Thursday, January 27, 2011

Gizmo the Dog (Photo) Sometimes He's a Knucklehead, Too!

Gizmo is part of my team of Huskies and he is the Boss Dog around my house. I got this pair of dogs from a shelter. They were so small at 8 weeks old, you could hold them both in one hand.
Their mom was a Siberian Husky.

Gizmo, according the the vet, is half Chow. His brother, Rufus, is half Japanese Shiba. So, I figure, if I have two mutts that are half Husky, when you add it all up, I have a Siberian Husky. Do the math and you can figure it out yourself.

In my lifetime I've probably had 30 or 40 different dogs. The Huskies are the best. They are strong, smart, protective of the family and not noisy or mean-tempered. They are just amazing animals. But, every once in awhile, just like people THEY CAN BE KNUCKLEHEADS !

Last Saturday morning Gizmo woke me up a 5AM, as usual, when he heard the newspaper being delivered. The dogs know they don't get walked until Papa finishes reading the morning news and chugs about a quart of iced coffee. Once the newspaper is done and folded, they start jumping around begging me to put on their harnesses so, they can drag me to the beach.

These dogs are getting up there in age. They are going on 12 years old. Gizmo doesn't like long 12 hour walks in the hot sun, anymore. He moves a bit slower in the summertime. But, when it's freezing cold outside, he's like a young pup, all over again.

The critters were surprised when I threw the newspaper on the kitchen table, downed one cup of coffee and said "Let's go sampo-sampo". That's Japanese for walking around, walking around.
Did I mention, these guys are also bilingual ?  Well, they got that way hanging around with me.

There wasn't time for me to be reading the paper. I wanted to get my cameras ready and go shooting CHERRYBLOSSOMS with Doc. So, I was on the road with the dogs way before sunup.

It was cold outside and they were grinning and tugging, giving me my daily workout, all the way downhill to the beach. One full-grown Siberian Husky can pull one ton of weight loaded on a sled or wagon. I know this from reading the Siberian Huskies For Dummies book. Awesome !

Anyway, coming back up the hill, Gizmo started slowing down. He didn't want to stay in front of me. Something was wrong. He was walking slow alongside me. I slowed down and looked at him but, it was dark out so, I couldn't see what was wrong.

Soon, he was falling behind. Just one dog was up front doing all the pulling. I slowed down and reigned in Rufus on a shorter leash. Gizmo was moving so slow I figured maybe he was having a heart attack. He kept stopping. Then, I'd coax, pull and drag until we finally made it home.

Damn, I hate it when an old friend dies. But, it happens all the time.

So, I unleashed and unharnessed the dogs at the house, grabbed my camera gear and went.

All day long, in the back of my mind, was Gizmo. Coming back down from a day of shooting in the mountains, I told Doc "It looks like Gizmo's number may have come up. I may have to have him put to sleep".

When I got home there he was, wagging his tail, talking to me and jumping up for a pat on the head. And, that's when I saw what was wrong with him. See the choker chain hanging around his neck in the photo ?

SOMEHOW, THE KNUCKLEHEAD INSERTED HIS LEFT PAW INTO IT AND MANAGED TO GET HIS WHOLE LEG, ALL THE WAY UP TO HIS FREAKIN ARMPIT, THROUGH THE CHAIN HANGING AROUND HIS NECK !

It would take a bolt cutter to get a stainless steel chain off of him quickly and I didn't have one handy. So, we rolled around on the floor snapping and growling at each other until I managed to contort his left arm enough to get the damn thing out of there.

There's nothing wrong with the dog except, maybe, a little choker chain rash under his armpit and for being such a smart dog, sometimes he's a knucklehead, too !  That's my Gizmo.

SEE THE PHOTO OF THE DAY ON MY HOMEPAGE

4 comments:

Nancie said...

He' beautiful! I'm glad his condition was just being a knucklehead and nothing serious!

RyukyuMike said...

Nancie,
Oh, he's just fine, now. Incredible strength in those born-to-pull animals!

allaboutourdogs said...

He looks like a lion! You can see that he is truly a boss. He has a mean but adorable face. He is also photogenic. He knows how to look at the camera.

Cheers,
Nicole, siberian husky training expert

RyukyuMike said...

Nicole,
Checked yur link and, though I don't usually approve, liked your site and will permit it.

Cheers,
Mike