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

“Hello Christmas, you are very pretty yourself,” the lady dog replied. “Your eyes are so blue and beautiful.” We all heard Christmas giggle at the compliment.

When I heard this lady dog speak, I could not believe my ears. Her voice was as soft as fresh snow beneath my paws. She had a voice that you would never get tired of listening to. Moreover, while I know she was talking to all of us, her voice had that quality that made you feel that she was talking only to you.

Christmas asked, “What is your name?”

The lady dog answered, “I have a native name that is very hard to pronounce.” She continued, “It translates to ‘Beautiful dog with the sunshine smile.’ So my friends call me Sunny.”

“Awesome!” Christmas said. “That is so cool. I am called Christmas because my uncles, all the dogs here, saved me on Christmas Eve.” With that, Christmas introduced each one of her uncles to Sunny.

She saved me for last and then said. “This is my Uncle Rivers. He is blind, but he is the one who found me, and saved me from the eagle, and saved the team from the ice and….”

“Christmas,” I said softly. “Enough talk, you are embarrassing me, Little One.”

“Please let her continue, Rivers,” Sunny said. “If I am to be a good lead dog, I need to learn all the good things that you and the other guys did. Besides,” she continued, “my Doctor Jim says many nice things about you and your teammates.”

Before I could answer, Doc said, “Sunny, you must be very tired from your trip. May we show you to your doghouse?” He added, “Would you like some water and biscuits?”

“That would be very kind of you,” Sunny replied softly. “Maybe after that, we could all relax and talk. I really want to hear all about each of you.”

“Me too?” Christmas asked. ”Yes, Christmas, you too.” Sunny chuckled. “You know, I am not too much older than you are. I am only two and a half years old.”

“Awesome!” Christmas said. “I am just over a year old. You could be like my big sister. I have an Aunt Sandy, but she is very old and…”

It was Lakota who said, “Christmas, Aunt Sandy is not that old. Be respectful, young lady.”

“Yes Uncle Lakota,” Christmas said meekly. I smiled inside as I wondered if Christmas would be luckier to have six older brothers instead of her six uncles.

Lakota told me that Doc led Sunny over to her doghouse, which was between Christmas’ doghouse and mine. I smiled as I pictured it in my mind, Christmas just bending Sunny’s ear, asking questions and so on. I cannot really blame Christmas for being excited. She does not get much chance to talk to lady dogs her own age. Sandy is twelve years old, so I do not believe they have too many things in common. Moreover, having six very protective uncles really does not help Christmas with coping with lady dog issues. I chuckled. I hoped Sunny would get some rest.

Evening chow was just great and after it, we all gathered in the yard to talk and share experiences. Since Sunny was new to our home, Brownie asked her to tell us about herself. While I could not see her, I knew exactly where she was by listening to her beautiful voice. I just sat down and enjoyed listening to her.

Sunny’s story is very sad. She is Doctor Jim’s dog. Doctor Jim is the eye vet who made me pain free and takes good care of all of us. As Christmas would say, he is just awesome!

Sunny was very sick and her owners did not want her because she was a burden. They were ready to send her across the Rainbow Bridge, but Doctor Jim saved her. He raised Sunny and nursed her back to health. It was a long process and Sunny may never fully recover. It seems that every time Sunny made progress, another medical obstacle developed, which she struggled to overcome. As I said, no one knows if she will ever be 100 percent healthy. Nevertheless, Doctor Jim asked Mike to see if Sunny could learn to enjoy her Husky heritage and run the trails.

As I listened to her, I was inspired by Sunny’s courage. It is the strong silent type of courage. It shows in her determination to overcome these challenges and never give up. As she told us what she had gone through, it became very apparent that Sunny met her challenges head-on and never felt sorry for herself, even when her health failed her. It was very clear that Sunny loved life to its fullest and made the most of every second.

The more I listened to her, the more I admired her. If any dog needed a chance to succeed, it was Sunny and I bet the guys were thinking the same thing. We would do everything we could to help her.

As Mike said, it is not the ribbons around your neck, or medals you win, or even the trophies you get that make you a champion. It is what is inside of you. As we listened to Sunny, it was amazing that she had gone through so much yet still had the desire to live up to her Husky heritage. My instincts told me Sunny has the stuff to be a true champion.

While I could not see their facial expressions, I sensed that every dog in our yard would watch over Sunny and help her to do her best. Sunny may never realize it, but she was now “family” with seven friends who would look after her while she stayed with us.

After Sunny finished her story, there was not a sound in the yard except for the gentle breezes blowing through the trees, and that of Christmas crying.

“Why are you crying, Christmas?” Sunny asked.

“Because you had a very hard life and it hurts to know that you lived with all of that bad stuff.” Christmas said.

“No Christmas, please do not feel sorry for me,” Sunny said. “I actually consider myself blessed.” She explained, “Doctor Jim has been a very loving companion and I have friends like you and your Uncles Doc, Nitro, Brownie, Ugly, Lakota and Rivers.” Sunny continued, “I can feel the warmth and understanding from all of you and I know that I am very welcome here.” She added, “Not too many dogs or people have that. I know you will take good care of me, just like your Mike takes good care of all of you.”

Christmas stopped crying and said, “I am glad you came and I bet we will become great friends. My uncles take good care of me, and I know that they will take good care of you too.” You could hear the pride in her voice.

Christmas told Sunny about her uncles. “My Uncle Brownie is the fastest dog on our team and the first to defend his friends.”

She continued. “Uncle Doc is the smartest and the gentlest. He is a great lead dog and taught us to be good leaders also.”

“My Uncle Nitro is the biggest and bravest dog on our team and lets no harm come to any of us.”

“My Uncle Ugly is not ugly at all. As you can see, he is very handsome and loves to tell jokes. He will make you laugh when you are sad,” Christmas added.

“My Uncle Lakota is very shy, but very, very smart. He is a thinker. Uncle Lakota is a very gentle dog and a great listener. He watches over me and reminds me to be respectful, not only of my elders, but especially of myself.”

“My Uncle Rivers is my hero. He saved my life more than once. He saved our team from the ice floats. My Uncle Rivers is blind, but that has never stopped him racing the trails or caring for his teammates.”

“When I grow up,” Christmas said, “I hope I am like all of my uncles.” I was embarrassed and I bet the other guys were also, but I know we were very proud of our little pup. She is becoming quite a lady dog.

“And I bet your Uncles are very proud of you also, Christmas,” Sunny said. “But you know what? It is getting late and you know we lady dogs need our rest so that we can look great in the morning.”

I know Christmas smiled as she said, “That is so cool. You want to come over to my house and girl talk for a while?”