The Dusty Dog

The Dusty Dog

As I resurrect my blog, I feel compelled to start with an article about the Dusty Dog. In lots of ways, she was the inspiration for this blog, and one thing I noticed as I was looking at the dates of my last articles is that I basically stopped writing here when she fell ill in May 2007. I did try to come back, but I guess I wasn't ready. I am now.

This article is a tribute to that great dog.

Those of you who are reading this who never knew Zuki, the Dusty Dog, have probably already surmised that she is deceased. After falling ill in May with severe arthritis in her lumbar spine, she required surgery to get her walking again. That surgery was a resounding success. But, after about six weeks, she went down again. This time, her diagnosis was fibrocartilagenous embolism (FCE) of her cervical spine. It rendered her, a 110 lbs German Shepherd/wolf mix, a quadriplegic. Zuki was humanely euthanized on July 18, 2007.

The name of this site is my tribute to her. As I was developing this blog in 2005, I was sitting at my computer trying to come up with a clever name for the blog, when she came into the house from her den under the front porch. I hated that she went under there. She always came out filthy. Anyway, when she walked in, I put my hand on her back, resulting in a huge cloud of dust that flew up into the room. My site was named.

When I adopted her from a shelter, she was only 1-1/2 years old, and I was her fourth owner. She was a mess. A gigantic scared, untrained and I do believe, a dangerous animal. I really started to think that I bit off more than I could chew. But, if she and I could not make it work, I promised her that she'd never spend another day in a shelter. I promised her that I would drive her out to Minnesota to a wolfdog rescue facility, if necessary. And so the challenge began.

First, she had to learn how to not hate or fear men. That was the most dangerous aspect of her behavior. It took a ton of work, and many men who I managed to coerce to test her as I trained her. She always continued to hate/fear the men whom she first met when I got her, though newer acquaintances were more acceptable to her. She also had to learn how to ride in a car. Her fear of cars was inexplicable, though I'm sure her car sickness had something to do with it. She had to learn basic commands - walk on a leash, sit, down, stay, come, and of course, paw. She was a quick study, but she was also strong willed. She knew what I wanted, but teaching her that obedience was not optional was the challenge. She had to learn not to chew on my electronics (palm pilot, TV remote, cell phone). But, the most goddess awful challenge was overcoming her horrifically severe separation anxiety. All in all, the training took two years, and two trainers. I think I was the challenge for trainers more than the dog.

Zuki was a gorgeous dog. She was a wolf hybrid, mixed with German Shepherd, and I think the most shepherd part of her was her ears. Pure shepherd. Her body, her size, her coat were all wolf. And, she shed like a wolf. She blew her coat twice a year, big clumps of fur hanging onto her, and piles and piles of fur brushed off of her. She was a fur machine.

Zuki was also very intimidating looking. I felt safe with her at my side and in my house. I knew what most people didn't - that her wolf nature made her a terrible watch dog. She rarely barked. If she felt threatened, her leary, shy wolf nature predominated, which meant that her nature was to shy away from challenges. I'm not sure how she would have done if we, I would have been seriously threatened. I like to think she would have protected me. I don't know. We were never tested.

As Zuki lay on the floor the day she died, I told her that I was supposed to use her as an ambassador to instruct people that crossing wolves and dogs is an awful thing to do. Zuki would have been a good ambassador. She had clearly straddled both worlds. She always had this feral thing going on. She was independent, proud, and confident. But, she was also a dog. She was dependent, proud and confident. She was a wolf first, I think, and a dog second. Her wolfness predominated, but she had to live in a human/dog world. For all that I truly believe is wrong with cross breeding these animals, I also feel honored to have spent five years of my life with one. I was honored to spend five years with a wolf, and with a huge, gorgeous pet. We learned our places in the house, and clearly I was alpha. Otherwise, I think she would have been living in Minnesota.

Zuki was my project and my challenge. She gave me an enormous sense of accomplishment. I know in my heart that we rescued each other. She changed my life when she came into it, and she changed it when she left, as I changed hers. I miss her more than anyone can imagine. Over a year later, I still cry. I am crying now.

posted by Dusty Dog at 10/27/2008