People always say a girl knows when she meets "the one".....little did I know they were really talking about dogs and not men. I looked into the biggest, sad brown Malamute eyes, and knew he was coming home with me.
Okii was about 4 1/2 years old at the time. His previous owners dumped him at the shelter because they no longer had the time for him. The paperwork on the kennel he was in, showed that these people had taken him to the vet that Harold had always taken his previous dogs to, so we knew we would be able to get more info from them. We went to the counter, filled out the paperwork, and paid the adoption fee. Okii was ours.
We walked him out to my Explorer and tried to load him in while a thunder storm rolled over. This is the time that we found out two important things. 1) Okii was not used to vehicles....at all. 2) He hated thunder more than the vehicles.
Alas, we finally were able to load the big lug in and slam the tailgate before he was able to jump out. When we got him back to the office, he unloaded himself at a high rate of speed. We spent lots of time just petting and loving him. We got him food and water, and settled him in for the night.
The next morning, Harold arrived at the office to find one of our employees chasing Okii across the playground across the street. What in the....??? How did that dog get out?!?! We couldn't see any obvious signs of escape, but we needed to catch the dog first. This is when we found out another very important fact. Okii loves, loves, loves kids. Once we let him get near the kids, as he had been trying to do the whole time, it was simple to get a leash on him and take him back over to the office. After closing the gate and turning him loose, we quickly found out how he had escaped. Through a hole in the fence that I wouldn't be able to shove my foot through! And he crammed all 120 lbs of himself through there and went back over to join the kids. *sigh* Obviously, Okii is not going to be able to stay at the office without people there to monitor him. This was our first experience with the Malamute tendency towards escaping. So, Okii came home with us and only returned to the office when I went to work.
The first time my parents met Okii, I recall my dad saying that he just felt that this dog had zero confidence in himself. I'd never really thought of an animal having, or not having, confidence in them self. But looking into Okii's eyes, you could see that he was totally unsure of what he should do. He didn't know what treats were. His only real experiences with a vehicle, according to the vet that knew him, was to go to the vet or being taken to the shelter. So, we had our work cut out for us.
It took an entire year, but Okii grew to be a magnificent addition to our family. He absolutely adored Taylor, and watched over him like he was a crucial part of Okii's pack. He always, always, watched anyone who was even playing with Taylor, to make sure that "his" boy was safe.
Over the next 6 years, Okii and Taylor were the best of friends. Taylor was Okii's "boy", and Okii was Taylor first, and most precious, best friend. We took Okii every where with us. On camping trips across the state, to work, to Grandma's house, and more.
We were learning some of the crazy traits of the Malamute, and realizing that we liked the silly things they do! Okii's biggest problem was his on-going fear of thunder, or thunder-like noises. He would break out of the yard if he heard the local hot air balloon coming. He would dig out under the fence and run helter-skelter up and down the golf course. We even found him dumpster-diving at the local grocery store during one particular storm. He was enjoying a bag of pretzels when we pulled up.
Okii was banished from one boarding kennel after he chewed through a chain link panel in an effort to entertain himself. Yes, they did have to pay to repair the kennel panel. I had the more expensive repairs....Okii's teeth. He broke one of his canines off at the gum line during that episode.
We were blessed to enjoy Okii for just over 6 years. Harold and I were lucky enough to hold Okii as he passed on, suffering cardiac arrest after an intestinal hemorrhage. We were able to tell him we loved him as he left us. And for that, I will always be grateful. He was an amazing friend to our family, and he deserved to be loved all the way to the end.
Telling Taylor that his best buddy was gone, was the worst thing I've had to do. He sobbed like his heart was broken. It was. We gave him the collar that Okii was wearing, and he wanted it hung on the wall in his bedroom. For a long time, years, he would look at that collar and the tags, and huge tears would fall. I know Harold and I were extremely sad to lose Okii, but Taylor was devastated, crushed.
Time has lessened the pain of losing Okii, but it hasn't completely erased the ache. Taylor still misses his friend very much. He still has the collar and tags in his bedroom, along with an 8" x 10" photo of Okii.
Okii died on June 12, 2004. The very next day, June 13, a litter of Malamute puppies was born. One little pup out of that litter was to come join our family in August. I believe that Okii was there to tell this pup's spirit that a great family would take him and love him for all of his life. Kuma came to us on August 9, and the saga continued.....
We still miss you.
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