Settling In
Much happened over the next six months -- I lost my car in bankruptcy proceedings. My pal Rob, from down the street was kind enough to drive me back and forth from work; when he was unable to, his wife would pack up the grandkids and cart me to and from work, against all my protests. Nee and I were never short of rides if we wanted to go hiking - my wonderful friend Judy was always ready to drive us to the trails and walk with us. Always had a ride to the vet and shopping. Nee got a new vet -- there was a pet hospital down the road from us; went in and looked around, talked to staff and the vet -- seemed great. Her country vet was way too far out in the country. First appointment, we went to the back room where the vet proceeded to put a muzzle on her. I protested, he insisted. She was fidgety. Well, as long as I hold her head, she can't bite you. Naw, it's easier for all of us if she wears the muzzle. Well, it was easier for him but Nee and I were none too happy. She fidgeted more trying to get the darned thing off and I was agitated and didn't help the situation. Okay, bloodwork done, muzzle off, no harm done -- except I could never get her into a veterinary office again without a mighty struggle. She would start shaking as soon as she realized where we were headed, poor little girl. I tried Bach's Rescue Remedy and it worked wonders. Stopped that when I learned later that the reason she was so mellow was because it had a very high alcohol content in it! And it came highly recommended by vets everywhere (wonder why?). Oh, my - so much for that!
Six months into moving, tragedy struck our family. I got a call one evening from a sister - my Mom had been killed in a car accident. Back on auto-pilot again -- called Rob to say I wouldn't need a ride and please let them know at work I wouldn't be in for a while. When he found out why, he said -- hang tough, I'll be right there. Within three minutes he was not only there, but organizing everything Nee and I would need for a week's stay with my family. I guessed out loud that I'd need something to wear to my Mom's funeral, he dug into my closet and pulled out exactly the dress I'd need, even found the shoes to go with it. He packed up the large bag of Neea-Kha's food, grabbed her food/water bowls, a couple bags of treats - I got out her "blankie" treats -- couldn't go anywhere without her nightly blankie rawhide treats, threw some toys and my clothes into my suitcase. As we were about to leave, my sister in Peterborough called - did I need a ride? I told Rob my sister could stop and pick me up but he insisted that he would drive us down. Nee was so quiet and calm all the way down in Rob's van. Normally, she'd be at the window panting and jumping against the seat, wanting to get to where we were going fast -- like without having to drive there. Rob stopped a couple of times - coffee for us, pee for Nee and some exercise and we were on our way again. We finally entered the door to my parents' home -- brothers and sisters, grandchildren - all looking lost and in shock. My Dad was in the hospital having just had major surgery; he'd be told the next day. Rob stayed long enough to talk to everyone, get me and Neea-Kha settled; he'd be back home just in time to go to work. Nee had never been in my parents' home before -- my Mom used to come and visit us instead. I kept her halter and leash on because at times when I was vulnerable (and she always knew!), she was the most protective of me. Anyone coming close to me would be in for at least a stare-down and body block. The next morning, as we gathered in the kitchen, I sat down at the head of the table. Nee came and laid down on my feet. I was amazed because she never laid on my feet. The only feet she did lay down on were my Mom's. My Mom always had very cold feet -- always. Whenever my Mom was down, Nee would gravitate to the coolest spot in the house -- my Mom's feet. I mentioned this to the others and they told me I was sitting in Mom's seat. That was her place and her scent must have still been there. As long as I was sitting in that seat, she'd lay on my feet -- never before, never after.
One night, after my brothers had all left for their respective homes, my sisters Joye and Dianne and I brought mattresses downstairs to the kitchen. Joye had a mattress of her own, Dianne and I shared one. Well, Nee sometimes slept with me at night, other times, she'd just wander. This night she laid on the floor beside me and we all slept. Morning came, Nee awoke and, like it just occurred to her, went over to this interloper on "her" side of the bed. She tried her best to nudge Dianne off the bed; although we made room for her in the middle, that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted Dianne OUT of the bed. I tried to coax her over to my side of the bed but, nooooo. Eventually, Dianne had to get up to the bathroom. The minute she got up, Nee got into her side of the bed and stretched out as much as she could. No way was Dianne getting back into bed. We all decided to get up at that point. Early afternoon, Dianne said she thought Neea-Kha was upset with her 'cause all morning Nee had been head-butting her; she'd go out of her way to walk past Dianne and head-butt her. I hadn't noticed, but told Dianne to make sure she let me know if it happened again; Nee just couldn't be allowed to act agressively towards anyone. Nee had been with us during this conversation and as I mentioned earlier, she always did have an uncanny grasp of language. That, and the fact that I told her sternly not to bother Dianne again prevented further incidents.
On one occasion, Nee and I went to a neighbouring town to stay a night or so with two other sisters, Joye and Heather and their families. No matter where I took Nee out for our walks, she always seemed to head straight for a pile of bones -- usually chicken bones. I was so scared of everything those days, scared she'd get hurt, concerned for her safety. On one of these walks, she got a chicken bone wedged between her upper and lower jaws. I'd never seen that happen, I thought it was caught in her throat. I hurried her up to my sister's -- Nee pawing at her mouth and gagging; I didn't help matters much because by this time I was totally panicked. The vet's office was way across town, none of us had a car. My quick thinking nephew, Richard ran down the street and came back with a young man who calmly said "Get me a butter knife". A knife? In my little girl's mouth? "No, no, it's okay, I've had to do this before." He inserted the knife between jaw and chicken bone - it was really wedged in there tight. The bone loosened, he stuck his hand in her mouth, quickly grabbed the bone and pulled his hand back out. Voila! I gave him twenty bucks for his efforts; after all, the vet would have charged me $100 for the visit alone. I found out later that this guy was somewhat of an unsavoury character and not well liked in the neighbourhood but we all agreed that he was a stand-in angel for that moment in time!
Back to my parents' home. You know on these occasions, neighbours cooked from morning to night for the families; ours was an exceptionally large family with the 12 of us and in-laws and grandchildren. There was always lots of food around. I tried my best to keep Nee from stealing the food but wasn't always successful. At one point, my brother-in-law Lawrie - fairly tall man -- was standing up, eating. I saw Nee come over to him and told him to be careful, she was going to grab his sandwich. He said - naw, she can't get up this high. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than Nee stretched up against him, paws on chest and grabbed a bite of his sandwich. He was amazed -- didn't think she could reach that high! He and my sister Faye had a large Malamute; quite possible Misha was better trained than Neea-Kha and had never attempted this feat on them! My sister Joye asked at one time if she could give Nee a bit of the meat she had. I told her just a very small piece, and she breaks off a huge hunk. Nee was just getting ready to take it when I screamed NOOOOO I said a SMALL piece and broke off a couple pieces no bigger than the tip of my finger. Joye wondered that any dog would consider that a treat. Her little Buster would stick his nose up at anything that small. Nee never worried about size, she was just happy to get something. Another time, my brother Brian went to Dairy Queen and brought back several chocolate ice cream cones -- one more than the number of people there. He distributed them to all of us, then was about to give the extra one to my dog! Six voices screamed in unison: NO! STOP! Brian, who is not an "animal person", didn't know why everyone was screaming at him but he immediately drew back and threw that cone all the way from the front of our yard to the back of the house next door. He's like "what, what?". He felt terrible when we explained that chocolate was toxic to animals.
The morning of the funeral came - early morning - I laid down beside Neea-Kha and curled up with her and cried - and cried - and cried. She just layed there tucked right into my body; just there, so comforting. Now, that livingroom had a floor furnace, from which the heated blasted up from the basement. It provided heat for the whole house. The livingroom itself was extremely warm - if you stood on the furnace, you'd be warmed up in just moments. To this point, Nee had preferred staying in the sunporch or kitchen, where it was much cooler. That day - until we all left for the funeral - she layed in the middle of the livingroom floor. Some of the family came in through the front door, some through the back door. Everybody that came into the livingroom that morning stopped in the middle of the floor where Nee layed quietly and stooped down to pet her; even those who weren't "animal people" got down and petted her. I'm sure she provided as much comfort to everyone else as she did to me. As we were leaving, I told her I'd be back for her very soon - she came to the door with me, no fuss just quietly layed down in the cool sunporch.
After the burial, Lawrie - my brother-in-law was going back to Peterborough; Faye would stay and take care of things there for a few days. Lawrie would drive me and Nee to our home. Got Nee into the van - uneventful drive -- UNTIL we reached the highway. It so happened that a big transport truck came off the ramp right beside us and Nee, who had never been on the highway, let alone with a huge, noisy transport truck alongside of us set up such a barking spree -- right in Lawrie's ear. She was buckled in, of course but had enough slack to stand up right behind Lawrie's seat and blast his eardrums. Now, Lawrie was a very patient and quiet person but I knew the noise was rattling him. I was in the back with Neea-Kha and tried to quiet her and keep her away from the front seat, but she wouldn't calm. Lawrie's trying to get past this darned truck - speeding up as much as possible, only to be blocked by a car in front of him. Almost twenty minutes of non-stop barking and jumping before he was able to just gun it and get away from that truck. We finally made it home and I'm sure no one was more relieved than Lawrie when he dropped us off! Next few days were difficult, but when I'd wake up crying at night, Nee was always there on the bed with me. She did like to be cool, usually preferring to alternate between being on the bed and sleeping on the floor but the first week at home she was on the bed with me every time I awoke.
One early morning (like 3 a.m.), I was startled out of sleep by loud banging on my apartment door. Nee got to the door before me, barking and growling. I looked out the peephole then opened the door with the chainlock on. As soon as the door was open a crack Nee stuck her head out barking loudly, the noise reverberating throughout the hallway. I peered out to see a large, solid woman backed up against the wall, arms spread out against the wall. Scared the heck out of this poor taxi driver who had got the wrong information from her dispatcher. She was not impressed when I told her she had the wrong apartment...she gave me and my dog a disgusted look and took off. Nee earned a big treat (for giving me such a laugh) and it was back to bed for the night.
Soon after, I decided to start looking for another apartment but it would take a couple of months before I found the perfect one for us.
Six months into moving, tragedy struck our family. I got a call one evening from a sister - my Mom had been killed in a car accident. Back on auto-pilot again -- called Rob to say I wouldn't need a ride and please let them know at work I wouldn't be in for a while. When he found out why, he said -- hang tough, I'll be right there. Within three minutes he was not only there, but organizing everything Nee and I would need for a week's stay with my family. I guessed out loud that I'd need something to wear to my Mom's funeral, he dug into my closet and pulled out exactly the dress I'd need, even found the shoes to go with it. He packed up the large bag of Neea-Kha's food, grabbed her food/water bowls, a couple bags of treats - I got out her "blankie" treats -- couldn't go anywhere without her nightly blankie rawhide treats, threw some toys and my clothes into my suitcase. As we were about to leave, my sister in Peterborough called - did I need a ride? I told Rob my sister could stop and pick me up but he insisted that he would drive us down. Nee was so quiet and calm all the way down in Rob's van. Normally, she'd be at the window panting and jumping against the seat, wanting to get to where we were going fast -- like without having to drive there. Rob stopped a couple of times - coffee for us, pee for Nee and some exercise and we were on our way again. We finally entered the door to my parents' home -- brothers and sisters, grandchildren - all looking lost and in shock. My Dad was in the hospital having just had major surgery; he'd be told the next day. Rob stayed long enough to talk to everyone, get me and Neea-Kha settled; he'd be back home just in time to go to work. Nee had never been in my parents' home before -- my Mom used to come and visit us instead. I kept her halter and leash on because at times when I was vulnerable (and she always knew!), she was the most protective of me. Anyone coming close to me would be in for at least a stare-down and body block. The next morning, as we gathered in the kitchen, I sat down at the head of the table. Nee came and laid down on my feet. I was amazed because she never laid on my feet. The only feet she did lay down on were my Mom's. My Mom always had very cold feet -- always. Whenever my Mom was down, Nee would gravitate to the coolest spot in the house -- my Mom's feet. I mentioned this to the others and they told me I was sitting in Mom's seat. That was her place and her scent must have still been there. As long as I was sitting in that seat, she'd lay on my feet -- never before, never after.
One night, after my brothers had all left for their respective homes, my sisters Joye and Dianne and I brought mattresses downstairs to the kitchen. Joye had a mattress of her own, Dianne and I shared one. Well, Nee sometimes slept with me at night, other times, she'd just wander. This night she laid on the floor beside me and we all slept. Morning came, Nee awoke and, like it just occurred to her, went over to this interloper on "her" side of the bed. She tried her best to nudge Dianne off the bed; although we made room for her in the middle, that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted Dianne OUT of the bed. I tried to coax her over to my side of the bed but, nooooo. Eventually, Dianne had to get up to the bathroom. The minute she got up, Nee got into her side of the bed and stretched out as much as she could. No way was Dianne getting back into bed. We all decided to get up at that point. Early afternoon, Dianne said she thought Neea-Kha was upset with her 'cause all morning Nee had been head-butting her; she'd go out of her way to walk past Dianne and head-butt her. I hadn't noticed, but told Dianne to make sure she let me know if it happened again; Nee just couldn't be allowed to act agressively towards anyone. Nee had been with us during this conversation and as I mentioned earlier, she always did have an uncanny grasp of language. That, and the fact that I told her sternly not to bother Dianne again prevented further incidents.
On one occasion, Nee and I went to a neighbouring town to stay a night or so with two other sisters, Joye and Heather and their families. No matter where I took Nee out for our walks, she always seemed to head straight for a pile of bones -- usually chicken bones. I was so scared of everything those days, scared she'd get hurt, concerned for her safety. On one of these walks, she got a chicken bone wedged between her upper and lower jaws. I'd never seen that happen, I thought it was caught in her throat. I hurried her up to my sister's -- Nee pawing at her mouth and gagging; I didn't help matters much because by this time I was totally panicked. The vet's office was way across town, none of us had a car. My quick thinking nephew, Richard ran down the street and came back with a young man who calmly said "Get me a butter knife". A knife? In my little girl's mouth? "No, no, it's okay, I've had to do this before." He inserted the knife between jaw and chicken bone - it was really wedged in there tight. The bone loosened, he stuck his hand in her mouth, quickly grabbed the bone and pulled his hand back out. Voila! I gave him twenty bucks for his efforts; after all, the vet would have charged me $100 for the visit alone. I found out later that this guy was somewhat of an unsavoury character and not well liked in the neighbourhood but we all agreed that he was a stand-in angel for that moment in time!
Back to my parents' home. You know on these occasions, neighbours cooked from morning to night for the families; ours was an exceptionally large family with the 12 of us and in-laws and grandchildren. There was always lots of food around. I tried my best to keep Nee from stealing the food but wasn't always successful. At one point, my brother-in-law Lawrie - fairly tall man -- was standing up, eating. I saw Nee come over to him and told him to be careful, she was going to grab his sandwich. He said - naw, she can't get up this high. No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than Nee stretched up against him, paws on chest and grabbed a bite of his sandwich. He was amazed -- didn't think she could reach that high! He and my sister Faye had a large Malamute; quite possible Misha was better trained than Neea-Kha and had never attempted this feat on them! My sister Joye asked at one time if she could give Nee a bit of the meat she had. I told her just a very small piece, and she breaks off a huge hunk. Nee was just getting ready to take it when I screamed NOOOOO I said a SMALL piece and broke off a couple pieces no bigger than the tip of my finger. Joye wondered that any dog would consider that a treat. Her little Buster would stick his nose up at anything that small. Nee never worried about size, she was just happy to get something. Another time, my brother Brian went to Dairy Queen and brought back several chocolate ice cream cones -- one more than the number of people there. He distributed them to all of us, then was about to give the extra one to my dog! Six voices screamed in unison: NO! STOP! Brian, who is not an "animal person", didn't know why everyone was screaming at him but he immediately drew back and threw that cone all the way from the front of our yard to the back of the house next door. He's like "what, what?". He felt terrible when we explained that chocolate was toxic to animals.
The morning of the funeral came - early morning - I laid down beside Neea-Kha and curled up with her and cried - and cried - and cried. She just layed there tucked right into my body; just there, so comforting. Now, that livingroom had a floor furnace, from which the heated blasted up from the basement. It provided heat for the whole house. The livingroom itself was extremely warm - if you stood on the furnace, you'd be warmed up in just moments. To this point, Nee had preferred staying in the sunporch or kitchen, where it was much cooler. That day - until we all left for the funeral - she layed in the middle of the livingroom floor. Some of the family came in through the front door, some through the back door. Everybody that came into the livingroom that morning stopped in the middle of the floor where Nee layed quietly and stooped down to pet her; even those who weren't "animal people" got down and petted her. I'm sure she provided as much comfort to everyone else as she did to me. As we were leaving, I told her I'd be back for her very soon - she came to the door with me, no fuss just quietly layed down in the cool sunporch.
After the burial, Lawrie - my brother-in-law was going back to Peterborough; Faye would stay and take care of things there for a few days. Lawrie would drive me and Nee to our home. Got Nee into the van - uneventful drive -- UNTIL we reached the highway. It so happened that a big transport truck came off the ramp right beside us and Nee, who had never been on the highway, let alone with a huge, noisy transport truck alongside of us set up such a barking spree -- right in Lawrie's ear. She was buckled in, of course but had enough slack to stand up right behind Lawrie's seat and blast his eardrums. Now, Lawrie was a very patient and quiet person but I knew the noise was rattling him. I was in the back with Neea-Kha and tried to quiet her and keep her away from the front seat, but she wouldn't calm. Lawrie's trying to get past this darned truck - speeding up as much as possible, only to be blocked by a car in front of him. Almost twenty minutes of non-stop barking and jumping before he was able to just gun it and get away from that truck. We finally made it home and I'm sure no one was more relieved than Lawrie when he dropped us off! Next few days were difficult, but when I'd wake up crying at night, Nee was always there on the bed with me. She did like to be cool, usually preferring to alternate between being on the bed and sleeping on the floor but the first week at home she was on the bed with me every time I awoke.
One early morning (like 3 a.m.), I was startled out of sleep by loud banging on my apartment door. Nee got to the door before me, barking and growling. I looked out the peephole then opened the door with the chainlock on. As soon as the door was open a crack Nee stuck her head out barking loudly, the noise reverberating throughout the hallway. I peered out to see a large, solid woman backed up against the wall, arms spread out against the wall. Scared the heck out of this poor taxi driver who had got the wrong information from her dispatcher. She was not impressed when I told her she had the wrong apartment...she gave me and my dog a disgusted look and took off. Nee earned a big treat (for giving me such a laugh) and it was back to bed for the night.
Soon after, I decided to start looking for another apartment but it would take a couple of months before I found the perfect one for us.