Kaiyah

Walking the dog

We go on frequent walks with Kaiyah, our Siberian Husky. She doesn’t listen to us very well, so has usually been confined to a leash.

Most recently, though, we’ve become a little more adventurous and have started walking her without the leash. We only do that when we take to the hills across the road. There are several acres of sage brush and weeds where we have little chance of encountering other people or dogs during our walk.

Just to ensure that Kaiyah doesn’t run off, we have purchased an electric dog training collar with a remote button that we can push to give her a little zap to remind her that she should listen to us.

It has worked very well. In addition to the zapper button, it also has a button that makes a little beeper tone for her. That what we use most of the time. She rarely pushes things to the point that we have to use the “other” button, anymore.

siberian-husky-resting

We still have a few places where a little shade has kept the snow from melting. Our silly snow dog runs from one to the next, stopping to roll in the snow, lay on it, eat it. I guess she knows and understands her purpose in life.

snow-dog

Kaiyah and Her Block of Ice

When the temperature around our home reached single digits, we had to make it a point to give Kaiyah, our Siberian Husky fresh water several times each day. Usually we just add a layer of fresh water on top of the ice in her bowl until it reaches several inches thick. Then we pound out the ice and start over.

I usually knock the ice out of her bowl somewhere outside her kennel, but a few nights ago, someone left the big block of ice inside her kennel. This block was about 12 inches in diameter and at least 3 inches thick. I’d say it would have to have been at least 5-10 pounds of ice. More on this later.

I got to bed a little late one night. I needed to be up around 4:00 a.m. the next morning, so 11:00 is way to late to settle down at night. I was very tired, so sleep came to me swiftly.

I awoke about 1:30 a.m. to the sound of Kaiyah whining. I was annoyed at being awaken, but chose to ignore her and attempt to get back to sleep.

The whining continued. Around 2:30, I climbed angrily out of bed and began to dress. My wife stopped me and convinced me that going out would only reinforce her whining, as she would know that if she whines long enough, she will get what she wants. It was likely that a coyote was hanging around and Kaiyah just wanted to go play.

Finally, around 3:30, after continued whining, I got up and went to the other end of the house and curled up on a couch to get a brief nap before I had to get up and around.

I overslept and was a little late for work, therefore, I was in a big hurry and wasn’t able to tend to Kaiyah before leaving.

Around 8:00, Leslie called me from home and exclaimed, “You won’t believe what happened to Kaiyah!”

All kinds of horrible thoughts bounced around in my head. I replied, “Oh no, what’s wrong?”

She told me this story….

Leslie walked out the garage door to tend to Kaiyah. Kaiyah sat and looked at Leslie without moving.

That is highly unusual. Kaiyah is pretty high strung and always is on her hind legs, jumping up and down in her kennel when people come around…..but this time, Kaiyah just sat.

Leslie asked, “What’s wrong, Kaiyah.”

Kaiyah sat and looked.

Again, Leslie asked, “What’s wrong, Kaiyah.”

Slowly, Kaiyah began to stand.

It was at that moment, that Leslie saw that the big block of ice was stuck to Kaiyah’s butt. No wonder she was whining all night! Who wouldn’t whine if they had a 10 pound block of ice stuck to their butt.

Leslie slowly helped Kaiyah into the garage and began to pour warm water over the ice to get it to release it’s grip on Kaiyah’s butt hairs.

When it finally fell off, Kaiyah immediately became herself again, and jumped up and down, excitedly asking for food.

Does this make us bad parents?

I’m so sorry – we have no photos.