February 14, 2009

White Dog celebrates her 4th Gotcha Day today. It is a day devoted to White Dog and family. We start the day by cuddling in bed and retelling the story of her coming to us:

We lost our beloved sheltie to cancer in December, 2004. She was our first dog (after only 20 years of marriage). We determined to wait and not get another dog for at least six months. We had already scheduled a vacation to Dominica but it was difficult to have fun on the trip thinking of the empty house awaiting us on our return. In January, we decided that the house was too lonely without a little yipper around to amuse us. Sue pursued a major investigation and determined that American Eskimos would be the perfect breed to consider. They are smart, fox-like in appearance, the right size - similar to Shelties, but not so similar that we would always compare the new arrival with our sheltie.

Sue found a great kennel in Kansas and decided that we would travel there in April, 2005 to select a puppy from the next litter. When she called, the kennel owner said that she had one little girl left from the current litter and asked if we would be interested. We discussed the idea and decided that we couldn't wait until April.

Steve made a multi-page list (8 columned pages!) of potential names culled from German and Eskimo sources. Meanwhile, the puppy was ready to leave by the second week of February. We could not go to Kansas so our baby-to-be travelled all be herself to us! She arrived on Valentine's Day to the to the Albuquerque Sunport via American Airlines . Steve panicked when he went to pick up because he could see her in her travel crate in a locked room at the airport but there was no one around to free her. Steve finally gained her release, held the very wide-eyed puppy until she relaxed and then she was immediately whisked to Steve's office (located minutes from the airport). Steve picked Sue up from her class and baby was waiting in the car. As soon as Sue held her her name quickly became Siku (Athabascan for "ice")and our hearts melted. That night, Steve taught class and the puppy received visitors at home.

Having a puppy was challenging for us since neither of us had worked with a young dog since childhood (Sheena was 7 years old when she joined our family). Siku was equally challenged, but rose to the occasion to become the Princess of the family.

The rest of the day is spent going to the Park, sharing favorite foods, playing together, napping, and celebrating how incredibly lucky that each of us found the others...Gotcha times three!