Theresa Lewis

Nikka’s journey continues

Day one with our new dog whom we named Nikka was exciting. When we went to the shelter to pick her up, we were told that she probably wouldn’t want to get into the car. Not so, we took her outside on her leash and as soon as my husband opened the car door, she jumped right into the back seat. She was on her way to her new home and she was as excited as we were.

As we drove home, Nikka was watching the foreign scenery slide by. She seemed interested in everything she saw. What amazed me was that she was so quiet. She looked at everything, but barked at nothing. That made me happy I can tell you, because I don’t like loud noise at the best of times. A barking dog in a car would push me over the edge.

As soon as we got home, I took her for a walk outside around the property. Because she was so awesomely enormous, I took my dad’s advice and wrapped the leash tightly around my wrist. I rethought that advice, because if she were to bolt on me, she would break my wrist and drag me all around the countryside. I knew I was no match for her phenomenal strength. I talked to her as we walked the perimeter of our acreage. I told her I couldn’t walk very fast so she would have to slow down for me. As creepy as it sounds, she slowed down, but as luck would have it, we both spied a squirrel at the same time.

I was so scared that all my saliva disappeared and was transformed into beads of sweat that instantly formed on my brow. My heart began to race. I knew she wanted to chase it, but I said no. I told her to sit and watch it. She looked back at me and looked like she was wondering why we weren’t chasing the squirrel. I stood still and dared not move a muscle. Again I gave the command for her to sit. She did. I couldn’t believe it but she sat still and watched as the squirrel scurried across the lawn and hopped up into a tree.

Once I was sure that the squirrel was out of sight, I praised Nikka for listening to me. I brought her inside the house and showed her around. I had a bowl of food and another of water all ready for her. The water bowl held two litres of water and she sucked that back in a few seconds then ate her food. Once she was done with that, I gave her a jumbo rawhide bone for a treat. She took it ever so gently from my hand.

To say that her size was intimidating is a gross understatement. As I sat on the sofa and watched Nikka gnawing away on her rawhide treat, I wondered if she was gentle. So far, she seemed to have a laid back way about her, but I hadn’t challenged her on gentleness. I told my husband that for my own sake, I had to see what she would do if I went close to her while she was eating her treat. Not only did I challenge Nikka, but I challenged myself that time. I knew that there was a possibility of it all going wrong and I could have my face eaten off in one bite.

I lay on the floor on my stomach and talked to her while she ate. Every few minutes, I would slide a little closer while asking her to share her treat with me. All she did was keep chewing. Inch by inch, I went closer. Finally, when I was just about a foot from her, I again asked her to share her treat with me. I said all I wanted was just one lick. To my complete surprise, Nikka put the slimy wet rawhide bone on the floor and pushed it towards me with her paw. I gingerly put my hand forward to accept her offering. I held it and sniffed at it like what she would do then I passed it back to her and thanked her for sharing. My question had been answered. I was still intact …no arms or legs were missing and my head was still on my shoulders. She was indeed a very gentle giant.

Even though I had determined that she was gentle, I didn’t want to take any chances of being eaten in the middle of the night. I thought it would be wise to put her in her cage while we slept.

The next day, we had invited my sister and her husband over for supper. I made pork chops, veggies, rice and a nice big salad. They brought their dog Daggie along so he could meet the newest member of our family. My sister held Daggie on her lap while she ate. Once we were taking our last bite of meat, my sister passed her little lap dog a piece of green pepper. That’s when a free-for-all started. Nikka saw her give the green pepper and she lunged for it. With all the barking and jaw snapping that went on, my last bite of meat flew up and stuck in my throat. My sister said the exact same thing happened to her. The meat hadn’t quite touched the bottom when it shot right back up. Until that moment, it had looked like the two dogs would probably be friends. Well… not so much anymore.

I have to say that that incident scared the business out of all of us. It’s one thing to witness two dogs in a tiff, but a lap dog and a Giant Malamute …oh, my goodness, it practically stopped our hearts. Note to self, never bring Nikka visiting with those who have dogs.

As the weeks went by and Nikka learned to settle into her new life with us, we were beginning to notice little idiosyncrasies in her personality. She seemed to be reluctant to go near men, except my husband. She was okay with him, but when other men came to visit, she would keep a great distance between the man and herself, especially if the man was wearing a hat of any kind, or if the man had something in his hands.

We learned through friends that knew where Nikka came from that the original owner used to beat her with a board. He had bought her to breed her and she refused to breed so he would constantly beat her with a two by four. This brutal specimen of a human also wore a baseball cap at all times. Nikka had just cause to fear men, in spite of her size.

Nikka could bark, but rarely ever did. She was more prone to talking except when she wanted to sleep at night. Her bedtime was at nine-thirty every night. I swear she could read the clock. When she wanted to sleep, she wanted everyone to be quiet. If we had company, and we were all talking, Nikka would start off with a very long, low rumbling growl and escalate it to a point of scaring the wits out of us and our company. Some family members refused to visit because they were afraid of her. She sounded like she was going to attack at any moment.

I explained the situation to her vet and he asked me how she looked when she did that. I told him she looked disoriented and glassy-eyed. He told me she just wanted silence so she could sleep and that was her way of telling us to shut up. Once I knew why she was growling, it was easy to control it. I would tell her to go into another room to sleep. That solved that problem nicely.

More stories about Nikka’s journey will follow.

The End