When we brought him home on January 1, it was pretty clear that he had lived the first eleven years of his life without affection. He was unsure about being petted, he didn’t like us in his personal space, and hugs were out of the question. We gently doled out love any way we could and slowly he began to trust us. Since March, he's been letting me hug him when he gets out of the car, but not at any other time. C is fortunate to work from home and he and Avalanche have grown very close; although he always wants to be near C, Avalanche had never initiated any physical affection with either of us. The best way to describe it is that he's become accustomed to us loving on him, but has demonstrated no particular interest in reciprocating!
June rolled around and he starting doing little things once in a while that showed how comfortable he was becoming: chasing his toys, prancing around, and vocalizing (which is highly entertaining!). We hope to see these behaviors more and more and time goes on because they represent his metamorphosis.
The best moment so far happened one morning last week. We were about to head down to the kitchen for breakfast when C sat at the top of the stairs to pet Avalanche. This was not unusual, but Avalanche's response was...he was wagging his tail and then he leaned toward C and nuzzled his face into his chest! To others, a small and insignificant act. To us, pure magic.
I luckily had my phone and was able to get a pic. Did I cry? Of course! He’s learning what family is. What safety is. What unconditional love is.
This past weekend, we drove Avalanche up to Canada because he is staying with C's mom and dad while we travel, so we will be without him for 32 days. THIRTY-TWO DAYS! Although he's had five stays at kennels that were 3-4 days in length, and one long, 11-day stay when we went to Switzerland over Spring Break, we'll be gone for 25 days and that was just too long for him to be in a kennel, no matter how wonderful it is. We were spoiled for 23 years with our Dachshunds, as my mom watched them every time we went away, but a little Dachshund would be too difficult on her now, so a strong, sometimes stubborn, Husky is simply out of the question!
You may recall that back in April we went up to Canada so C's parents could meet him and they really hit it off, so we've been telling him for weeks that he was going to summer camp at their house!
It was hard to drive away without him on Sunday morning, but we know he's going to be extremely spoiled and loved while we are away!
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| C and Avalanche picked me up from school on Friday and we left for Canada from there |
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| we crossed the border around 1:15 am |
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| he was immediately at home! |
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| happy boy |
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| I did not want to leave him! |
Happy Tails to you!
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