I have been a animal lover since I can remember, and although I have many stories about rescue’s, one in particular I’d like to share with you. Shauna was her name, an Alaskan Malamute, silver and white with brown eyes. Looked very much like a timber wolf. She weighed in at 135 pounds. This dog was so mistreated she put 75 stitches in the neighbor where she came from, he thought it was fun to spray her with the garden hose. The kids in the neighborhood threw rocks and poked her through the fence with sticks. When I got her, I wasn’t to sure even about my safety. She had a mistrust for kids like I had never seen before, violently snapping and barking when kids came over or walked by my yard. I installed a 6 foot high privacy fence, not to just protect her, but to protect others in case she got loose. That wasn’t the friend I had to put to sleep years later, the friend I put down loved kids and loved me. My friends all marveled how wonderful Shauna had become and how much they liked petting her and being around her. How did she change? I earned her trust and yet I was her master. My room mates would always know when I was on my way home at all hours of the day or night, cause she would start to howl and prance around, she had a sixth sense. The best friend a guy could ever want, she was it. Trusting, devoted and yet smart. I had a Ham radio in those day’s, you know, a fancy ham radio that the other guys would drool over, with a hands free type feature, where you could just talk at the microphone and it would transmit. Anyway, Shauna had buddies all over the country she would say hello to.

Oh by the way, Shauna had a vocabulary of about 50-60 words you could understand. When it was time to go potty she would grab my arm and pull me out of bed, but gently. One day a guy wanted to stop by and see my Rig, (ham radio) anyway she stood by me and wouldn’t let him in more than 5 feet. I told a number of her buddies on the radio what happened and they all told me that he was a liberal, who had screwed them over one time or another, he even stole stuff from them. The trust I had for her judgement of others was proven time and time again. In a neighborhood where many thieves broke in, my home was never touched. She wouldn’t even take meat from a stranger. The reason I put her down was hip dysplasia. Being 135 pounds made the problem become unbearable for her and the med’s I had to give her took away this wonderful dog’s ability to walk without falling, so I took her in to the vet. The vet wanted me to hold her while he euthanased her. I couldn’t do it, I left in tears and it took me months to get over it. A grown man, I couldn’t believe how I felt, after all, this was a dog, but she had become my best friend. Did she do tricks? Naw, she was her own dog when it came to tricks, yeah she spoke words,talked on the radio,would come when I called, but sit, lay down, shake hands, forget it. She understood me and knew what I wanted her to do. I never knew a dog who was so socialized, who made friends so fast, I even took her to a few rest homes where she’d climb up to lick the face of the elderly and lay her head in their lap. She had some pals in her rescued life and I was glad to have known her. I miss her even to this day. She drew her last breath mothers day 1989.

Thanks Mark, I know this isn’t the best story you ever heard about a dog, but I know you appreciate it.

Your pal in radio land,

Brian from Mn