The World’s Most Irritating Dog ™

It’s kinda rough watching a dog get older. Particularly when the dog has been your best buddy for over a decade and has always been so irrepressibly full of life. But, it has to be said Wiley is starting to slow down these days and since turning twelve last December has been acting stiff and sore when we’re returned from our weekend hikes. It hasn’t been an easy decision to make but I finally decided it was time to cut her back to shorter strolls around the neighborhood. She’s not too happy about it but that sentiment is not shared by Dog #2, referred to here in the past as "The World’s Most Irritating Dog ™". Sasha has coiled springs instead of muscles and the husky in her drives a primal need to run. So, she was over the moon at her field promotion to Official Hiking Companion.

I’d been resisting this for some time; not just because of my admitted favoritism, but because she’s never been an especially relaxing dog with which to hike. Northern breeds don’t tend to go much for the whole obedience thing and while it’s obvious she knows what the commands mean, she simply doesn’t feel the need to follow them. On the leash, her natural exuberance causes her to bounce around like a whirling dervish, while on the rare occasions she’s succeeded in getting off the leash, it’s "So long, suckers!". Oh, she’ll come back, but not until she’s good and ready. Usually about 2 hours after the neighbors are well and truly ticked off.

We knew all this about huskies before we adopted her and while I was somewhat captivated by their appearance, knew they weren’t the best breed for our lifestyle. However, when we saw this quiet, mellow and obedient dog sitting calmly in the pen while all around chaos reigned; and when we read the bio listing her as a "Collie Mix", well, we fell for it. One look at her face and you could tell this dog had husky in the ancestry but the body shape looked more like a collie and certainly the behavior had "Lassie" written all over it. The look of a husky with the personality of a collie? That sounded like a pretty good combination…didn’t it?

Dear Wife headed home to pick up our other two dogs (sadly, we lost Cleo a while back) for the meet ‘n’ greet and I used the time to run this potential new family member through her paces. I had kids petting her, big guys standing over her; I made sudden noises behind her back and walked her in and out of crowds. I introduced her to big dogs, mean looking dogs, repulsive little yappy dogs and not one thing, not one thing I did fazed her in the slightest. She simply gazed back at me with those enormous dark ringed eyes which said "When you’re done, let’s go home and start having fun."

"A little bit of training" I thought, "And we’ll have a pretty darn good dog on our hands".

No, it wasn’t until we’d completed the paperwork, handed over our $60 and walked her across the threshold that she reverted to her true personality. A quaking, nervous, nutso dog completely terrified by every aspect of modern life. Cars, automatic doors, people, other dogs, linoleum...everything was new and intimidating. I swear the shelter must have had her on valium. Still, over the four years we’ve had her she’s wormed her way into our hearts and with those beautiful eyes, her lovable appearance and affectionate nature, we’ve found ourselves excusing her for a multitude of sins.

If we could just rely on her to come back when called, we’d be able to give her much more exercise. Even long walks on a 4-foot leash isn’t enough for a dog with her energy and brain hard-wired to run. Sometimes when she’s especially bonkers we drive around the neighborhood with her running happily alongside the car; a practice that draws smiles or scowls from passers by depending upon their views on such a method of dog exercise. I take her with me when I run myself but at the pace my exercise program is progressing, she’ll be as old and slow as Wiley before I can tire her out.

As I said, she does know the command "Come", and will race up to us when called in the house or anywhere else enclosed. And she’s been behaving pretty well recently. So, this Saturday I decided to take a huge chance, and after hiking for an hour or so along a deserted trail, I put her in a ‘Sit’, reached down, unclipped the leash and gave her the magic word. "Okay!" And you know what? She behaved beautifully.

She explored the trail, the bushes, the frozen creek and the banking on either side, but she was never more than about 50 feet away and what was encouraging was that she kept checking to see where I was, as if she was afraid to get out of my sight. Three times I called her back to me, and each time she came. I petted her, told her what a good dog she was, and released her again. Away she went, and returned when I asked. This was going to work.

Of course, I knew that if a deer, a squirrel or worst of all, another hiker with a dog should appear she would take off to investigate – I wasn’t deluding myself that she was under full control or anything. But at least this meant that should I take her on an overnight camp, or a long hike far from other living creatures, I wouldn’t necessarily have to keep her tied to me at all times. I wouldn’t want her loose anywhere near traffic for example but maybe, just maybe, I might be able to make a decent hiking companion out of her after all.

I was thrilled, and ended up e-mailing people to let them know. "Guess what Sasha did today? Yes, and she came back each time. Isn’t that great?" I started making plans for future outings. Maybe the Colorado Trail might be do-able now. Certainly some of the local hikes.

"Pride cometh before a fall" sayeth some smart guy a while back. I didn’t fall exactly, just dropped the leash as I was pulling off my gloves while walking up the drive after our jog the next day. And my beautiful, obedient and reliable hiking companion took off. Straight into the neighbor’s yard. From where no amount of calling and coaxing would make her return.

Until she was good and ready that is.


The World’s Most Irritating Dog ™