Sitka's new family

So we had a big decision to make.  Friday night, we gave a call to the breeder, and though four out of five puppies had been claimed from her June litter, she just had a fresh one which is what all her customers were interested in, so Cisco was being sold at a lower rate.

This was the cool part for me.  We got to the breeder, and I feel like I learned a lot about huskies just in the time we were there.  This gal and her husband, both retired, had about 20 huskies, and probably more Corgis, and some Shelties.  We got to see Sitka (then called Cisco) being trained by his mom, Uneka, to fight back at attackers.  It was fascinating, while she and a bunch of the other dogs were playing and we were talking with the breeder, she had him pinned against a fence with his neck in her jaws, like completely, doing it as long as it took for him to learn to defend himself.  He gave a pretty serious yip one time.  We totally don't understand dogs and their behavior.  This was completely normal, but if someone in a pet store at the mall saw that behavior, they'd be terrified.

After some time, Cisco became a lot more comfortable running to us and playing with us.  Not like it was some magical connection, but it was cool to see.  Some of the dogs were really calm (Cisco's dad), anxious, friendly, suspicious, or energized (Cisco's mom).  All of them enjoyed some bouts of wrestling, nipping, and tackling.  haha one time Cisco's dad bowled into his mom and completely sent her rolling around on the ground lol.

When we took him outside of the fence, momma's fears were confirmed, and she knew that her baby was leaving.  It was heart-wrenching to see.  She and her champion bloodline were running up and down the fence as we pulled Sitka out of the gate with his new and very unnatural leash.  We were told that after we took him away, especially after giving him a bath, he'd never be treated the way that he was among that pack of dogs again.  It's a tough thing to do to a dog.

I don't know if the little fella had ever been in a car before, but we had put a sheet down in the car and plopped him down on the back seat, and Theresa climbed in next to him.  He really didn't know what to make of it.  After a bit he sat his butt down, but was fighting the urge to lie down or close his eyes.  About 45 minutes later we stopped at North White high school for a water/potty break, and he was still lacking confidence in his surroundings (of course!) so we couldn't really pull him anywhere on the leash.  Eventually he was walking around and whatnot, and for the next half of the ride home, he was far happier, and actually laid himself down.

Walmart was next!  Theresa went in to get some things and Sitka and I went to a grassy spot in the back of the parking lot to hang out.  He showed some interest in other people while we were there, and when we got back to the car to get going he put his little paws up on the doorsill!  Awww... daddy's so proud!!

Then the pet supply store.  We knew this would be over-stimulating.  The guy was totally out of his element when we first went in, so I carried him around until we met another little 10 week fluffy mutt puppy.  Both of them had just left their old families!!  They were good for each other, and although he was really uncomfortable with strangers at first, it really helped him out when he was forced to interact with them.  By the time we left the store, he was a ripe little social butterfly!

It was quite a day already, but after we got home and had our first accident, it was off to a church picnic for dinner (mom and dad had been practicing foregoing their own needs all day.  This really is a foretaste of our little baby girl soon to come), where he did great eating dinner (dog food, fear not) and then it was home for a bath.  Goodness gracious, we didn't let him off easy, huh!

Sitka at the picnic!  He was a hit, and loved it!

Sitka, the little bathtime pro!!

Bathtime was, miraculously, a breeze.  Who's heard of Huskies that like water??  Well here's one.  He was totally fine and indifferent to the whole affair.  I'd even dare to say he liked it.

Needless to say, after a day like that, he slept great.  There was another accident in there, but while he was in his kennel he kept it clean.  Morning rolled around without him waking us up or whimpering or anything.



That morning we had to leave him for church, and I think we were both thinking about him the whole time lol.  There's definitely a new little Stonesifer!  If we keep telling ourselves that, we'll believe it happened.

Playdates and visits are welcome!  We'd love to get him meeting as many new people and dogs as we can.

Welcome to the newest little Stonesifer!

Though you may not have known it, there had been a competition between two opposing dimensions of Drew and Theresa's life going on for quite some time now - which would come first - the Husky, or the Human?  Really since we first started dating, the heavenly bodies representing the two fates started collecting followers and assembling for the inevitable battle, and in the past few months, they were in all-out warfare!  It looked like team Human would win out, but team Husky had apparently sent for the Riders of Rohan and swooped in for a swift and dominating win at the end!  After the whole battle, here's who we got!

Doesn't he look so grown up? :) hehe

a long day!

So, for the sake of chronicling and storytelling, the talk of Siberian Huskies began some time ago (like the over-analogized battle above).  To make a long story shorter, there was time when we were very seriously dating, and Theresa was facing inner turmoil because we thought I was allergic to dogs.  For multiple years, we thought there was a serious possibility that we wouldn't be able to get a dog (or deny ourselves and get a poodle or something).  After that, I began conducting scientifically rigorous experiments like burying my face in Theresa's husky, Klondike, at her parents' house, or letting him get into my clothes to make sure I brought as much of him back with me as I could.  The results were good!  We determined that I was allergy-free!

When we moved to Boston, we pretty much knew we wouldn't be able to get a dog.  Finding an apartment in the Boston area that allows dogs, let alone huskies, is difficult, and exceedingly expensive.  So we delayed.

Moving to Lafayette, a decidedly more dog-friendly area (or maybe less dog-unfriendly - sorry Boston!), we could afford ourselves accommodations that would allow for a puppy.  So we picked a place that had no breed restrictions (even though huskies are the friendliest dogs after pomeranians), relatively small additional expenses, and a dog park! what?! crazy.  Oh yea, and things for us like a bedroom and a shower.

For a few months, Theresa and I were too busy with classes for the both of us, so while we still talked about husky names as much as baby names, we put off getting a dog for a slightly more sane time.  She finished her classes a few weeks ago, and after hosting my parents for a lovely visit and some job applications and things, we felt we had a short window to housetrain a puppy before the baby came.  After all, we're not that crazy.  :)

Since the going rate for huskies in Indiana varies from $650 to Christmas-gift-for-my-princess, when Theresa saw a listing that met our qualifications - breeder, offered AKC registration, seemed as professional and clean as we could tell online - for $400, well, that was when the Riders of Rohan showed up, and team Human was ambushed and sent running with its tail between its legs (hehe), with little time to mount a counter-defense.

Part 2 about his first day will come tomorrow!