 |
| camping from Fairbanks to Soldotna |
In 1999 when I visited the local animal shelter, Zazu was in a pen alone. As folks walked by he sat quietly but intently watching "the humans" from the back area of his pen. As I walked by, he bounded to the front of his pen and began bow-wowing and warbling at me. If youʻve ever been around huskies you know the kind of warbling, talky-bark thing to which Iʻm referring. I stopped to "talk" with him and noticed he would barely use his back right paw. As I continued walking through the Shelter, the talkative dog sat back down but kept watching. Quietly. Until I walked by to leave and once again was greeted by bow-wowing and husky-speak.
The next day I took my son with me to see this funny dog who seemingly ignored other humans. The dog who had all but yelled at me as I walked past him. And wouldnʻt you know it, the red dog repeated his performance on my second visit. It was then I figured for whatever reason this fuzzy curly tail canine had to come home with us. I asked the staff why he limped. They said he was owned by a street person who had accidentally stepped on the dogʻs back paw. All the bones in the paw were broken. The street person knew they couldnʻt take care of a wounded dog and brought it to the shelter.
Day three. My son, my husband and I returned to the Shelter to adopt the dog with the broken foot. Several other people were there to adopt other animals, however, two families were interested in the same dog as us. This meant a drawing of names would occur to determine who gets to adopt. Itʻs not a first come first serve thing. Everyone stands in a room together hoping their name is drawn. And Iʻll tell you itʻs a strange mix of excitement and guilt to hear your name drawn. We won! Yippee! Then I saw the sad little face of the child across the room whose name wasnʻt drawn. Ugh.
The red dog was happy to see us come to take him home. The x-rays confirmed every bone in his foot was broken. It healed with no treatment or complications. Quite honestly Iʻm not even 100% sure it was his right back paw or the left, thatʻs how perfectly it healed. I named him Zazu after the character from Lion King, my favorite Disney movie.
Iʻm convinced that Zazu chose me as much as I chose him that day at the Shelter. Heʻs definitely a Mommyʻs dog as he pretty much ignores the "other humans" as he sees fit. Right now it means Iʻm the one most covered in fur since itʻs shedding season. I swear thereʻs a whole dog in the Dyson each time I vacuum which right now is a daily chore.
