men ADORE me. To the point that they woke Mommy up knocking on her bedroom door because I was in the bedroom and they wanted to pet me and love me. I'm now their assisstant! So I can now add "renovations" to my list of jobs! Guarding is out of the question, I like these guys too much!

Do you guys ever have renovations in your lairs?

Happy woos,
Louka

Huskies are not watch dogs

I'm sorry for the long hiatus. Nothing very interesting has been going on. Mommy was very mean and started "working" which meant she was gone ALL DAY and I had to go mope on my rug or heave very deep, mournful sighs near granny so that she would pet me and scratch my ears. So then when mommy was home, I had to cuddle and sleep on her feet and be particularly clingy.

Of course this meant that I had to neglect all other duties, including my "guard dog" duties. I had started barking a bit every now and then when someone came in. At least I would go and check out who was there in case they had tasty food or, more likely, to see if they would pet me. But with mommy home... Well, let's just say it doesn't matter if someone else will pet me when mommy's around. That's why I didn't bother to get up when the plumber and landlord decided to come upstairs to pay a visit. I don't know why mommy was so upset. I was still faithfully sleeping on her feet. Of course she was sleeping too. And the landlord and plumber were in the doorway to her room when she woke up. Still. no reason to get upset.

We've started biking together, now that the schnee is all gone. I don't like it as much, but it's ok. I'll keep you posted.

Woos,
Louka

Back to normal

Well, the schnee is mostly gone and the sled has been put away. Both mommy and I are a little sad, but that means that life has gone back to normal, here.

Yes, our room is kind of messy. But that's ok. I have other rooms to lounge in that are less messy, especially since Auntique is gone. Mommy's been a bit depressed because she and auntique are from the same litter and they've never really lived apart and auntique won't be back for months and months. She's in Europe. I don't mind too much because now I have taken over her room and... her balcony! I love the balcony. I get to spend all my time out there, now, just chilling.

I also have been spending a lot of time at Harem member #1's house. They've determined that I'm not too bad with kitties, so I can go visit when mommy does. Of course there are no soft surfaces to lie on, so I am resigned to this:

That sleepy person is my mommy. And before you ask, yes, we are about the same size. I'm big for a husky and she's small for a human. Like Rusty, I'm definitely a lap dog. It's all about being cuddled, for me. I am a hard-working husky, I totally deserve this.

Harem member #1 is not just #1 because she's the one who comes to visit and scratch and worship me the most often. She's also #1 because she collects all kinds of cool stuff, like furs and bones!
Don't I look like a scary husky? That's one of my jobs, apart from pulling the sled, being a good guard dog like Qannik and therapy dog like Nanook. Mommy has some anxiety issues and having a big scary monster like me protecting her makes life easier for everyone. And I work for cheap. I'm paid in kissies.

Sigh. A husky's work is never done. I have to go lounge on the balcony, now. Maybe I'll get all nice and brushed and groomed later. Woe is me

Woos,
Louka

Auntique

Some of you have figured out that I do not live alone at home with my mommy. There's Granny, Granddaddy, who didn't like me at first because he thought I looked scary but who now baby-talks me and scratches my chin on demand, and, finally, Auntique, my mommy's twin sister who sometimes takes care of me if mommy abandons me.

Well yesterday, Auntique asked Mommy a very important, fun question: "Can I go mushing with you?" The answer:

Mommy and Auntique are colour coded, so you can tell who's who. Auntique is blue and/or green, Mommy is red/orange/all those colours that look the same.


And one last one, mushing into the night. Not exactly the sunset, but it'll do.

This is proof that I am very strong and a champion mush dog who totally does not deserve this abuse:



I get that she wants to get rid of that backpack, but I do NOT have to model it for any reason! I was so good at Storm of the Ao4's cooperating for photos class. It took mommy a long time to get a good shot, despite the fact that I'm normally photogenic.

I am so abused.
Louka

My motivation is back

Since the begining of the season, I was enjoying mushing, but I was a little bored with it, I had a hard time seeing the point. Then friday, I met Felony, who finally isn't a German shepard but an ADORABLE little mutt and we mushed and ran and played together and it was AMAZING! I was so happy I pushed myself harder than I should of and was out of it for two days. But that's ok, I can't wait to get out again! We went out Monday and some evil person had graveled our trail, but I was still so psyched about Friday that I decided that we were doing the whole trail, something we haven't done this season yet.

Next Sunday I'm going to see Felony again, and a golden retriever named Sierra. We're starting a mushers of the moutain coalition! I'm so happy!
Tail wags
Champion mush-dog Louka

Weather

Well, of course the humans are all going ballistic, but I'm happy as a husky in snow. Lots of snow. And cold. The main news story on the magic picture box and on the radio is the weather. In Montreal it's stayed under -20 Celsius (So about -11 Fahrenheit, I think). It's nice and perfect, but Mommy takes an eternity to put all her thousands of layers of fur on and doesn't want to stay out long, except today, when we went mushing. Some places where Mommy has buddies reached -43 (Celsius, but -40 is the same for both scales, so you get the picture) and she's sighing about wanting to bring me to live over there. As long as I get the three Ms: mushing, meat, but not the icky chicken stuff that gives me a rash and certainly never kibble, and the mattress. Because it's mine. I swear. No matter what mommy says and how many times she puts it away. Oh yeah, and I want mommy too. I hate it when she goes to the evil University place without me.

This is one of my Ms, Meat! Of course I have my own dining room outside so that I don't get girly salmons or e-collars all over Granny's floor. Whatever those are. I don't get enough salmon, really I don't.

Speaking of Mushing, I may start getting help pulling mommy around! You may remember my friend Charpentier the lab mix who got stuck in my collar, last year and that really scared me. Well, we're still buddies, although we sometimes get a little worried about playing rough with each other and now Charpentier is going to take up mushing! He has his own harness and everything and this weekend, if it's not too cold for our wimpy humans, or next week, mommy's going to try out a twwo-dog hitch with me and him! And there's another potential friend, Felony, a German Shepherd, who may want to come help me too, some time! This is all very exciting for me, I love pulling with friends around me, it's so much more fun than plodding around all by myself.

So woos from the frigid north,
Louka