Hi All,
Sitka is turning out to be a really great dog also. He plays well with my female,
and my male is tolerating him okay too. The greatest blessing is that I can walk
all three together, and that is a fun sight for the neighbors! Of course I am
still kenneling him when I'm gone at work, and he is pretty much willing to go in
there and curl up in the dog house. The neighbors have not complained about him
being noisy either. He has not made any further attempts to escape.
His latest adventure was this morning--his first trip to the local off-leash park
where I used to take Red Ash. Oh my, if you could just see the look on his face!
It was as if he had died and gone to heaven!
I was really cautious about letting him off-leash. For a little while there was a
weiner dog yapping at his feet and since his description says he is not good with
small dogs, I was concerned he would go after the little guy. But he was a
perfect gentleman.
He had the time of his life. My colleague came along with his two greyhounds. His
female greyhound can be a little aggressive--she took one look at Sitka's big
ears and just grabbed hold of one and wouldn't let go. She dragged him all over
the park by his ear and finally he just went belly up and we pulled her off him.
He was more bewildered than anything. Who would have thought a greyhound could
take down a malamute!
When we got down to the water, Sitka just ran along the beach knee deep. The male
greyhound is a swimmer. After about the third time watching that greyhound fetch
his toy out of the water, Sitka waded in deeper and deeper and all of a sudden he
was swimming. He loved the water! Couldn't keep him out of it after that!
He flushed a little bird out of a bush and chased it around for a good 3 minutes.
I don't know why the bird didn't fly higher, but for the longest time it flew
just at his eye level, and he was only about 5 feet behind it. He is amazingly
fast--and prey-driven!!
The funniest part of our adventure was trying to corral Sitka and get him back to
the car. Remember Barb's description of him running around the field with 3
people chasing him? Well, he would not let me or my friend near him so I was just
planning on staying there until he exhausted himself, when he ventured close to a
professional dog walker and I yelled out, "If you would just grab onto that
malamute I would be eternally grateful!" and she did. By the time I got to her,
she was saying, "Are you being a typical malamute?" Oh yeah.
I don't know Sitka nearly as well as Trixie, but from what I've seen so far, he
is a great dog, socialized properly by somebody anyway.
Cindy K.
And word from his new forever home with Marty!
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2004
From: Marty
Subject: Sitka is home
Dear Tina, Cindy & Cindy,
Sitka and I had an uneventful run home Friday. He rides well in the truck and seems to enjoy it. We went for a walk
that evening and met most of the neighbors. I wanted everyone to know him in case he gets away from me. After
introductions (and adorations from all) we completed a three-mile hike dwon the trail nearby. After a late dinner and a last
minute toilet walk, he crashed by the bed and slept till I awoke in the morning.
Yesterday was a wonderful time for us. A neighbor about a quarter mile away had asked me to do some tractor-work for
him, so Sitka and I went over late in the morning. The neighbor has a male golden-retreiver/golden lab mix about Sitka's
age, and a 1/3 acre backyard completely surrounded with a 5-foot cyclone fence. The challenge lay in the height of the
fence and what lives on the other side. A horse and a dog on one side, a dog, chickens and three cows on the other, and a
cow behind! Sitka showed strong interest in all of it, but he never attempted to jump the fence. After awhile he settled
in to playing with his new-found friend, Beau, and they chased each other around for hours. He slept like a log last night!
We started the day out with a walk this morning, but have stuck around home, as I was waiting for Sally to show up.
She was here a couple of hours ago and nodded approvingly at his kennel.
It has been interesting to observe the differences between Sitka and Dar. Sitka communicates with his body less than
his voice. He is also less obedient, but I suspect that part of that is confusion. When he does come to the "come" command
(which is not often), he does so submissively with his ears flat and head down. I suspect he came reluctantly or late for
his first owner, and got scolded for poor performance, which left him anticipating the scold with that command. I think he
may have confusion with his name and the "sit" command also. I am either going to change the "sit" command or his name, I
haven't decided which yet. Lots of biscuits too! I think he needs a lot of positive reinforcement, and as Cindy has noted,
he's a sucker for snacks.
I can't thank you all enough for making this happen and for the incredible job you've done for Sitka and the other
Malamutes that have come through your services. I will keep in touch on Sitka's progress. Take care for now.
Sincerely
Marty
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004
From: Marty
Subject: Sitka
Tina -
I think we can make it official, Sitka has found his new home for sure! Feel free to submit the check for processing.
I have submitted the paperwork to shift the microchip registration.
Sitka has been with me 24/7 since I picked him up, and he has bonded strongly. He gets a little anxious when I get
out of sight of him on the jobsite. When we get home he heads to the back door and waits for me to open it for him. So, at
this point, he knows who Dad is, and he knows where home is, and he seems very content with both!
I can report that he has some serious issues with horses. It doesn't seem to be aggressive; he has had close contact
with a couple on the lane. But he gets aggitated when he sees them. He even got aggitated in the house last Saturday when
someone drove by in front pulling an empty horse trailer. It leads me to believe his first owner had horses. It also leads
me to believe they drove off and abandoned him, possibly after a trail ride somewhere.
He is a joy. He socializes well with other people without being a nuisance (okay, he's a little pushy when there's
food involved). And Cindy K will be interested to know that he is developing a more alpha stance. He hasn't got in any
fights, but he definitely lets other dogs know who is going to be in charge, and it is he, not them.
My thanks again for all your help.
Regards,
Marty
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004
Subject: [WAMAL] Sitka update - happy tails
Cindy & Cindy,
?
I thought you might like an update.? I still don't have any photos for your
collection, but I will send one as soon as I do.?
?
Sitka and I are doing great.? We do a four to five mile walk daily, and we
visit his buddy, Beau on weekends which gets him some run and play time.? They
have really become great friends.? He passed one tremendous challenge at Beau's
about three weeks ago.? The fence there is only five feet high, and despite
the presence of horses, cows, chickens, two more dogs and rabbits on the other
side of the fence, Sitka made no attempt to go over!? He failed a couple of
other challenges however.? Someone opened the gate at Beau's the following week,
and Sitka blitzed out of it and ran, ignoring all manner of commands to come
back.?
?
I went after him in my truck, but he caught sight of a deer and disappeared
into the woods after it.? I drove home, thinking he would be most likely to
return there.? The folks at Beau's saw him about an hour later returning down the
lane, but as soon as they went out to call him he was off and running again.?
The kids gave chase on foot, and I picked them up in my truck.? Sitka stayed
on the lane this time but was running all out up the lane into the hills.? I
caught up with him, carefully passed him, and stopped about 100 feet ahead of
him.? He came up to the truck stopped, and laid down on the ground panting.?
Poor guy was run out!? He jumped in the truck on command and was pretty subdued
for the remainder of the day.
Runaway number two came just last Thursday night.? I was sitting in the
living room reading a magazine with the front and back doors open for ventilation
(it was a very warm day).? The screen doors were closed of course, but that
didn't matter.? Sitka was lying down at the front door.? He barked, sat up,
flipped the screen door latch open with his paw and was off and running before I
could even call his name.??I ran out after him in time to see his tail
disappearing up the hill behind the house in hot pursuit of the deer that had gotten
his attention.? I went back in the house for my glasses, but by the time I went
back out again, Sitka was nowhere to be seen or heard. I whistled and called
for a bit, though it was pretty clear to me that he wasn't going to respond.?
?
At that point it was dark out, and there didn't seem to be any point in
trying to find him.? I went back in the house and went to work in the office for
awhile.? About an hour later there was a knock at the front door.? My immediate
thought was, "Oh, God, Sitka's gotten into a neighbor's chickens or
something."? There was another "knock-knock-knock" at the door, and I went to see who it
was.? As I walked through the house there was a third "knock-knock-knock" at
the door.? It was Sitka!? He was sitting there, panting like crazy.? He
reached up and knocked on the door one more time with his paw, "Come on, Dad, let me
in.? I need a drink of water!"
?
What can you do?? He ran off, but he came home too.? I gave him hugs, tummy
rubs and a couple of biscuits and went to bed (with the doors closed!).
?
One final note.? Sitka has this wonderful habit at bed time.? He takes a
final drink of water as soon as I start turning the lights off in the house. Then,
when I get into bed, he jumps up and snuggles for about three or four minutes
before jumping down, curling up on the floor by the bed, and settling down
for the night.
?
All-in-all, I think we're making a great team.
?
Regards,
?
Marty
?
P.S.? Sitka really despises guns and fireworks.? He doesn't seem to be afraid
of them, but he gets agitated and barks a lot.? We stayed home for July 4th.
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