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

It was a nice day. Sunny, Christmas and I were all loafing in the yard. Ugly was telling jokes, while Brownie and Nitro were swapping trail stories. I overheard Lakota and Doc having a very deep discussion about Husky heritage and we all knew that Sandy was waiting for the carrots to grow, so she could dig them out of the veggie garden. Yes, it was a very nice and peaceful day.

I guess I heard the truck first. I recognized it to be Doctor Jim’s mobile vet office. I heard Mike tell Mary that Doctor Jim had returned from the villages and would come by soon to pick up Sunny. I guess we all knew that today would come eventually. Sunny would have to go home, but I know we did not think about it too much. Sunny was a part of our team and we would miss her, especially Christmas. The two of them were great friends, especially after the muddy trail run. What a pair of great leaders they proved to be!

Doctor Jim lives down the trail from us, so we would see Sunny when he brought her by to visit. However, he is so busy helping sick animals in the villages that he is gone a lot. Doctor Jim takes Sunny with him on these adventures. She told me she loves to fly with him and give encouragement to the sick animals he treats at the remote locations they visit.

I heard Mike come out of the house to greet Doctor Jim. They talked about all kinds of stuff as they walked over to the yard where we were. Lakota came up next to me and told me that as soon as Sunny saw her Doctor Jim, she went charging over to him, jumped up in his arms, and started to lick his face. She was so happy to see him. We were all glad that she was so happy.

When Doctor Jim put her on the ground, Lakota said that the expression on Sunny’s face changed from joy to sadness as she looked around at us, watching her.

“I am so confused,” she said. ”I am so happy to see my Doctor Jim, but so sad to leave all of you. You have all been so good to me, treating me like your family.”

I heard Christmas standing behind me, crying softly. I guess the reality that Sunny would have to go home really hit Christmas hard. I heard all of her uncles move closer to her, offering comfort. Sunny walked over to Christmas and said, “Oh Honey, I am so sorry that I have to go. But you know I must. I live just down the trail from you and I bet that Mike will bring you over to visit. I know that my Doctor Jim will bring me by often. I truly believe that we will run the trails together again, Christmas.” Then she said, “I want you to know that you are like a sister to me.”

Lakota told me that they nuzzled each other and a slight smile returned to Christmas’s face. Then Sunny walked over to me and asked. “Do you know where I am Rivers?”

“Yes,” I replied, “you are right in front of me, about 6 inches from my nose.”

Then she said very softly, so that only I could her, “You don’t know how much confidence you gave me to run these trails with you and our teammates. I was very scared and doubted I could do it. I was afraid to fail, but you made me realize that I could do anything I set my mind on doing. You made me understand and be proud of my true Husky heritage. I am a better dog for it. Thank you, Rivers.”

I was barkless, but did manage to say, “Sunny, it was always within you to be a true champion and you are. If you did not have the desire, we would not be standing here barking today.” I continued. “Since I know deep down inside that our paths will cross again, I won’t say goodbye, but rather ‘See ya’.”

Sunny said, “In your mind’s eye I suppose?”

I answered, as I laughed with her, “And that too.”.

“What is happening here Mike?” It was Doctor Jim. “I have never seen dogs act like this. It looks like they are sad and saying their good-byes.”

“I think you hit the nail on the head, Doctor Jim,” Mike answered. “They have been working together as a team and living together as a family.” Mike continued. “I am sure that they developed bonds probably stronger than we give them credit for.”

“Interesting,” Doctor Jim said. “I have never thought of it that way, maybe you got something there. I would love to spend some time discussing it, but there is a sick poodle at the Jones’ place that I need to check on before I go back home.”

I heard Doctor Jim snap a leash on Sunny while asking, “Mike, where did Sunny get this new green collar with her name in gold letters from?”

Mike answered. “Well Doctor Jim, it is a gift from the team and me. We also had a harness made for her in our team’s colors. We did not think you would mind and we hope that Sunny can run with us when we get some snow on the ground.”

Doctor Jim was laughing as he said, “Looks like my girl got adopted and well taken cared of by your team. And from what you were telling me about how well Sunny ran, it would be a crime not to let her run with your team.” He added, “Yes, let’s count on it! And maybe Christmas can come to my clinic and visit us.

All right Doctor Jim! Sunny joins our team and Christmas can visit her at Doctor Jim’s clinic. Super! I know that made us all happy, especially Christmas.

The warm weather came and with it, the snow vanished. After the snow melts, the trails become too muddy to run. Mike takes us for walks and he spends a lot of time in our yard with us. He plays the tugging game with us. This is a game played with a piece of rope. Mike grabs one end of the rope and one of us dogs will grab the other and we each pull, and the last one to drop the rope wins.

Sometimes Mike will swing us around as we hold on to the rope. Other times he will shake it a lot. It sure is a lot of fun. Normally Nitro, who is the biggest and strongest dog, will go first. However, today Nitro said he wanted to go last. I know he had something planned.

Poor Doc, who is the gentlest dog and the smallest of us, went first. Lakota told me that Doc did not make it past the first good hard pull. Mike went over to Doc and made a big fuss over him. Although he did not win, I know Doc felt good for trying hard and getting all of the praise Mike gave him.

Lakota told me that Mike stood there with the rope in his hand and Christmas walked up to it and grabbed it. She held it good and tight. Christmas pulled the rope. Mike pulled harder and shook the rope, but Christmas would not let go. Christmas pulled and shook the rope, but Mike would not let go. The guys were all standing by me watching Christmas and Mike in the tugging game. Mike would pull harder, and then Christmas would pull harder. Neither would give up, until the rope broke! Lakota told me that Christmas fell backward, saying she won.

Mike ended up sitting on his butt, laughing. Doc told me that Mike got up and walked over to Christmas and just rubbed her a lot, making a big fuss over her. Nope, we were not going to tell her the rope broke. Let her believe she won. It would not hurt to make her feel good. She had been so down since Sunny left.

Mike got another piece of rope. Ugly said it was his turn. Now Ugly, who is a clown, said he was going to have some fun. He just grabbed the rope and sat down. When Mike pulled the rope, Ugly just sat there and let the rope go. When the rope fell to the ground, Ugly would jump up on his hind paws and do his “Ugly Jig,” which always makes us laugh. Mike just grabbed Ugly and gave him a big tummy rub.

Well that left Nitro, Brownie, Lakota, and me. Nitro told us that he was going next. He told us that after he grabbed the rope, all of us should grab it also. When we were pulling very hard, he would give us a signal to let the rope go. Mike would fall backward into the straw pile and then we would all pile on him and wrestle.

Now that sounded like a fun plan. Doc told me that Nitro walked over to the rope. Mike had a good grip on one end and Nitro grabbed the other. Nitro began to pull and so did Mike. Brownie told us they pulled so hard that the rope stretched very tight. That is when we all jumped in and grabbed on. Doc, Ugly, and Christmas joined us. There were seven dogs pulling on the rope that Mike held. We pulled and he pulled. As Mike pulled harder on the rope, Nitro told us to let go and we all did at the same time.