My name is GINA. I'm a lovable puppy; half Siberian Husky and half Golden Lab, with an interesting story to tell. Born in the spring of 1998, my early days as a puppy were no fun. My first masters had no idea what was involved in raising a puppy and their training efforts sucked. Fortunately, some neighbours advised the SPCA and I was rescued. After a couple months in recovery I was placed for adoption.
One autumn day the Craven family of Burns Lake visited the shelter looking for a puppy. I couldn't get out of that cage and into their car fast enough. They took me home where I spent my first winter. Unfortunately, they lived right next to a main highway and the only dogs I could play with were on the other side. I had to run the traffic gauntlet daily. So, with the very real possibility of me ending up on as road kill, I was once again placed for adoption.
In March of 1999 I came home with Ann Sandercott. Now I live with Ann and Alan in a rural area of central British Columbia, Canada with a beautiful view overlooking Francois Lake. I have a huge 4000 sq. foot fenced compound. Shortly after I arrived, my masters built me a big insulated doghouse with windows and it even has a mailbox and Christmas lights, but I'm still waiting for electric heating. I get just as much junk mail as my masters. Hey, I received a letter from the Royal Bank one day with an application for a platinum credit card. If any of you other dogs out there want to know how to get your own credit card, contact me.
My compound has wild Saskatoon berry bushes, a crabapple tree, an apple tree, strawberries and peas, all mine! There's also a few big cottonwood trees, some poplar and spruce trees. I also have a gazebo where I can lay and watch the world go by. I get to go for 2 - 3 walks a day, even in the rain. I eat regularly and there's an extra bag of dog food stored in my house (my security blanket).
I spent the first summer getting to know my new masters and marking my new territory. For some reason they took me to Obedience School. I didn't care much for all that 'sit' and 'stay' stuff - pretty boring. The agility test, however, now that was fun! I achieved 138 points out of 140 - took the blue ribbon for first place. My master was very pleased.
Summers are great here at the lake. My masters work in the yard while I keep the bears away. Lots of black bears here. They're well trained, I bark and they climb trees. Lots of fun. Plenty of deer around here too. They come in mostly at night to eat my master's flowers. I bark, but they know I'm locked in my compound so they keep on eating. There's not too many dogs around here but there is a fat cat next door by the name of "Kacey" that actually likes me. Then there's the fox den back in the bush near my compound. I can hear the pups each spring. One fox named "Tawney" came around the compound all the time to visit. I had to watch my food.
Summer is also a great time for wading in the lake and fishing. I love smoked rainbow trout. I really like riding in the car and get to go on all the shopping trips to Prince George. Staying in the motel is pretty neat, and boy, do I love MacDonald's drive-through!
Being a husky, the winters up here are great. Lots of snow but I don't like the real cold weather. The rule of thumb of -10C to get indoors has laxed somewhat. I don't think they have the heart to disturb me when I'm curled up on the love seat in the living room (I hope, I hope). Now let me think, where would I rather sleep on a wintery night . . . outside in the cold or indoors by the fireplace??? I wonder???
Winter also means Santa Claus. During my first Christmas my master sent a letter to Santa for me. A while later I received a reply from Santa signed, "Santa, (ruff - ruff)." I guess that meant I was on his list! (and I was). That Christmas morning I had my own stocking stuffed with goodies. Now I'll never bark at his reindeer again.
Now that I've been here a few years I'm feeling right at home. I have the run of the house when I'm indoors and the run of the yard when I'm outdoors, almost. I hear rumours that I'm getting a new deck this year and a teeter-totter, what ever that is.
Time passes fast when you're having fun. I'm getting on in years now and a touch of the 'ol rheumatism, while painful at times, earns me a bed indoors now on the cool nights. Fortunately I have lots of windows to keep an eye on the wildlife. It's a tough life but I'm not complaining, too much.
More time passes. It's half way through 2009. I'm about 77½ years old (in dog years). Now I have something to complain about; I slipped and twisted a back leg, rupturing a ligament in my knee leaving me limping badly. A trip to the doctor in Prince George confirms the injury and recommends surgery to implant a temporary ligament while my knee heals. For the last few weeks I've been restricted to the house, no excitement or unnecessary movement of the leg, no running or jumping, and worst of all NO WALKS!! I still spend short periods in my compound but I can't chase the squirrels and they seem to realize that and tease me even more than normal. I'm not looking forward to an operation and hope, with the aid of medication, my knee will heal naturally. Grumble, grumble %@$##%* . . .
So much for healing naturally!! I had to have the operation. After shaving off a huge patch of my beautiful fur(picture in my photo gallery), the doctors cut open my knee and inserted an artificial crutiate ligament to hold my knee joint together. I was stuck in the hospital for three days feeling sorry for myself. I thought my masters had deserted me untill they showed up to collect my sorry butt and take me home. Thank God for pain medication!!
It's now the onset of winter. Fortunately my fur is slowly growing back as the temperatures outside continue to drop. I'm back to walking daily, only not as far or as easy as before. Looks like I'll be limping the rest of my life. Now I'm an indoor dog and I spend all my time sleeping, shedding fur and staring out the window. Maybe by next summer . . .
Well spring has sprung and here I am, a little older and a little more crippled. Apparently I'm now the senior in the house, what ever that means. Winter was good, considering I'm now an indoor Husky. My leg continues to heal and my daily walks have resumed to some degree of normal. I now know how I hurt my leg; my masters ripped out a bunch of carpet last summer and put in new laminate flooring. Standing and moving around for me is like trying to dance on a ice skating rink. So to reduce the chance of further injury they placed mats all over the place. There's more throw rugs in the house now than a Persian Rug Factory, but at least I'm not sliding around any more.
Oh, I must tell you about something else that happened out here at the lake. There's a neighbour's cat from down the road that ran away from home and decided to adopt me. It moved into my dog for the winter, just because it's insulated and warm. To make matters worse my masters started feeding the thing. Now it thinks this is her new home. Any time I go outside she rubs up against me. How humiliating!! My masters think it's kind of cute - I think she's nothing but a pain in the butt and I don't need any more pain!
