Gone but Not Forgotten

Here I profile dogs that used to be in my kennel, but are not any more. This could be for a variety of reasons, death being one of the most obvious. However, in many cases, I have placed dogs in other homes.

The list shown below is not inclusive.

Statistics:

Queva (pronounced QUAY-va) was my first Siberian Husky. I bought her from a breeder in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1989. She was my first sled dog, and it was her that got me started in the sport of mushing. Her vocalizations gave rise to the name of my kennel (she makes a soft "ooowoowoowoowooooo" sound when "talking" to me). Since she was, for a while, the only "sled dog" in my home, I trained her as a lead dog. She picked it up extremely quickly. Later in her life, I used her to train Tasska and Tuvo as lead dogs. My leaders are both gee-haw trained thanks to Queva. Although Queva is a Siberian Husky, she has a couple of problems that make her unbreedable (which is why she is neutered). She is large for a female and she has "barrel ribs." These are rounded ribs, which inefficiently pass oxygen into the blood. The ribs should be slightly rounded, next to the body. Hers are quite rounded and large, giving her a "barrel" appearance. She is an excellent runner and a hard worker, but these flaws make her unacceptable breeding stock.

Queva gets her name from a place near where I used to live. I used to live in the Jemez mountains, behind Los Alamos. The nearest city was Los Alamos, some 22 miles away. However, a few miles down the road lies another community, called La Cueva. La Cueva is spanish for cave (it too is pronounced QUAY-va). My wife at that time, Julia, named her Cueva because she was black, like the inside of a cave. We also liked the way the word sounded. For reasons I cannot remember, though, I always spelled it Queva. Odd because the actual correct pronounciation of "queva" is not the same as "cueva," even though I pronounce them the same. Go figure.

To me, Queva's personality epitomizes the typical Siberian Husky. She is extremely intelligent, stubborn, and easily bored. Once she gets interested in something, it is virtually impossible to interrupt her. This is, of course, one of the traits that made her a good lead dog. It is also a typical trait of the Siberian Husky that can make them difficult to deal with. She was always this way, ever since she was a puppy.

Queva has always been extremely perceptive of her surroundings, and when something changed. She has the best nose I have ever seen, and on walks is always alerting me to things that I would not have noticed had she not been there. There are several stories I could tell.

Once, we were having some contractor do some work at our house in the Jemez. The man was inside the house, and Queva was kept outside while the work progressed. At the end of the day, the man gave me a recipt after I paid him. I placed the reciept on a dresser in the bedroom and went downstairs to let Queva in. Queva barelled upstairs (as she always did), and immediately threw her nose in the air, sniffing. She continued to sniff, and went down the hall towards the bedroom. A couple of seconds later, she returned to the living room with the recipt I got from the contractor in her mouth.

On another occasion, while still a puppy, Queva and I were on a walk in the forest, walking down a logging road. Suddenly, Queva pricked her ears and turned around, insisting on going in the opposite direction. She also had her nose in the air and was sniffing. I relented, curious as to what grabbed her attention. We walked back down the road, Queva tugging away at the leash. We walked a good distance, probably 50 yards, when I decided it was nothing and was about to turn back. Suddenly, Queva tugged sideways, off the road and towards some pine trees. I followed. She went behind one of the trees, got on her hind legs, and was about to grab, in her mouth, a small live bat clinging to the bark, within her reach. The bat was about 5 inches long (it was very small). Fortunately I stopped her in time. Still, I always thought it was rather remarkable that she detected that bat from at least 50 yards away, and took me right to it.

As I said, she has always been a very perceptive dog. She is always the first to pick up my mood, or tell when something is happening (such as packing for a race, or a pending divorce -- long story:-) ).

All of the above was the description of Queva I had on my web page for years. I now add the following final paragraphs to her life.

As you can imagine, it was extremely difficult to lose her. I had to make the difficult decision August 8, 2001 to put her down after a short battle with an agressive cancer that pressed against her spine and caused digestive problems. By the time I discovered it, it was inoperable. Like a typical Siberian Husky, pain was never something she revealed with ease. I could tell it was getting increasingly difficult for her, and it was very painful to see her in such a state. Once a proud and powerful sled dog, down to 40 lbs (52 was her norm), skin and bones, and miserable.

I can scarcely believe she is gone. The foundation dog for my kennel, the sound she made gave my kennel its name. I will miss her terribly.

Statistics:

I got Nicholas from a musher friend of mine that used to run Siberians, but has been running Alaskan Huskies for some time. He is a registered Siberian Husky.

He was a good dog for my friend, but he switched to Alaskan Huskies some time ago, and wanted to give one of his good dogs to a good working home. Nicholas was very well cared for in his previous home, and loved. But, like the typical Siberian, he hopped in my dog truck and never looked back.

Nicholas is quite a character. He talks a lot! He has a great personality, and gets along very well with the rest of my dogs.I have not run him much though. I got him toward the end of the season and managed to run him in one race (Grand Lake, 1996) before the end of the season. I also ran him briefly in Granby (after the first day). He runs well, leads out and keeps a tight line. I plan on trying him in lead and working him in with the rest of the team over the summer and fall. I think he will work out well.

Nicholas lived with me for about 6 years before he died. He suffered from testicular cancer in his later years, and finally succumbed to the metasized cancer April 12, 2003. He realy was a cool dog. It was hard to watch him sink so quickly, but the decision to put him down was actually quite easy. He was suffering badly and was a shell of his former self. Cancer is truly awful.

Statistics:

Kiska is pictured as a puppy above.

I picked up Kiska from a kennel is Michigan, the Timber Pac kennel. I drove up there with a friend of mine who was also buying puppies from the same litter. We drove from Colorado, where my friend lives, and drove straight through to Michigan. It took 50 hours or so. We stayed a day or so, then turned around and drove back after making our selections from the litter. This was not as difficult as it seemed. My friend was good company and we kept one another awake. Mushers are genuine Road Warriors anyway. :-)

Kiska was the newest addition to my kennel and was an excellent worker. I was hoping to put her in lead with Tuvo, but I saw no signs of lead ability.

Since I am no longer active in the sport, I gave Kiska to the kennel of the same friend that I went up to Michigan with. She is doing well there, a kennel in Colorado, and works well with the team there. I get occasional pictures of her.

Statistics:

Nikki (pronounced NICK-key) is another dog that I rescued from the animal shelter. Well, not from the shelter directly, but from her former owners who where going to take her to the shelter shortly. I interceded, and she has been a member of the kennel since 1994. She is a beautiful red Siberian, with a wonderful personality. It seems like I have had her all my life. I did not know how old she was when I got her, but since I ironically met her as a puppy (see below), I had a better idea for her age than that of Tasska.

I could best describe her personality as sweet. She is a very pleasant, personable dog, one that is very eager to please and easy going. Nikki is always the first dog that is approached at a race by spectators wishing to pet a dog. While not lead dog material, she has proven to be a solid runner next to Queva in wheel. Before I aquired her, she had never been exposed to mushing. She did not take to the harness as quickly as Tasska, and to a certain extent, she is still learning. But, she has a good attitude.

Nikki was her given name in her previous home, so I did not change it. However, it turns out I had met her as a puppy three years before I adopted her. This is an interesting coincedence.

One day I was driving in to work from my home in the Jemez mountains. I was about 4 miles from home, driving down a paved, two-lane highway (State Road 4) that leads into Los Alamos. Coming in the opposite direction, in the other lane, I saw a small, red, Siberian Husky puppy trotting along. I stopped, and she came to me eagerly. I took her back to my house and looked her over. She was very friendly and playful, and was in good health. I checked with a kid in the neighborhood, and he told me where she belonged. I drove her over to her house, but no one was home, so I turned her loose (they let her run loose all the time). As I drove away, she ran along side my car, dodging through trees and running very fast, even though she was but a puppy. As I drove along, admiring her speed, gait, and enthusiasim, I thought to myself "She would make a good sled dog."

She did for a while. However, particularly in the 1995/96 year (the "year of no snow") the trails were tough. Nikki seemed to increasingly sour on racing. I concluded that her personality was just not "hard" enough to deal with the in's and out's of the sport. So, once I got Nicholas, I decided to retire Nikki and make her a "house husky" (i.e., house pet). I eventually gave her away to a family that lives down the road from me, where she is living happily to this day.

Statistics:

I bought Sipa (prounouced SEE-pa) from a local breeder about a year after I got Queva. He is a very sweet dog, and for a while, I ran him in a three dog team with Queva and Tasska (both in lead, Sipa ran in single wheel). After a season or two, it became clear that Sipa was too slow to keep up with the two Siberians, and it was hard for him to race when he was being tugged along. So I stopped running him.

Sipa got his name from a ski resort in northern New Mexico, called Sipapu (this is pronounced see-PA-poo). The only reason I chose that was because I liked the way it sounded. However, Julia (my wife at that time) discovered that Sipapu is actually a native american expression, meaning "the origin of all things" (loosely). We had this game where we liked to say "Sipapooooooo!" and get him to howl. It was a riot.

I placed Sipa with a nice family in Buena Vista, Colorado. There are several children, and a warm, loving family to give him lots of attention. I miss Sipa, and giving him away was very difficult. However, I know he is happier.

Statistics:

I adopted Duke as a puppy from an animal shelter in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where I grew up. I was going to school at New Mexico State University at the time. He was a wonderful companion for over 14 years. In his prime, he was a very energetic dog. He certainly went all over the place with me. He was with me in Las Cruces. He was with me when I went to Kansas for graduate school. I think he particularly liked Kansas. He used to chase the many squirrels into trees there. He came with me to Los Alamos. He accompanied me to many races. In short, he was a wonderful, loyal, companion. He was epileptic his entire life, but it never slowed him down much. I used to call him "Mr. Duke" or "Mr. D." Seemed dignified or something.

Duke passed away early in the morning on December 5, 1996. He was 14 years old at the time of his death. He died of liver failure, in large part due to the drugs he took most of his life to control his epileptic siezures.

I hope my old friend rests in peace. He was a good dog. I miss him.