Theresa Lewis

Nikka’s journey continues

I guess you could say that I learned the hard way that Nikka didn’t like barking dogs just as much as I didn’t like them, especially those tiny little yappers that never stop barking while they’re awake. Malamutes seldom ever bark, unless they feel threatened by someone, or something. They are great talkers though.

When we were in Montreal, we had a neighbour who insisted that Nikka and his miniature fluff ball should be friends. His dog always let out high pitched yips for no reason whatsoever, except that it seemed to enjoy the sound of its own voice. The neighbour’s dog was a long-haired Chihuahua.

I hated to be rude to the man, but he wouldn’t listen when I told him that Nikka was a predator dog and she could kill his little Chou-Chou in a heartbeat. Still, for some reason, he thought that his smallest dog in the condo should be friends with the biggest dog in the condo. He said it would be cute.

I don’t know what the man had in his head for brains, but I finally told him that his dead Chou-Chou wouldn’t look so cute at all. His dog only weighed two pounds and our dog weighed one hundred and sixty pounds. Chou-Chou was about one third of the size of Nikka’s head. I told him that Nikka could swallow Chou-Chou in one mouthful.

Whenever our back was turned, the man was over on our property trying to introduce his dog to ours. Finally, I told him that if he came on our property again, I would call the police. I really didn’t like the man at all, but I also didn’t want anything to happen to his little dog. If Nikka was outside, I watched over her like a hawk so that there wouldn’t be any disastrous happenings that we’d be sorry for.

In Montreal, the law says that all dogs must be on a leash when outside. The law doesn’t say only big dogs; it says all dogs. This neighbour thought he was an exception to the rule and he’d let his dog free at all times. Some small dogs have big attitudes. Chou-Chou was one of those dogs who believed he owned the whole neighbourhood as far as the eye could see. He was a real yapper and a scrapper.

One day as my husband was walking Nikka in a field behind the condo, the man, who had been holding his Chou-Chou, put his dog down and it ran across the field in an aggressive mode right towards Nikka. Before my husband could react, Nikka scooped the fuzz ball up in her mouth and shook the garbage out of it then tossed it away like a used tissue … all wet and sticky from Nikka’s saliva. As soon as the dog hit the ground, it rolled and rolled then went whimpering and running back to the neighbour’s side. The man threatened to sue my husband. It was an idle threat at best because there were numerous witnesses as to what had happened.

Nevertheless, it made us more aware when walking Nikka. Usually, we would scout the walking area first to be sure that the coast was clear before walking Nikka. That way, we were able to avoid unpleasant confrontations with other dog owners.

There was one dog owner from the apartments on the other side of the chain link fence that separated our condo community from their apartment community. This fellow was a nice young man named Dan and he owned a chocolate lab named Jimmy. On none of the occasions when we saw them did we ever hear Jimmy bark. He seemed to be a calm and quiet mature dog.

From inside our house, we could see Dan walking Jimmy on the far side of the street. On one occasion, Dan brought Jimmy close to the fence so the dogs could sniff each other. It only took that one encounter for Nikka to fall in love with Jimmy. After that, whenever she saw Jimmy out walking with Dan, Nikka would let out a soulful moan and wag her tail. I don’t know if the feeling was mutual for Jimmy, but Dan wanted them to meet without a fence between them. My husband agreed, but told Dan that it could all go wrong in a heartbeat. Dan said Jimmy was big enough and strong enough to take care of himself. I have to say that my heart was in my throat the moment the gate was open and the two dogs came face to face with each other. I had visions of previous encounters with other dogs that didn’t go so well at all.

For me, the tension was horrible while the two dogs sniffed each other. Once they were done with their sniffing business, Jimmy let out one quick bark like he was saying “hi”. That’s when all hell broke loose and the two of them started growling and snapping at each other. I got such a fright that I wet myself. I wasn’t prepared for the conflict to happen although I knew it was a possibility.

The scuffle didn’t last too long and neither dog was really injured, but Jimmy did sustain a tiny cut near his left eye. When I thought about it afterwards, I realized that it was Jimmy’s bark that set the wheels in motion for Nikka. Nikka hated to hear another dog bark. To her it seemed like an act of aggression and she was ready to do battle.

After that, we kept Nikka away from all other animals.

More on Nikka’s journey coming soon

The End