Key and the Blond

I've wondered if dogs really understand more that we give them credit? I think they do. Case in point: Our two dogs, Key, a black and tan mixed Black Lab and Juliet, an older black and white Whippet,  have been together through thick and thin for over 5 years. A trip of over 10,000 miles to Alaska and back in 2008, a trip to the 2009 Good Sam Rally in Albuquerque where we encountered over 2500 RVs and about half as many dogs for a few interesting days. Then we continued on to San Diego, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City before coming back home to Fort Worth. In 2010, we made a trip to New York City, then to Key West and back to Fort Worth. Everyone weathered all this, including me. Since that time we have stayed close to home with local short trips around Texas. I could see the wear and tear on both of our dogs....none of us are as young as we use to be......but Juliet who is older than Key, began to have difficulties and developed muscle and stability problems. She began having problems jumping up on the bed, (her normal sleeping spot) and jumping down out of our SUV. It finally got to where she would wait to see if I was going to come around and lift her down. Linda and I noticed she was losing her appetite and seemed to be losing weight. We decided to make a appointment to see Dr. Blue.

That same weekend, some very good friends and avid dog lovers called us and ask if we could possibility take in another dog; something that Linda and I have discussed many times. Left up to my loving wife, there would not be a stray dog on this side of town. However, the story of how this new dog became lost, or abandoned, was too compelling to reject out of hand, so we decided to meet them at the local Pet Mart store to look at her. It seems that this dog was seen hanging around a home in the neighborhood that appeared to be vacant. Our friends believed that the people moved out and left their dog there. I can't understand how anyone could do that. Anyway, this was no ordinary dog. She is a beautiful white Siberian Husky with a hint of amber coloring across the back. Key was mesmerized and also sensed that he was in love. The attention from Key was not rejected at all. They played and did the normal doggy things that dogs do. Juliet stood by with a certain amount of disdain but she would not interfere. That's just the way she was. Key and Juliet took a running jump into the back of the Tahoe and Linda and our new dog got in the back seat. As soon as we got moving, Key started barking like I had never heard him bark before. Linda said "What in the world is he barking at"? I looked at Key in the rear view mirror. He had wide open eyes and ears pointed high and his barking seemed to be saying "Hey, I just wanted to have some fun. I didn't know we were taking this girl home" I laugh every time I think of that look on his face.

So....we did it.....added another dog to our family. She was easily named Amber and it was not long before she had learned  her name...it seemed like it was only a few days. Even Juliet seemed OK with the addition. Juliet got along with all dogs or at least she never  reacted aggressively toward other dogs. So it seemed that all was well. It would be a threesome, so to speak. Juliet, in her own way,

would just acknowledge the presence of Amber by just touching her with the nose and then find a comfortable place to observe while Key tried to keep up with the rough house playing that Amber brought to the activity. Juliet never was one to rough house, and by the looks of things, Key had his paws full trying to match Amber's energy. So far all is well. We learned some things that we didn't know, or at least forgot about Huskies. They howl and very seldom bark. Amber will just walk right up to you, look straight at your face and howl a long, long sound, moving  her mouth to shape each note to form the words she wants to say. We do think she was crate trained because she loves to isolate herself in the large wire cage, in the corner of the living room. We call it "her safe house". Key won't go in there unless you put him in there; nether  will Juliet. The spent plenty of time in that thing on the several long RV trips we have made when we had to leave them at the RV for a while.  So Amber has it pretty much to herself. All is good.