Aurora's Mantra

“Bite me once, shame on you.

Bite me twice, shame on me”

     My Husky, Aurora, lived by these words. In 1999, we did not need, and could ill afford, a third dog.  However, after falling in love with a neighbor’s Alaskan Malamute, I was relentless in my pursuit of a “sled dog” of my own. Aurora was actually a mix of German Shepherd and Siberian Husky, although the Husky gene was dominant, as she had the appearance and temperament of a Husky, with a lush tan and white coat, and beautiful blue eyes.

     We already had two 100 pound labs , Brandy, who was black, and Holly, a yellow. Of those two, Holly was definitely the Alpha. When we brought Aurora home, she was all of ten pounds, with wobbly legs that were too long for her body. Holly promptly let Aurora know who was in charge with a swift chomp to the head, resulting in two black eyes. My little Aurora was small, but mighty. That incident was the first and last time that Holly took a bite out of her as Aurora subsequently staged a coup.  I cannot elaborate, because it was not done in my presence, but Aurora was thereafter, the Alpha.  At a mere 57 pounds, her peak weight when she was fully grown, she kept the other two in line.  Whenever I brought toys or bones home for them, I would buy three that were identical, so the kiddies wouldn’t fight. Without fail, Aurora would quickly attain possession of all three, while Holly and Brandy dejectedly waited for her to tire of her game of torment.  My chocolate lab, Buddy, who came later, couldn’t even get a drink of water without first paying her homage. I’m serious. Aurora would block the water dish, and she didn’t move until he barked his reverence.  She also took control of both food dishes. I was compelled to relocate Buddy’s dish to another room so he wouldn’t starve to death.

     We bought Aurora for a bargain price of $100.00, since she wasn’t a purebred. We could have purchased a number of purebreds with the money we spent on meds. When Aurora turned two, she started having seizures. She spent the next ten years on a number of medications, which accumulated to a small fortune invested. I’m not complaining, mind you. I loved Aurora, and she gave me great joy over the twelve years that I was fortunate enough to have her in my life.

     My lab, Buddy, is neurotic, and somewhat dumb. Okay, he’s really dumb.  However, he was aware when Aurora was having a seizure, and would summon one of us to attend to her. I must say, he was tenacious. There was no ignoring him if Aurora was in distress.

     When Aurora became ill this past December, and I realized she was too ill to recover, I brought her to the Vet to be put to sleep. I held my beautiful little dog in my arms, my tear streaked face buried in her fur, professing my love for her, as she drifted peacefully away from me… Buddy and I are still mourning her loss. 

     Rest in peace my sweet girl…