Dear RAPS,
Today is a special day for Kisu (formerly Tawny) and me. It is exactly one year since I adopted Kisu and brought her home from RAPS, and it has been a wonderful year filled with fun, adventures and love. We continue our daily hikes on the North Shore in the rain, snow – and even occasional sunshine – as a result of which I have lost 12 lbs, improved my cardio-vascular conditioning, and accumulated a considerable wardrobe of foul weather gear from Mountain Equipment Co-op! I’ve found myself with a huge smile on my face even as we’ve trudged through monsoon-like rainstorms, exchanging cheerful greetings with other dogs and their humans, many of whom I discovered have also adopted rescue dogs. Rarely have we encountered a grouchy dogwalker. People with dogs seem so much happier and more content than the grim-faced joggers and runners solitarily slogging along the same trails.
My family and friends call Kisu “Kissyface”. I warn folks that she is a killer dog – she’ll smother you with kisses. Her vet has two cats in his office. They were surprised when they first met Kisu. I doubt that they had ever been kissed by a dog before! Nothwithstanding her affectionate nature, like most huskies she combines strong hunter instincts with a keen sense of smell. She is constantly sniffing the trail and the air, and loves to chase squirrels and other rodents and play hunter tag with other dogs. Occasionally she tracks larger game. Not long ago she became extremely excited and, nose to the ground, raced down a road and into the woods hot on the trail of what I suspect was a coyote. During the summer she started up a slope where very tall grass and ferns were strangely swaying in a rolling path. When she realized it was a bear, Kisu quickly but calmly beat a retreat and we happily left the area to creatures much larger than ourselves.
Thanks again to you folks at RAPS for bringing Kisu and me together. Both of our lives, and those of the many other animals and humans you introduce to each other, are richer and happier for that. In closing, I’m attaching some recent photos of Kisu. Cheers!
Abe
