Today is Christmas Day and I finished reading your book. Needless to say, I had a box of tissues next to me almost all the time. There are many dogs out there that were abandoned by their owners just because they did not know how to properly train them and take care of them. Seeing that you had a dog that grew up in your household and then rescued another one pretty much reminds me of what we did.

Both my husband and I always talked about getting a dog. One year after we bought our house, in 2005, we were deciding on the breed when our friend let us know that his Dam, Sable, was pregnant. She had a litter of 8 puppies in June and our friend let us choose one. Sable and Syrus (the Sire) were purebred Siberian Huskies, dark gray, black and white with blue eyes. We saw the puppies the day after they were born and noticed this one apart from the litter, with a big butt. I wanted to know what it was and asked it to turn around. It did not take long for the puppy to turn on its back with its legs up in the air (I think coincidence played a bigger role on this one). I just thought that was adorable and asked our friend to keep an eye on her until we decided. Every time we went back to check on them, this puppy would walk towards us and follow us everywhere in the house. Two months later, Fiona came home with us.

We then started to house train her and took her to Puppy Training, after a thorough check with the Vet. We started to learn that the training goes for us and not the dogs and I am so happy we did it. Fiona was a lovely puppy but with a mind of her own. It was hard to train her, but she got through the basics. Of course it was (and it still is not) 100% perfect all the time, but as we had problems, we would learn how to take care of them.

When Fiona was 8 months old, and our hearts were breaking to pieces as we left to work every day, we decided she needed a companion. Because we were so thankful for having a healthy and nice dog in our home, we thought it would be a good idea to rescue another Husky. We checked the BASH (Bay Area Siberian Husky Rescue Group in California) website and found Kita’s picture.

Kita is also a pure bred Husky, but she is caramel/off white color with the most beautiful brown eyes. Your picture of Sprite totally reminds me of her. Kita was abandoned in the street by her previous owners because she eats soap, counter cruises and jumps. The last one, of course, we learned to deal with by hotwiring our house. However, despite these problems, Kita is a wonderful dog with a great temperament. We brought Fiona with us when we went to see her and they both got along right away.

Kita was 1 year old and already housetrained. She came home with us in January, 2006. Even though she liked her new family, it took her a few months to adapt to her new home. That was probably why she jumped the fence a few times in the first 3 months with us. Today, Kita is a happy and secure dog. She loves to play and to go out with us (even if just for a car/truck ride). She is actually Daddy’s girl. Her world is not complete unless he shows her his love, which he does all the time.

Today they are both 2 years old and with lots of energy. We always jog with them or have them pull us on rollerblades. It is a blast to have them and I cannot imagine our lives without them anymore. I think it goes both ways, because we can tell they are not very happy when either my husband or I are out of the house.

I found out about your book 2 weeks ago when I was flying to Boise, ID. We are relocating from California after I accepted a job offer in this area. I flew on Saturday, 12/15, by myself to get the keys to our leased house and to start my new job on Monday. I was feeling down leaving my husband and my puppies behind. They were not a bit happy, either. At the airport, in San Jose, I went to look for magazines and was about to leave when I spotted this picture of a dog that reminded me of Kita. I did not think twice about buying it. I started to read it on the plane and cried. The reason why it took me so long to finish was because I was crying all the time I read it, so I had to pace myself.
Last Friday, back in California, as we were packing to drive to Idaho, we forgot to close the gate when we brought the dogs to the backyard. Next thing you know, they are both running free on the streets. Siberian Huskies should never be left off leash, so we knew better than leaving the gate open. My husband grabbed the flashlight and told me to jump on my car while he walked to look for them. It turns out they were not far from our house. They saw me in my car and started to follow me (I did not notice that). As we were getting close to the park where we jog, I saw them and opened the car door to them to no avail. They ran inside the park and disappeared. By then my husband had caught up with me. I was thinking that this was the last time I was going to see our puppies and started to pray to San Francisco, the saint who protects animals. Kita and Fiona ran back from the other side of the park but would not come as we called. Soon, two kids walked by out of nowhere and both dogs ran to them. My husband told the kids they did not bite and asked them to hold them by their collar. The kids petted the dogs; Kita turned around and walked towards my husband, while Fiona stayed to get more love from those kids. I walked towards them and could not thank those kids enough. I was crying and the kids were enjoying playing with them. I like to think my prayer worked. Both dogs have a huge medal of San Francisco which I brought from Brazil with me after visiting my family.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I’m sure Sprite left this world thankful for having such a wonderful family who took care of him in his last years. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
P.S.- By the way, how nice that you had a Brazilian family who lived next door to you. I am also from Brazil and have been in the US for 17 years, now.

Mylene and Martin from ID