Argent and Bogie were the product of the accidental mating of one neighbor's purebred Siberian Husky and another neighbor's husky (or malamut)/shepherd mix (Lonnie claimed that Leroy was a Russian Wolfhound/shepard mix but he sure didn't look like it).
WS and I each claimed a puppy, Lonnie claimed one, 3 friends each claimed one. I don't recall what happened with the other ones (or maybe I am mis-remembering and there were only 6 pups).
(Argent on left, Bogie on right - May 1986)
WS claimed Bogie, a male. I claimed Argent, a female. They certainly didn't look like brother and sister. Bogie was black with tan points and white underbelly - and his fur was very long. Argent was silver (Argent meaning "covered with or tinged with the color of silver; "silvery hair" ), with short,
sleek fur. They both had the classic "husky face".
Shilo didn't want the pups in "her" space. She would hiss at them if they got too close to her (yes, Shilo actually hissed - a trick she evidently learned from the cat). However, she did like to get into "their" space and play with them.
As the pups grew older, we started training them for sled pulling. Lonnie, two of the friends
and us would get them together and hook them to a home-made sled and harness. They never really
learned any commands, someone held them, someone drove a vehicle in front of them, and the holder let them go when the rider was ready (or not so ready as the case was at times). Following the vehicle down the road was the only way of "controlling" their course.
(Bogie on bottom, Kahn on top and Argent looking on - 1986)
Everyone had fun with these rides, and the dogs loved to run. If one them got tired or lazy, it was pulled from the team and rode in the guiding vehicle. Even then, the riding dog loved to watch its sibblings running behind.
(Bogie - spring 1986)
Argent developed a slight hip problem (either a strain or maybe early displasia) before she was a year old, so many times she was a passanger during most of the sledding.
(Argent - summer 1986)
When Bogie and Argent were a little over a year old, we moved to NH. The two pups and the cat rode with me in the car and Shilo rode with WS in the UHaul. once we got the the BIL's house (where
we lived for the first couple of months), Bogie and Argent were relegated as outside dogs and were tied up in the woods, sharing a doghouse between them. The house was quite cozy crowded with BIL, SIL, their baby, their dog, their cat, Shilo, our cat, WS and myself.
We found our first apartment, which we could take the cat, but not any dogs. The pups were left
with BIL for safekeeping, while we continued looking for a place we could live in that allowed dogs. Not too long after that, was when Shilo got in trouble and we had to put her down. We lived out a 6 month lease in the 1st appartment and then found another apartment (less than a block away) for the next 6 months. At that point, we were actively looking for a place to buy; looking at land and houses both.
During the winter of 97-98, Argent got into trouble. She and Bogie were still kept on cables and sharing a dog house. Argent got a hind paw wrapped in Bogies cable, and it pulled tight. Apparently
this happened in the morning, so no one knew anything was wrong until that evening. Her paw was very cold. She was taken to a local vet's for treatment. The next day, I went to the vet's, not knowing what to expect. At that point I had only gotten a sketchy 3rd hand tale (from BIL to SIL to
WS to me)
The vet was not overly encouraging even though they had gotten her paw thawed out. The good news was that she had some blood flow to her middle nail (he cut the quick to determine that), the bad news was that the blood flow seemed to be very sluggish. Still, I told them we would see if we could save her leg. I had gotten permission from our landlord to keep the dog there for a week or two, so she could stay indoors while she recuperated.
Unfortunately, the bloodflow weakened, then stopped altogether. The vet said that the leg could be
amputated and she could lead a fairly normal life. However, she would need to stay indoors for up to 6 months while the cut healed.
Once again we were stuck. The landlord wouldn't go for haveing the dog in the apartment that long,
and BIL could not realistically be expected to take care of her (nor have her in the house) for that
long. I took her back to the apartment and we spent the night treating her special - spoiling her.
The next morning we took her in and stayed with her while the vet gave her that final shot.
Once again, we had failed our charge.
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