The little dog that loved to run

The little dog did love to dream.  She dreamt of a place where she could run.  A place where she was free and happy and her babies were safe.  A place they could all run free together.

Her life was sad and she was always scared.  Her dreams took her to a beautiful place, a promised land for those that dream….

One day the door to her prison was opened and she placed her feet upon grass for the first ever time.  She stretched her legs and dreamed of more….

She never again saw the man that held her a prisoner in a small cage.  She met new people and got to explore a whole new world.  An exciting world of different smells, sounds and sights.  People spoke to her, shared good food with her and welcomed her into this new world.  It was an exciting world, but still a scary world and the little dog still loved to dream….

She dreamt of her babies, did not know where they were and if they were safe.  She longed to see them one more time.

One day the little dog had a terrible fright.  She was so scared that she ran and ran.  She had never run alone before and the further she ran the more scared she became.  There were so many strange smells and sounds and no friend to help her understand them.  She did not know where she was.  Her legs hurt and her paws were sore.  Her whole body ached from the effort of running so fast.

Suddenly there was a flash and the little dog felt pain no more.  She continued to run and as she ran each stride became easier.  She flew across the ground.  There was brightness everywhere and lovely smells and sounds.  The little dog smiled as she ran.  This was the place of her dreams and she was really there.  In the distance she saw her pack - her brothers, sisters and all her babies.  They gently called to her as she ran towards them.  She felt extreme happiness as they nuzzled her and playfully jumped upon her.

They played together for hours and then the leader of the pack told them that it was time.  They gathered together and then they ran.  As they ran the little dog felt her legs go faster and faster, so fast that each bound took her further from the ground.  Suddenly the ground was no longer beneath her feet, yet she continued to move forwards.  She looked around and saw all her pack now flying high above the ground.

As they flew the little dog looked down and recognised all the places where she had once been….

The horrid man who kept her in a box and took her babies from her was far below.  He no longer walked free and he now lived in a box with bars.  He looked sad and grumpy and just stared at the wall of his box.  He had no friends and it looked like there was no door in his box made of bars.

And then the little dog saw the family that had shared their sounds and smells with her.  The family that had fed the little dog - touched her and told her how special she was.  They all looked sad and tears flowed down their faces.  They held a photo of the little dog close to their hearts.  The little dog whimpered as she did not want them to be sad.  The leader of the pack flew to the little dog’s side “fear not my little one, in time the tears will stop and they will remember you with smiles and happy thoughts.  They will love you forever and never forget how they helped save you from a different life”.  The little dog looked down upon the family one last time and then called her babies to her.  She would miss this special family very much, but now she was finally living her dream.

The little dog had found that special place that she had always dreamed of.  She had found her babies and found her pack.  She no longer felt pain or sadness and no longer was she scared.  But best of all she could now run free, forever and a day she would run forever free…..

Lara xx

(image courtesy of Ian J Berry)

Lara the Arctic Explorer

Me looking all pensive

I am no longer “Lara the Lady Husky”, I am “Lara the Arctic Explorer” and I have been on a big adventure….

We woke up one morning and outside there was white stuff everywhere.  It was cold and fluffy and so much fun to run in.  I could jump in it, roll in it and even eat it!  The garden looked just like the place where the polar bears live. We watched them one time on the flat box with moving pictures that talks to you.  Krofti told me that the white stuff was snow and it had fallen from the sky just like rain, but because it was so cold it had frozen and turned all fluffy.  Sometimes little pieces of white fluffy stuff just like snow falls out of the big food box in the kitchen, the one where our food hides.

Look at me, I can fly!!

I played for hours in the snow with the boy huskies and Man Human kept on asking me to do things while he lay down in the snow with a little box with a big tube that he kept pointing at me.  It made clicky noises every time I whizzed by.  Kroi told me that he was trying to shoot me but I was too fast.  Kroi says silly things sometimes because I know that the Man Human likes me a lot and he wouldn’t want to shoot me.  He sometimes tries to shoot Krofti with a water gun to try and make him stop singing, but Krofti is too clever and he always misses.  I think Man Human wants to be a husky because he looked really cold and he couldn’t move his human paws after put the box and tube thing away…..

After we had played for ages, Lady Human took me running with the boy huskies.  She kept on saying the “steady” word, but we all ignored her because it was too much fun trying to run really quickly in the snow.  We tried to help by pulling her forward to make her run faster, but she looked all wobbly and kept on making weird noises.  Humans are funny when they run in the snow – they only put their back paws in the snow and wave their front paws around a lot.  They should use all four paws then they wouldn’t fall over so much.

A penguin that takes speed ....

There were lots of little birds and some didn’t want to fly and waddled away from us on the snow.  They looked like little penguins on speed, it was really funny watching them.  The boy huskies and I all tried to catch them, but Lady Human got really grumpy and told us to stop.  Kez and Kroi stopped trying to chase them and Kez jumped on me when I didn’t want to stop.  Kez told me that they were game birds and we would get into trouble, but I didn’t believe him because those little birds obviously didn’t want to play games with us….. 

We didn’t see any more penguins on speed, but I did see a big red cat with a very pointy nose and a big bushy tail.  I smelled it first because it was really pongy, and Kez and Kroi smelled it too.  Lady Human made us stop and she crouched down on the snow, which seemed really silly as she doesn’t have a tail to keep her bottom warm.  She kept on telling us to stay, but I didn’t want to as I wanted to follow this smell.  Kez and Kroi went over to see why Lady Human was sitting in the snow and as soon as they did that the smell got stronger and this pointy nosed cat ran across the field really quickly.  I tried to run after it but Lady Human was too heavy for me to pull across the field.  Kroi tried to help me, but Kez being such a mummy’s boy stayed where he was and then shouted at Kroi and jumped on him so Kroi stopped helping me.  The pointy cat disappeared and Lady Human started running again.

We ran up a very steep hill with a little ditch in the middle.  There were big bushes on either side of the path and lots of rabbits kept on jumping across the path.  It was really exciting and Lady Human was trying to run really fast to keep up with us.  She laughed a lot and sounded all huffy and puffy.  Then this really white bird suddenly swooped down in front of us.  I had never seen a bird like it before and it didn’t make any noise as it flew along in front of us.  It had fluttery wings like a squeaky bat, but much bigger and really white.  I tried to run as fast as it was flying, but Lady Human was too slow and it flew over the bushes and disappeared.

I decided to run slower as the boy huskies looked tired.  They think that they are faster than me and can run further than me and I don’t want to upset them by showing off too much.  So I pretend that I am tired, but I am not really….

What a  polar bear really looks like....

We saw some more penguins on speed, but they were too far away and as I watched them a big growly dog suddenly appeared.  It was big and white and looked like a ferocious polar bear.  It leapt at Kroi, but Lady Human jumped in front of the polar bear and shouted at it.  Kez hid behind Lady Human and I tried to hide in the snow by lying down and making myself really small.  The polar bear kept on growling and Kroi tried to shout at it while hiding behind Lady Human.  I think Lady Human growled the scariest because the polar bear didn’t try to hurt Kroi again and just stood there muttering under its breath.  Then this lady appeared and captured the polar bear with a lasso.  I got up from my hiding place in the snow and watched the unfriendly polar bear being dragged away as the lady said something about “never done that before”…. 

Leaping after the caribou...

We ran some more and as we ran down the hill where the badgers live some deer came charging out of the woods.  I got really excited again and so did the boy huskies.  Lady Human tried to make us stop running but we all ignored her and kept on running.  The deer looked like caribou running across the open snow land.   Our favourite food is deer and caribou must taste even better.  Our food lives in a big ice box before we eat it so perhaps we were now living in the world’s biggest ice box and our dinner was waiting for us.  I looked across at the two boy huskies and asked them if they wanted to play a game.  A game called “let’s pretend we are wolves”.  Their husky smiles said it all and off we ran, wolves in pursuit of caribou as Lady Human finally learned how to fly………

Lara xx

(Photos courtesy of Sandra Bowers, Ian J Berry & Wikipedia)

Three of my most favourite things

Look at me go.......

Three of my four most favourite things: running, food and gentlemen….

Wow, had the best day ever today!  I got to run with lady human; eat so much good food that my belly hurt and met a really nice man looking for a new running buddy…

Lady human got up really early and took the boy huskies running.  I was sad that I didn’t get to run but I didn’t let it worry me and had a little sleep in the kitchen with my fluffy cat while I waited for the boy huskies to return.

When they returned man human put me in the car while lady human cuddled the boy huskies.  I don’t think that the lady human likes leaving the boy huskies and the boy huskies don’t like it when she is not there.  The two baby boy huskies wait by the front door looking really sad and grumpy while Krofti sings away too himself in his bedroom…  But don’t tell the boy huskies that I called them babies as they think they are sooo grown up, yeah right….

I even have a matching bucket.....

We went for a drive in the vroom, vroom car and then we arrived at the place where the boy huskies like running really fast.  Once upon a time the boy huskies did something very special at this place, something that no one else will ever do.  I think they are very proud of what they did as they did it with the lady human and they are happiest when they do things together with her.

Everything was so exciting, I had to stare...

It was a little scary at first, being at this place where there are lots of humans and no boy huskies to help me.  Lady human was really cool though as she knows when I am scared and helps me feel better.  All the other humans suddenly ran away from us, and there were hundreds of them running so close together that they looked like a swarm of bees.  Lady human told me to stay for a bit and then we started running but we stayed on the grass and ran in between all the gorse bushes.

We overtook lots of the humans and then I got a little scared as there were so many people and I don’t know any of them.  I tried to hide behind a gorse bush, but I don’t think the lady human liked that as she squeaked when she ran through the gorse – I forgot to tell her to make herself small so she could fit through the lady husky sized hole between the bushes that I found. 

The cows were my favourite fascination...

Once the lady human stopped squeaking we started running again, straight into a herd of cows!  I wanted to say hello, but lady human told me to keep running.  Then a rude dog started chasing us, but I was too fast for it and it ran out of puff.  We got to splash in lots of puddles and I got to play at being a submarine.  I am really good at this game and it is so much fun!

I think the lady human found it hard to run today as she has been limping a lot recently and sometimes she stops running and walks.  I think this is why she does not run with all three of us together at the moment.  I think it hurts her too much when we play at being racing huskies.  I have been running with only Kez, while Kroi runs either alone or sometimes with Kez.  Kez is a goody two shoes and always behaves so I think he is allowed to run with everyone….

After we stopped running I got lots of cuddles and lots of treats from the lady human.  Then I met this really nice man who told me all about his dog and how he is looking for a new running buddy.  He really liked me and I liked him and would like to run with him and his little dog…..

I had to wait in the car when the man and lady human ate cake and talked to all the other humans.  Lady human kept on popping out to say hello.  I think she was worried that I would be naughty, but she need not have worried as I am a really good girl and knew she would not leave me alone for long.

On the way home we stopped at the most amazing place where everywhere smelled of meat.  Then the humans put loads of this delicious meat in the back of the car and let me choose a special piece to eat on the journey home.  I think I ate too much as my belly is really big now and I keep making little rude noises, but please don’t tell the boy huskies as I blame them, like the time they ate too many brussel sprouts…..

Lara

Back home with my most favourite things......

My harness, line and lady human's running belt were all very kindly given to us by Emily at K9Trailtime - for all your dog running needs :-)

 (photos kindly taken by Stuart March & Ian J Berry)

Today I saw a mouse's tail

image ©Kobiart

Sometimes when I am out running with Kroi he jumps into the grass and pretends that he is hunting mice.  He tells me that he catches lots but I have never seen him catching one so I think he is playing make believe.  He does find bits of string sometimes as I see a little bit of it sticking out from his mouth.  He is a silly husky because only cats chase balls of string, not boy huskies!

Kroft told me that he once caught a mouse and that Kade used to catch them all the time.  But one time a mouse got its revenge and bit Kade’s tongue, which made him cry and throw the mouse away.  The mouse then scampered away to tell its family of the day it took on a husky…

Kez says that we shouldn’t catch mice because Lady Human gets upset and he doesn’t like when she is sad.  Kroi says we shouldn’t listen to his big brother as all proper huskies hunt little furry creatures.  Our ancestors in far off lands had to take care of themselves and find their own food, which meant that they had to hunt their own dinner!  I think Lady and Man Human must do all the hunting for us as they come home with our dinner in big boxes.  I don’t know what they do with all the fur because it isn’t there when we eat it.  I wonder if they eat the fur before they come home, yeuchh!

Apparently the reason that we are not allowed off lead in the countryside is because only the humans are allowed to hunt the big furry creatures that live there.   Kroi says we will not get into trouble if we hunt little furry things, but we must leave the big furry ones alone.  Sometimes he forgets this and Lady Human gets cross when he tries to make her chase the big furry things too…

Anyway, something really exciting happened today!  I was out running with Lady Human on a grassy path with long grass on the side.  I suddenly heard a noise and jumped into the long grass to listen closer.  Lady Human stopped running and loosened my lead.  I stopped jumping and listened.  There it was again, it was a rustling noise like something little was moving in the grass.  I pounced where the noise came from and it stopped.  Then I heard the noise and pounced again.  I could smell something too.  It smelled like the smell of the balls of string that Kroi sometimes eats… 

I got really excited as I tried to jump on the smell of the ball of string.  I was playing make believe like Kroi does and today I was pretending that I was a cat.  Lady Human was laughing as I played and it made me happy, so I kept on pretending that I was a cat pouncing on a ball of string….

Then I saw it!  I saw a little piece of string moving towards the wall and with one huge leap I pounced on it.  I wasn’t quick enough and it disappeared into a teeny, weeny hole in the wall.

When we got back home I told the boy huskies all about my fun playing with a ball of string.  Kroi started laughing and when I asked him to tell me why he was laughing, Kez told me to go and speak to Krofti.  I went to where Krofti was sleeping and politely asked him if he knew why Kroi had laughed at me.

Krofti yawned and looked up at me from where he lay.  “Lara, Kroi was laughing because he knows how much fun you had today chasing mice.  Those little bits of string are mice’s tails.  You are a proper husky that is why you enjoy hunting and chasing.  You don’t need to pretend to be a cat.  Just be who you are”.

Krofti is very old and very wise and so what he says must be true.  I really did see a mouse’s tail today.  So cool, maybe next time I will see the rest of the mouse…….

Lara xx

My new life...

Dear Diary,

Not quite sure where I should start as so much has happened these past few months…

One minute I was really sad and living in a box alone.  My babies had all been taken from me and I missed them a lot.  Then the horrid man threw me in a van, drove me somewhere and threw me out the van.  He grabbed my neck and it hurt lots, but it was the last time I felt pain and the last time that I felt sad.

The man had left me with a lady who fed me and let me play with other huskies.  She was nice to me and tried to make friends with me but I was a little scared of her because I did know her very well.  I think she understood because sometimes I saw her smiling at me and smiling people are not scary.

Anyway, next thing is that I am travelling with lots of huskies and when we arrive at our destination I meet some new people and another husky.

The new people and the husky took me for a little car journey and suddenly my life is complete, I am living with three boy huskies!! 

Okay scrub that last statement I am not that simple.  And I am a lady husky after all….

But seriously, suddenly I am living this really cool life where I get to run every day, play with boy huskies, sleep where I want, eat what I want and do whatever I blooming well want…. 

The humans don’t appear to agree with the last point but as their rule is “only tell the husky off when you actually catch it doing the thing that you are telling it off about” as long as I am sneaky they cannot scold me….

Anyway, was watching the lady human the other day and she was doing lots of this writing stuff which seemed to make her happy and I suddenly thought - what if I started writing too.  Would it make me happy?  I have got so much to tell.

So here I am, full of loads of stories to tell about my new life.  There will be tears and there will be smiles and lots of fun along the way.  

Gotta go now as one of the boy huskies is trying to steal my furry cat that I thought was safe….

Lara