I'm not done growin' yet, this was taken in late March,
but I got a good start and I already outweigh my frien' Lizzy!
MY YUKON ADVENTURE is continuing! I made it through the long cold old Yukon winter, and I even managed to grow some fur on my tummy before it was over. I discovered it's not so bad when you have a good doghouse, and 'long towards February the sun starts to feel warm again. I realise I was really a greenhorn Cheechako Chinook when I arrived up here, but I think I'm a Sourdough Sleddog now.
My Dear Lifetime Boss
I want to tell you all that I'm one lucky li'l Chinook gal, because I found the Boss of my dreams! I took a terrible risk when I went to the Yukon because I didn't know WHAT I would find there, either people or dogs. And I lucked out big time, because this man is really good to me. I mean, he's got all those lovely Seppalas already. He didn't have to make a special place for me, but I've got a super castle doghouse right down beside his shack, and anytime I really want to come inside for a visit and a snooze on the bed, he lets me in. I only have to stay on my chain tether when he's away somewhere, but not at night any more.
He invites me in a lot, and I respect that. I mean, if he says, "No Janis, you stay outside," then that's it, and I don't complain or whine. Because he's really FAIR to me, and if I really want in, I know I'll be let in. Funny, since I grew up some and got this nice coat you see in my pictures, I've discovered I'm really basically an outdoor gal. I stay in for a nice visit, and then I ask to go out again. (I NEVER thought I'd do that!)
All My New Friends
I have really found my place at Seppala Kennels! I LOVE all the li'l Seppala puppies and I never get tired of them. Boss has taught me a new command: "Gentle!" means I must not chew hard on them or knock them down, and I just lie down and let them crawl all over me. Boss says I'm a regular "Mary Puppins" whatever that means. My only problem is I don't know WHICH LITTER is my favourite, and I'm starting to think it's whichever one is the newest and smallest. Right now that's Pia's kids Ulan, Uelen and Ulma. Pia has left them in my care 'cause she didn't have any more milk, and she knows I'm so good with them. So they are still in the little puppy-pen beside the shack, and every morning Boss lets them out of the pen for playtime with me while he fixes their breakfast. Those three little guys eat more than I do!
My other favourites are the F-litter: Fury, Fram, Fridtjof (the boys) and Fosca and Freya the girls. They are six months old, about as tall as me but they don't weigh as much. I tell you, we have some TIMES in the exercise yard together! I never saw anybody RUN like those guys. I can keep up with them if I try hard enough, but after half an hour of it I feel like a wet dishrag. Boss says I look like one, too, 'cause they roll me in the dirt a lot. But they don't mean any harm.
There are a whole bunch of others I like, too, like the G's and the I boys and the O's. I mean, I watched ALL of them grow up from little tiny things this winter, and so in a way they are all "my puppies" and I'm their "Nanny" or their "Auntie," like.
So I'm really happy in the Yukon and I have a real important purpose in my life, which is to be a friend to the puppies and to care for them after their mothers wean them. I think I'm a very lucky gal to have a Boss whom I adore, and something important to do with my life. As long as the puppies keep coming, I'll feel content and fulfilled. I wonder if maybe some day I might have some puppies of my own but I'm still too young to worry about that very much. I just wonder what will happen this summer -- will I have some adventures to tell Missy Susan and Master Jack?
Love and doggy-kisses to the Homebody Howlers and all my family in Maine!
HOWLIN YUKON JANIS
Photos Copyright J. Jeffrey Bragg and/or Isa Boucher.
