Mike Dillingham - Alaska Dogs and Iditarod Mushers - The Adventures of Balto, Back of the Pack, Honor Bound, Rivers

We left the orphanage and headed back down the trail to our home. Wow, who would have thought that this bunch of dogs could make Christmas great for some orphan kids? As we were sledding home, I noticed that the trail looked different now. Yes, it was getting near evening chow and the sunset was reflecting off the snow in different colors! No wonder Mike spent time with me looking at the sunset. He described them to me, but this was just totally awesome!

Mary had our evening chow ready for us. In the bottom of each bowl was a big bone. I watched my buddies enjoy their chow and their bones. I knew they were proud of what we gave to those kids today. I was proud also, but I was concerned about that little blind girl. Guess I am lucky compared to her. Yes, we both are blind, but I have a home filled with plenty of love. I hope she finds her forever home soon.

It was getting dark and I looked up in the sky to see all of the bright stars. What did Lakota say? “There is a star in the sky for each one of us dogs.” I wondered which one was mine. I was getting very sleepy but I did not want to go to sleep. I knew that if I went to sleep this dream, if it was one, would be over, or if I can see, I would wake up and be blind again. Nevertheless, in either case, I have buried in my heart and mind all that I saw today, especially all the acts of kindness.

Mike came out of the house to give us our goodnight TLC. I always get mine last. “Well buddy,” Mike said, “it sure was a beautiful day”. After he gave me my tummy and ear rub, he sat down in the snow with me. “I really wish you could have seen the joy and happiness on those kids’ faces,” he said.

Mike, you would be surprised if I could tell you I did see all the wonderful things that happened today. I felt sad that Mike would never know his wish came true. He would never know how happy this day had made me.

As Mike described the stars and the moon to me, I looked up at his face. His beard looked almost white in the moonlight and I swear I saw a gleam in his eyes. I am lucky to have him as my human. Yes, that was another thing to be thankful for. I bet the team is also glad that Mike is their musher.

After he finished telling me about the stars, Mike gave me a big hug and told me it was bedtime. I watched him get up and leave the kennel, and walk back to the big house. I hoped I would never stop seeing his face in my mind’s eye.

I took one last long look around the kennel, our home, and then went inside my doghouse.

I laid my head down and went to sleep.

“Wake up, Rivers,” I heard. “Wake up, Rivers,” the voice said again. When I opened my eyes, I saw Aurora.

“Aurora! I did not think I would see you again.”

She replied, “Well Rivers, I just wanted to check with you and make sure you are okay. Are you?” She asked.

“Yes,” I said, “I am fine. I had a beautiful day. Thank you for making it so.”

“Rivers, you did a super nice thing today staying with that little blind girl when you could have been off enjoying the sights and playing with your buddies.” Aurora added, “I heard you were a special dog. Mike says you are a true champion. He is so right.”

Aurora continued, “I have a gift for you, Rivers. Because of the unselfish act you did today, the memories of what you saw today will never fade, never. They will always be as real as you saw them today.” She said, “This is a special gift because memories tend to fade as we get older.”

“Thank you,” I said, “but can I ask for one more favor? Can something be done for that little blind girl?” I asked.

Aurora answered, “You know Rivers, you really do have a heart of gold. Mike has already asked his friends in high places for the same thing.” She added, “I think his, plus your request, may just do the trick. I will let you know. I must go now.” Aurora said, “But I know our paths will cross again.”

She turned to me as she was leaving and said, “You know Rivers, whoever said, ‘Blind dogs see with their hearts’ must have had you in mind.”

“Well, Rivers, Merry Christmas. Now go back to sleep.” As I laid my head down, I knew I would never see again, but I was not sad. I had received many special gifts that I would cherish forever. I fell asleep counting them.

Yes, this was what you would call a five star Husky day. There were cool temperatures, fresh snow, warm sun, fresh straw, and our tummies were full of great chow. We had just returned from a short training run and Mike snacked us on fish-cicles. It was such a nice day that we all took a nap on the fresh straw in the yard.

I am not sure how long we napped. I woke up hearing Lakota whimpering and crying. “Do not hit me, I did nothing wrong. Why are you hitting me? Ow, that hurts. Please stop hitting me.” I jumped up because I thought someone was in the yard beating on Lakota. However, I heard no one. Lakota was sleep talking!

He kept saying these things over and over. I nudged him and I guess startled him when I said, “Lakota, wake up, you are dreaming. You are safe, your friends are here.”

I could feel him trembling as he stood up next to me. “Are you okay, Lakota?” I asked.

“Yes,” he whispered. It was just a dream.”

“Some dream,” I said. “You were talking in your sleep about someone beating on you.”

“Do you think any of the guys heard me?” Lakota asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Why is that important?”

“I do not want them, and especially Christmas, to know about the dream. I have that dream very often,” he said.

“Sounds like this dream bothers you a lot,” I replied.

“It does and it comes from a time in my life that I really don’t want to remember or talk about,” Lakota said.

“Maybe you do need to talk about it. Who knows, Lakota,” I said, “maybe talking about it would help you to put it to rest, and you can get on with your life.”

I heard Lakota sit down next to me. “Rivers,” he said, “you are my best friend, but I am very ashamed to tell you what happened to me. I felt I was a disgrace to our Husky heritage.”

“You are ashamed for being beaten?” I replied, astonished. “Lakota, you have nothing to be ashamed of. The persons who beat you should be ashamed of what they did to you. You don’t have to beat a dog to get the dog to be a good dog.” I said, “I guess whoever did that to you was not too smart.”

Now Lakota is a thinker and if you do not know him or respect him, you may think he is slow. He really is not. He thinks things out and then acts. In addition, when he acts, he does the right thing.

Soon Lakota started to tell me his story. Lakota is older than I am. He was born in a place where some of the humans are mean and do not train dogs to be good. Instead they hit the dogs to make them do work or obey. Really bad news.

When Lakota was born, he was a very big puppy. His human did not like him because he ate too much. They gave Lakota very little to eat. Lakota was always hungry. Nevertheless, he grew to be a very big and powerful dog.

His human had children who also abused Lakota by always pulling his tail, poking him in his eyes, or teasing him before they fed him. If they gave him any treats, they would put the treats out of his reach so Lakota could not get to them. However, the worst thing was that they would slap Lakota in his face. Now that is bad stuff. You can make a dog deaf or blind by doing that. Slapping a dog in his face confuses the dog. The dog does not know if he is going to receive a great ear rub or be hit. This confusion may cause a dog to bite the hand in order to protect himself. That is not good. Dogs want to love and protect their humans and their kids, not bite them.