Dasher

Dasher came into our lives on December 10th 2011. He left us on November 18th, 2016. He was with us for much too short of time. The joy and love he brought to our home was beyond measure.

Dasher was a rescue dog. He was one of 38 that were brought to a shelter after being saved from a very bad situation. His age at that time was hard to determine because the dogs were left chained outside with little or nothing to eat or drink. His teeth were damaged from chewing on dirt and gravel to get moisture. We were told by the folks at the foster home, where we first met him, that the veterinarians at the rescue shelter said his age was hard to determine because of the condition of his teeth. The estimate was that he was between 1 and 3 years of age. Thirty pounds at the time of his rescue was very much underweight for a male Siberian Husky. Eight of the dogs couldn’t be saved and had to be euthanized. Dasher was the last one to be adopted. As you will see later, I used to tease him about that!

I don’t know how vocal other Huskies are but Dasher was very much a talker! Here is a quote from the Animal Shelter he was taken to: “Dasher is missed here at the shelter because he liked to sing to us when he wanted something”. Every morning there was the one mile walk we used to take. We walked with my daughter and her dog and when she was ready to start the walk she would call us. Dasher was already set to leave but when the phone rang he would start his vocalizing and then once we got to her house next door he would start again so my daughter would know we were there and ready to go. Once Dasher started his singing, her dog would start barking, because he knew it was time for our walk. I also think he had a built in clock. Every day at 1:00 pm was our lunch. It didn’t matter what was going on he seemed to know when it was 1:00 pm. If we were outside doing something he would start his singing or vocalizing so we would look at the time and sure enough it was around 1:00 pm. Daylight saving time change would goof him up for a few days but he would be right on time shortly after the change. Sometimes during the 6 o’clock news, which was close to supper time, he would start his vocalizing when my wife and I were discussing something on the news. It was like we couldn’t get a word in edgewise once he started so I would point at him and say ‘no wonder you were the last to get adopted. No one wanted you because you never shut up’. Of course these were the times I teased him about the singing, vocalizing, talking or whatever you call it but it will be one of the things that we really miss about him.

There are many stories of his antics and maybe I can share some at another time. For being abused, starved and God only knows what else during his early years he was a very happy and playful little guy. We were hoping to have many, many years providing him with a forever home filled with love and joy but a tumor growing into his spinal canal and his spleen told of a different future. I only hope that we brought him as much joy and happiness as he brought us. He will be truly and deeply missed by all of us and our memories of him are priceless. We have some photos but not nearly enough now that we realize we can take no more. We have to console ourselves with the thought that we have our memories that paint pictures in our minds that only we can see. Pictures that make us smile, laugh and cry.

Dasher, we all love and miss you buddy more than mere words can convey!